July 30, 1909 Earthquake: Acapulco, Mexico
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Acapulco, Mexico on July 30, 1909 at 10:51:54 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- July 30, 1909
- Time
- 10:51:54 UTC
- Place
- Acapulco, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 7.8 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 16.800° N, 99.800° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
On July 30 (incorrectly 31), 1909 at 4:16 [local time, 10:51.9 UTC, 17N, 100.5W, magnitude 8.1] there was an earthquake with source near Acapulco, where many homes were destroyed. The destruction occurred on a large area which included San Marcos and Chilpancingo. The earthquake was felt in a zone about 2500 km by 780 km. At Acapulco, the sea receded from the shore; the flood tide reached 9 m [apparently along the horizontal]. (reference #415)
MS magnitude 7.4, 16.8N, 99.8W. (reference #369)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- July 6, 1964, Guerrero, Mexico
- July 28, 1957, Acapulco,mexico City
- October 3, 1864, Puebla,veracruz,acultzingo,acatzingo, Mexico
- February 16, 2018, Oaxaca, Mexico
- March 28, 1787, San Marcos, Oaxaca, Mexico
- June 7, 1982, Guererro, Orziba, Oaxaca, Guadalupe, Mexico
- April 15, 1907, Guerrero, Mexico
- July 19, 1882, Puebla,huahuapan,huamuxtitlan,xalpatlahuac, Mexico
- February 22, 1943, Paricutin Volcano Forms, Guerrero, Mexico
- March 14, 1979, Guerrero, Mexico
- May 11, 1962, Southern Mexico
- December 23, 1937, Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
- September 8, 2021, Guerrero, Mexico
- April 25, 1989, Mexico City, Acapulco
- May 19, 1962, Southern Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1909The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1909Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2884.