January 20, 1900 Tsunami: Mexico

Name: January 20, 1900 Tsunami: Mexico
Start: 1900-01-20
Location: Mexico

January 20, 1900 · Deaths: some · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake began at Mexico on January 20, 1900 at 06:33:30 UTC.

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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: January 20, 1900, 06:33:30 UTC
Source: Mexico
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.3, 10 km deep
Runups recorded: 0
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 20.000° N, 105.000° W

The toll

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50); Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: Many (101 to 1,000) 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.

Reference #13627:

20 January 1900. […] On 2 and 3 March, two North American newspapers published the next news, in which a tsunami was described: “A special to the Record from Guadalajara (Mexico) says: The recent earthquakes which were felt throughout Southern Mexico did much greater damage than was indicated by the earlier reports. News from remote coast and mountain towns has just reached Guadalajara and stories of great destruction of property and considerable loss of life are told. The severe seismic shocks had a remarkable effect on the sea, causing it to roll inland and covering the country for a distance of over one mile from the beach. This tidal inundation occurred three times in rapid succession and every movable thing in its path was swept away. A number of small coastal villages were destroyed and there was some loss of life, but no definite information has been received as to the number of persons drowned. This tidal inundation was most severe on the Pacific coast, extending from Acapulco to Manzanillo” (Desert Evening News, 1900; Los Angeles Herald, 1900).

Ref #13627 notes that only U.S.A. newspapers mentioned the tsunami. (i.e., no mention in Mexico newspapers). Reference #13234 provides many reports from across Mexico but no mention of tsunami.

Every tsunami in 1900 The 1900s Tsunamis of Mexico The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 5896.