June 20, 1897 Tsunami: S. Mexico
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at S. Mexico on June 20, 1897.
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
- June 20, 1897
- Source
- S. Mexico
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 16.000° N, 95.000° W
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 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.
June 20, 1897, 3:00 [local time], 16 N, 95 W, magnitude 7. On June 5 at 19:22, a strong vertical shock occurred in Mexico with source near Tehuantepec and Salina Cruz. Tehuantepec was reduced to ruins. The streets running from west to east suffered more than the streets running north to south. Most of the residents left the city. The shock was felt in an area extending to the states of Colima and Chiapas and to the latitude of Mexico. Nothing unusual happened on the Pacific, in Salina Cruz Bay. After the earthquake shocks continued all night, at 4-5 minute intervals, and on the following days. A loud rumbling preceded them by 3 seconds. On June 14, the geologists Sanchez and Rangel went out from Mexico City to investigate the earthquake. On the night of the 19-20th, which they spent at Salina Cruz, there was a strong undulating earthquake in the north-south direction, which did not stop the agitation at sea and the oscillations in its level. (reference #415)
More
Every tsunami in 1897The 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 1240.