Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – Another earthquake of 5.8 magnitude struck in the central region of the Mexican Pacific at 3:17 this morning. This time, the quake’s epicenter was off the coast of Colima, in the municipality of Tecomán.
The aftershock shook the Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas region. Many citizens felt the earth tremble despite the early hour.
On its Twitter account, the National Seismological Service reported that the quake originated at 3:17:13 on the morning of September 20, 72 km southeast of Tecomán, Colima. At the moment Civil Protection authorities have not reported any damage.
As of this morning, 520 aftershocks have been counted after yesterday’s earthquake, when Mexico was shaken for the third time on that date (September 19, 1985 in Mexico City and September 19, 2017 in Puebla) by a major earthquake with a magnitude that registered higher than 7 on the Richter scale,
In 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake affected the center, south and west of the country, according to a report by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which recalls that “the tremor caused severe damage to hundreds of buildings in the capital and changed complete the image of Mexico City”. The economic losses were estimated at more than $4 billion USD.
In 2017, Morelos, Puebla, Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Guerrero and Oaxaca suffered a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. It happened after another earthquake of great intensity was registered, on September 7, with a magnitude of 8.1. Some 250,000 people were affected, more than 180,000 homes were damaged by the two earthquakes – of which 50,610 were damaged beyond repair – and 369 people lost their lives.
Then, on September 19, 2022, an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 once again shook the country. The seismic focus was located at a depth of 10 kilometers and the epicenter was located 59 km south of Coalcomán, Michoacán. The tremors were felt strongly in Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta.
After the evaluation carried out by the municipal Civil Protection and Firefighters department, in coordination with State Civil Protection personnel in Puerto Vallarta, and other dependencies in the Banderas Bay region, no major damage or injured persons were reported.
Property inspections continue after this morning’s earthquake, and damage reports have not yet been disclosed.