Prior events occurred in 1806, 1818, and 1900, and a recurrence period of 77 years was proposed for the region, but because of difficulty in positively identifying the rupture zones, this time frame was not precisely established.

[2] The rupture is thought to have initiated near Manzanillo, propagating to the northwest, although early reports from seismologists placed the epicenter farther southeast near the border of Oaxaca and Guerrero.

[10] The initial earthquake of June 3 off of the coast of Colima and Jalisco caused extensive damage along western Mexico, with much of the deaths and injuries concentrated in the area of Guadalajara.

[3] Fifteen days after the first shock, June 18 at 4:15 am, there was a magnitude 7.7 event with an estimated rupture length of 60 kilometers (37 mi) and a duration of 22 seconds.

This time the human loss was centered around the city of Colima with 3 deaths and twelve injured, with heavy damage reported in Manzanillo.

[11] As Governor Saucedo gathered reports of inadequate care for those affected in Cuyutlán following the destructive wave, he appealed to the Red Cross to fill gaps where federal and state aid were proving ineffective.

[17] Little damage was recorded from the tsunami other than the washing out of part of the railway line between Cuyutlán and Manzanillo and partial flooding of the port town of San Blas, Nayarit,[17] but no deaths occurred there.

[18] The earthquake caused significant damage and deaths in Colima, Ayotlán, Manzanillo, Cihuatlán, Zamora and Acatlán de Juárez.