Abstract
Tsunamis have proven to represent a significant hazard around the globe and there is increased awareness about their occurrence. The Pacific coast in southern México is no exception, because there is firm evidence of the effects of past large tsunamis. Here we present results from computer-aided modeling of the March 28, 1787-“San Sixto” earthquake and tsunami, and focus on the regions of Acapulco, Corralero, Jamiltepec, and Tehuantepec, located along the Guerrero-Oaxaca coast. The theoretical waveforms suggest wave heights in excess of 4 m and 18 m at specific locations in Acapulco and Corralero, respectively, and wave heights of at least 2 m at locations in Jamiltepec and Tehuantepec. From our modeling results and based on historical documents and the topography of the area, we conclude that these wave heights would have been sufficient to cause inundations that in the case of Acapulco were restricted to several meters inland, but in other areas like Corralero reached at least 6 km inland. Our results are consistent with published and unpublished damage reports that attest to the hazards associated with great earthquakes and tsunamis along the subduction zone in Mexico
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acosta V, Suárez G (1996) Los sismos en la historia de México, Tomo I (Editorial Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
Bilek SL, Satake K, Sieh K (2007) Introduction to the special issue on the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the Indian Ocean tsunami. Bull Seismol Soc Am 97:S1–S5
Bilham R (2005) A flying start, then a show slip. Science 308:1126–1127
Borrero JC, Synolakis CE, Fritz H (2006) Northern Sumatra field survey after the December 2004 great Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami. Earthq Spectra 22:S93–S104
Chael EP, Stewart GS (1982) Recent large earthquakes along the Middle-American Trench and their implications for the subduction process. J Geophys Res 87:329–338
Cruz G, Wyss M (1983) Large earthquakes, mean sea level, and tsunamis along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America. Bull Seismol Soc Am 73:553–570
DeMets C, Wilson DS (1997). Relative motions of the Pacific, Rivera, North American, and Cocos plates since 0.78 Ma. J Geophys Res 102:2789–2806
Goto C, Ogawa Y, Shuto N, Imamura Y (1997) F. IUGG/IOC TIME Project: Numerical Method of Tsunami Simulation with the Leap-Frog Scheme (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, Manuals and Guides #35, Paris, 1997)
Hanks T, Kanamori H (1997) A moment magnitude scale. J Geophys Res 84:2348–2350
Jiménez CF, Núñez-Cornú FJ, Mercado H, Canas J (1983) Estudio de las réplicas del temblor del 7 de Junio de 1982 en la costa de Guerrero-Oaxaca (Conference Proceeedings of the Annual Meeting of the Mexican Geophysical Union, 1983)
Mansinha L, Smylie DE (1971) The displacement field of inclined faults. Bull Seismol Soc Am 61:1433–1440
Martínez M (1885) Catálogo de terremotos desde 1507 hasta 1885 (Cuadro Sinóptico, Geográfico y Estadístico de Oaxaca, unpublished manuscript)
Nava F, Núñez-Cornú F, Córdoba D, Mena, Ansorge J, González J, Rodríguez M, Banda E, Mueller S, Udías A, García-García M, Calderon G, the Mexican Working Group for Deep Seismic Profiling (1988) Structure of the Middle America Trench in Oaxaca, México. Tectonophysics 154:241–251
Núñez-Cornú FJ (1996) A double seismic front and earthquake cycles along the coast of Oaxaca, México. Seismol Res Lett 6:33–38
Núñez-Cornú F, Ponce L (1989) Zonas sísmicas de Oaxaca, México: Sismos máximos y tiempos de recurrencia para el período 1542–1988. Geofís Int 28:587–641
Pedlosky J (1979) Geophysical fluid dynamics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Singh K, Bazan E, Esteva I (1980) Expected earthquake magnitude from a fault. Bull Seismol Soc Am 70:903–914
Smith WHF, Sandwell DT (1997) Global seafloor topography from satellite altimetry and ship depth soundings. Science 227:1956–1962
Utsu T, Seki A (1954) A relation between the area of aftershock region and the energy of main shock (in Japanese). J Seismol Soc Jpn 7:233–240
Valdéz MA (1787) Reporte acerca del terremoto de Mayo 1, Gaceta de México. May 1st, p 342
Wyss M (1979) Estimating maximum expectable magnitude of earthquakes from fault dimensions. Geology 7:336–340
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Núñez-Cornú, F.J., Ortiz, M. & Sánchez, J.J. The great 1787 Mexican tsunami. Nat Hazards 47, 569–576 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-008-9239-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-008-9239-1