Shallow M5.1 AFTERSHOCK hit in the North Pacific Ocean 111km from Tapachula (Mexico) on Friday Morning.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 17th, 2026. Last updated August 8th, 2026.

In the morning of Friday July 17th, 2026, a shallow and significant M5.1 aftershock hit in the North Pacific Ocean 111 kilometer from Tapachula, Mexico. Guatemala is also near its epicenter.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 85 kilometers (53 mi) off the coast of Mexico, 111 kilometer southwest of Tapachula in Chiapas. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 17 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 17, 2026 11:03 (Mexico City Time) - Jul 17, 2026 17:03 Universal Time.
Location:	111 km SW of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. Coordinates 14°16'45"N 93°3'46"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 522 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.025 .
Depth:	17 km (11 mi) A very 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

2 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: Mexico and Guatemala .

Tapachula in Chiapas, Mexico is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 111 kilometer (69 mi) southwest of Tapachula.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Guatemala City is located 277 km to the east. Tuxtla is located 276 km to the north. Tapachula is located 111 km to the north-east.

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 2 hrs before this earthquake hit, a larger 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck 44 km (27 mi) north-east of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.1 earthquake as an aftershock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

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. In total, 122 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 30 days.

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 08/08/26 19:38 (). 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 us7000t1ey
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260717_0000296
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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