March 9, 1875 Tsunami: Central Mexico
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Central Mexico on March 9, 1875.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- March 9, 1875
- Source
- Central Mexico
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 19.400° N, 104.600° W
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
1875 March 09, 19.4 N 104.6 W, magnitude 7.4. A very strong earthquake in Jalisco and Colima was felt from Manzanillo to San Blas “with sea roars and movements of the sea” (La Colonia Española, 1875). At Tecoman, the priest Vicente Pinto (AHAG, 1875) reported that the earthquake occurrence at 9:00 a.m. (local time) damaged the church and houses in the village, and cracks with water pop-ups that could be related to liquefaction at the mouth of the Armeria River. (reference #13627) Note: reference #13627 lists this as a tsunami event
More
Every tsunami in 1875The 1800sTsunamis of MexicoThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups 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 tsunami event 5895.