News Release

Mexican earthquake sloshes Devils Hole

A screen shot of video of waves in Devils Hole.

NPS photo by Ambre Chaudoin

News Release Date: September 21, 2022

Contact: Abby Wines, 760-786-3221

Contact: Kevin Wilson

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – In a surprising quirk of geology, Monday’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Mexico triggered four-foot-tall waves in Devils Hole, located in Death Valley National Park. Video footage of the “desert tsunami” is available below. 

The earthquake shook the Mexican states of Colima and Michoacán at 11:05 am Pacific Daylight Time. Five minutes later, water started sloshing 1,500 miles away in Devils Hole. The waves reached 4 feet high around 11:35 am.

Devils Hole is a partially water-filled limestone cave in a Nye County, Nevada unit of Death Valley National Park.  The cave is hundreds of feet deep, but the endangered Devils Hole pupfish depend upon algae that grows on a shallow, sunlit shelf.

Monday’s waves, technically known as a seiche, stirred the sediment and rocks on the shallow shelf, also removing much of the algae growth. In the short term, this reduces food available to the pupfish.

“The pupfish have survived several of these events in recent years,” said Kevin Wilson, National Park Service aquatic ecologist. “We didn’t find any dead fish after the waves stopped.”The Devils Hole pupfish population have been on an upswing lately.

Nine years ago, there were only 35 fish in their natural habitat. In March this year, the population was up to 175 fish. The annual fall pupfish count is planned for this weekend.

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Correction made 9/22/2022 at 11:50 am: The initial press release incorrectly listed the start time of the seiche as 11:27, rather than 11:10. 

Duration:

3 minutes, 16 seconds

On September 19th, 2022 a large earthquake that rocked the Pacific Coast of Mexico made waves in Devils Hole—literally.