September 21, 1985 Earthquake: Mexico City, SW Coast
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Mexico City, SW Coast on September 21, 1985 at 01:37:13 UTC, 31 km below the surface. 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
- September 21, 1985
- Time
- 01:37:13 UTC
- Place
- Mexico City, SW Coast
- Magnitude
- 7.6 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 31 km (19 mi)
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 17.802° N, 101.647° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 19, 1985, Mexico City, Michoacan
- April 15, 1941, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
- July 6, 1964, Guerrero, Mexico
- January 30, 1973, S, Farias, Tecoman, Mexico
- October 3, 1864, Puebla,veracruz,acultzingo,acatzingo, Mexico
- April 15, 1907, Guerrero, Mexico
- March 14, 1979, Guerrero, Mexico
- February 22, 1943, Paricutin Volcano Forms, Guerrero, Mexico
- October 25, 1981, Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico
- September 22, 2022, Mexico City, Michoacan
- September 19, 2022, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
- December 11, 2011, Guerrero, Mexico
- January 11, 1997, Michoacan, Arteaga, Mexico
- December 4, 1852, S. Mexico
- January 1, 2004, Guerrero, Mexico City
More
Significant earthquakes of 1985The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1985Recent 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 5078.