December 23, 1937 Earthquake: Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico on December 23, 1937 at 13:18:03 UTC. It killed 4 people.
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
- December 23, 1937
- Time
- 13:18:03 UTC
- Place
- Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Mw)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 16.656° N, 98.338° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
Destructive in Ometepec. Magnitude 7.2 (reference #1234, 1195)
1937 Dec 23, 13:17:56 UTC, 16.8 N 98.5 W, magnitude 7.5 (reference #88)
1937 Dec 23, 13:17:58.5 UTC, 17.1 N 98.07 W, magnitude 7.7 Ms (reference #3837)
1937 Dec 23, 13:18:03.46 UTC, 16.656 N 98.338 W, magnitude 7.4 Mw (reference #10476, version 9.0)
At 7:18 A.M. a three-minute earthquake of great force and scope rocked all of southern Mexico and Mexico City, causing four deaths and widespread damage. Adobe houses tumbled into ruins, windows were shattered, and telegraph and telephone lines were severed by the shock. Reports from Ometepec in the State of Guerrero said that 36 earth shocks had damaged almost all the town's thousand buildings. The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey reports an earthquake at 13 ~ 17 m 56s, G.M.T., with epicenter at 15.5 N, 98.5 W. (reference #13232)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 24, 1980, S, Huajapan DE Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico
- July 28, 1957, Acapulco,mexico City
- September 30, 1999, Oaxaca, Mexico
- August 2, 1968, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Mexico
- February 16, 2018, Oaxaca, Mexico
- March 28, 1787, San Marcos, Oaxaca, Mexico
- June 7, 1982, Guererro, Orziba, Oaxaca, Guadalupe, Mexico
- November 29, 1978, Oaxaca, Mexico
- April 15, 1907, Guerrero, Mexico
- July 19, 1882, Puebla,huahuapan,huamuxtitlan,xalpatlahuac, Mexico
- May 5, 1854, Veracruz,oaxaca, Mexico
- May 11, 1962, Southern Mexico
- June 17, 1928, Oaxaca, Mexico
- September 14, 1995, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City
- April 25, 1989, Mexico City, Acapulco
More
Significant earthquakes of 1937The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1937Recent 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 3603.