Overview
- A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck offshore southern Mexico near the Guatemala border on Friday, July 17, 2026, with a shallow focus estimated at about 10–15 km and an epicenter roughly 48–50 km from Aquiles Serdán/Tapachula.
- A magnitude 5.3 aftershock followed and the tremors were felt across southern Mexican states and neighboring Central American countries including Oaxaca, Guatemala and El Salvador.
- National and regional agencies issued tsunami warnings and urged coastal residents to move inland, the Mexican Navy advised avoiding beaches for six hours, and the Mexican tsunami center forecast waves around or below about 1.05 meters in the immediate zone.
- Federal and state officials, including President Claudia Sheinbaum, reported no major damage in early assessments and said emergency protocols were activated while teams carry out on-the-ground inspections.
- Southern Mexico sits above an active subduction zone so monitoring systems quickly issued alerts and officials warned that modest wave heights or further aftershocks could still cause local coastal damage and require ongoing checks and alerts.