On September 14, 1995, at 8:04 AM, local time (14:04, GMT), an earthquake of magnitude Ms = 7.2 (Mw = 7.3) took place in the Pacific coast of the State of Guerrero, Mexico, close to the town of Copala, with epicenter located at 16.7°N and 98.5°W. The shallow focal depth (17.5 km), the focal mechanism (thrust) and the low dip angle indicate that it is a typical earthquake of the Mexican subduction zone, in the interface between the North American and Cocos plates. Table 1 gives some basic seismological parameters, as well as some values of recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) that might be of interest. The earthquake produced high intensities in the epicentral area, where it caused considerable damage in some villages in South Guerrero and Southwest Oaxaca. The region is sparsely populated, so only six people died, although 2,000 people remained homeless and more than 5,000 houses were...