Magnitude 7.3 Quake Strikes Southern Mexico Coast, Minor Injuries Reported

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck the southern Mexican Pacific coast on Friday, July 17. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the event with its epicenter 30 miles southwest of Aquiles Serdan near the Chiapas shoreline at a depth of 9 miles. The quake was preceded by a smaller offshore event.

At least 10 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 6 followed, and the shaking was felt from Mexico City to San Salvador.

Initial Response and Tsunami Alert The U.S.

Tsunami Warning System issued an alert for possible hazardous waves within 186 miles of the epicenter before lifting it later that day. Mexico’s navy advised residents to avoid beaches for six hours. Two people were injured in southern Mexico. A Haitian migrant woman in Tapachula suffered fractures after jumping from a low height during a nervous breakdown, and another person was hurt by a broken window.

Alejandra Mendoza, an administrative employee at a public hospital in Tapachula, said the shaking began mildly on the second floor before intensifying.

“We were upstairs on the second floor when it started shaking; we thought it would pass, but then it got stronger, so we all went downstairs and evacuated in an orderly manner to the front courtyard.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said preliminary reports showed no damage. Guatemala’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported no immediate damage, though social media showed videos of landslides on western roads. The Ministry of Education suspended in-person classes in the departments of San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu.

In San Salvador the quake was felt strongly, but the Ministry of Environment recorded only a lesser offshore event near Usulután with no deaths or damage.