1973 Veracruz earthquake

Earthquake in Mexico 1973 Veracruz earthquake 1973-08-28 09:50:41 757676 iscgem757676 1973 08 28 3:50 a.m. Mexico Veracruz#Mexico 1–2 minutesIrvine 1973 6 7.1 w yList of earthquakes in the ISC-GEM Catalogue with Mw from bibliography http://www.isc.ac.uk/iscgem/mw_bibliography.php International Seismological Centre 6 April 2021 80.1 km mi 0 on 18.23 N 96.47 W Mexico Severe 8 No 539–1,000 dead thousands injured The 1973 Veracruz earthquake, also known as El Terremoto de Orizaba, occurred at 3:50 a.m. local time (9:50 GMT) on August 28, 1973, with the epicenter located in the vicinity of Ciudad Serdán in the Mexican state of Puebla. It registered 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The effects were felt in the states of Veracruz and Puebla in southeast Mexico. Geography The area that was damaged in Veracruz is tropical and mountainous; the Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's tallest peak, is located there. The earthquake occurred during the rainy season, with heavy rain coming down before and after the event making search and rescue difficult. Ciudad Serdán is located in the rain shadow of the mountainous area and has a more arid climate.Irvine 1973 4, 6 Past events Mexico's southwest coast is much more seismically active than the southeast area near Orizaba. Earthquakes there have been relatively infrequent. The previous strong event in the region was on June 17, 1928, when a magnitude-7.8 event occurred south of Ciudad Serdán. However, the area 100 to 300 kilometers south of Ciudad Serdán does see more very strong earthquakes, with three events over magnitude 7 in 1928 alone.Irvine 1973 4, 5 Damage There was extensive damage, leaving hundreds dead and widespread devastation, in several cities in Puebla. The death toll was at least 600, with as many as 1,200 dead, and 212 casualties alone in the small Ciudad Serdán.Cliff Frohlich Deep earthquakes 479 Cambridge University Press 2006 978-0-521-82869-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZGdmBwSPkC&pg=PA479 July 25, 2025 Major cities affected were Ciudad Serdán, Orizaba, Ixtaczoquitlán, Córdoba, Ciudad Mendoza, Zongolica, Tlacotepec, Río Blanco, and Acultzingo. In Orizaba, a twelve-story apartment building collapsed. Many of the occupants, up to 100, were sleeping at the time, and this was the number proclaimed dead at that site.12-Story Apartment Collapses in Temblor; 100 Occupants Perish August 29, 1973 Los Angeles Times This event was the most disastrous earthquake in Puebla until the 1999 Tehuacán earthquake.Meehan 1974 1 See also List of earthquakes in 1973 List of earthquakes in Mexico References Significant Earthquake Database https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/form?t=101650&s=1&d=1 https://web.archive.org/web/20060929000601/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/form?t=101650&s=1&d=1 dead September 29, 2006 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA 10.7289/V5TD9V7K 1972 Data Set PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/ September 4, 2009 United States Geological Survey Version 2008_06.1 Sources Irvine H. Max The Veracruz earthquake of 28 August 1973 http://authors.library.caltech.edu/26422/ Earthquake Engineering Research Laboratory (California Institute of Technology) October 1973 B0006Y7UIK John F. Meehan Reconnaissance report of the Veracruz, Mexico earthquake of August 28, 1973 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America December 1974 64 6 2011–2025 1943-3573 10.1785/bssa0640062011 1974BuSSA..64.2011M 133422476 Further reading Singh S. K. Wyss M. Source parameters of the Orizaba earthquake of August 28, 1973 Geofísica Internacional 16 3 1976 0016-7169 10.22201/igeof.00167169p.1976.16.3.1119 165–184 1976GeofI..16..165S free External links Comments for the Significant Earthquake – National Geophysical Data Center M6.8 – Oaxaca, Mexico – United States Geological Survey 757676 Category:Earthquakes in Mexico Veracruz Earthquake, 1973 Veracruz Earthquake, 1973 Category:1973 disasters in Mexico