Significant M5.2 Earthquake struck on Sunday Evening in the North Pacific Ocean 118km from Tapachula (Mexico).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 22nd, 2025. Last updated January 7th, 2026.

In the North Pacific Ocean 118 kilometer from Tapachula, Mexico, a significant Magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred in the evening of Sunday December 21st, 2025. Guatemala is also near its epicenter.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 90 kilometers (56 mi) off the coast of Mexico, 118 kilometer west-southwest of Tapachula in Chiapas. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 35 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 21, 2025 20:20 (Mexico City Time) - Dec 22, 2025 02:20 Universal Time.
Location:	118 km WSW of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. Coordinates 14°20'56"N 93°11'48"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 42 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.048 .
Depth:	35 km (22 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

Mexico and Guatemala are both located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake.

The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Tapachula in Chiapas, Mexico. Tapachula is located 118 kilometer (73 mi) west-southwest of the epicenter.

Major cities near this earthquake: Guatemala City is located 291 km to the east. Tuxtla is located 268 km to the north. Tapachula is located 118 km to the east-northeast.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

7 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 7 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 3 mins after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-4.6 was detected 2.8 km (1.7 mi) east-northeast of this earthquake.

In the days before this main shock, 2 smaller foreshocks were detected. A 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit 3 days earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since November 28th, 2025, when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit 158 km (98 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck on September 8th, 2017.

In total, 106 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every month.

Low tsunami risk

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 07/01/26 04:28 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000rwex
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251222_0000029
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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