February 20, 1933 Earthquake: Colima, Mexico
A magnitude 4 earthquake struck Colima, Mexico on February 20, 1933 at 17:00 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
- February 20, 1933
- Time
- 17:00 UTC
- Place
- Colima, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 4 (ML)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 18.680° N, 104.820° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50) with its tsunami and other effects
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.
At 11:00 a.m. (local time), an earthquake was felt in the city of Colima, causing panic in Villa de Alvarez, and was felt intensely in Tecomán. A tsunami that invaded the beaches of Zihuatanejo was reported to have swept away fishermen’s houses, and in Manzanillo some underground noises were heard “and unusual movements were noticed over the sea water.” The earthquake was also felt strongly in Cuyutlán where “a tidal wave washed the trash left by last earthquake” (El Informador, 1933a). (reference #13627)
1933 Feb 20, 17:16:22 UTC, 18.683 N 104.817 W, magnitude (richter) 4. (reference #13648)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 31, 1818, Morelos-Guerrero,mexico City,guadalajara
- March 25, 1806, Jalisco,oaxaca,michoacan, Mexico
- June 3, 1932, Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico
- April 15, 1941, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
- June 22, 1932, Central, Mexico
- January 30, 1973, S, Farias, Tecoman, Mexico
- October 9, 1995, Jalisco, Manzanillo, San Patricio Melaque, Mexico
- January 22, 2003, Villa DE Alvarez, Colima, Tecoman, Jalisco, Mexico
- September 19, 2022, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
- November 30, 1934, Jalisco, Mexico
- March 9, 1875, Guadalajara, Mexico City
- November 14, 1573, Colima, Mexico
- July 14, 1739, Colima, Mexico
- March 2, 1896, Colima, Mexico
- April 30, 1921, Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1933The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1933Recent 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 10717.