Tsunamis affecting the southwestern coast of Mexico are linked to large earthquakes
originating at the Middle American subduction zone (collision and subduction of Cocos plate
underneath North American plate, Fig. 1a) and tectonic activities in the Pacific coast of Central
America (subduction of Cocos plate underneath Caribbean plate, Fig. 1a) (Fernandez et al.,
2000). According to Farreras et al. (2007), the Pacific coast of Mexico witnessed tsunamis with
10m wave heights at least twice in the last 100 years, i.e. 16th November 1925 in Zihuatanejo
and 22nd June 1932 in Colima (Fig. 1b). Similarly, tsunami with 18m wave height affected the
coast of Oaxaca on 28th March 1787 (Nú˜nez-Cornú et al., 2008). On 19th September 1985,
2.5m high tsunami waves caused destruction in the port cities of Lázaro Cárdenas and Caleta
de Campos in the Michoacán state and 5m high tsunami waves affected the coasts of Colima
and Jalisco states on 9th October 1995 (Farreras and Sánchez, 1987; Borrero et al., 1997).