March 28, 1982 Earthquake: Chiapas, Mexico
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck Chiapas, Mexico on March 28, 1982 at 04:16:52 UTC, 9 km below the surface. It killed 1,879 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
- March 28, 1982
- Time
- 04:16:52 UTC
- Place
- Chiapas, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 3.5 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 9 km (6 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Volcano
- The eruption it came with
- Epicenter
- 17.250° N, 93.210° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Deaths
- 10; 1,879 with its tsunami and other effects
- Missing
- 1,755 with its tsunami and other effects
- Injuries
- 200
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); $3.3 million 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.
The eruption of El Chichon Volcano was accompanied by strong seismicity. Residents of Nicapa, a village on the NE flank of the volcano, took refuge in a church that was toppled by a M 3.5 earthquake, killing 10 people and injuring about 200.
The NGDC Seismicity Catalog CD collection, Tacabaya network lists an earthquake on March 28, 1982, 04:16:52.5 UTC, 17.250N 93.210W, depth 9 km. (reference #4109)
There are two earthquakes listed in this region in the USGS PDE (reference #1053) on March 28:
March 28, 1982, 04:46:28.3 UTC, 16.816 N, 96.775 W, depth 87 km, magnitude 4.4 mb, Oaxaca, Mexico.
March 28, 1982, 09:54:10.4 UTC, 16.880 N, 95.332 W, depth 180 km, magnitude 4.3 mb, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 26, 1959, Gulf of Campeche, Mexico
- September 25, 1968, S Chiapas, Mexico-Guatemala
- February 5, 1954, Chiapas, Mexico
- December 17, 2015, Cocotitlan, Mexico
- September 23, 1902, Venustiano Carranza,chiapas,chis,tabasco, Mexico
- December 31, 1603, Oaxaca, Mixteca, Mexico
- March 30, 1914, Chiapas, Mexico
- February 7, 1871, Minatitlan, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1982The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1982Recent 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 7221.