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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 From our modeling results and based on historical documents and the topography of the area, we conclude that these wave heights would have been sufficient to cause inundations that in the case of Acapulco were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 Our results are consistent with published and unpublished damage reports that attest to the hazards associated with great earthquakes and tsunamis along the subduction zone in Mexico

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During the spring of 1996, scientists explored the North American plate boundary of southern Mexico and the Gulf of California through the Crustal Offshore Research Transect by Extensive Seismic Profiling (CORTES‐P96) experiment (Figure la). Through dense sampling of the plates, the new data provides images that unravel the style of deformation along and across the subduction zone and in the Gulf interior, the dimensions of the accretionary prism, and the geometry of the subduction zone, which is well constrained by the reflection and refraction records. The subduction process along the south coast of Mexico, in spite of the high seismic risk that it represents, is poorly constrained due to the lack of high‐resolution data. This project is aimed at resolving the crustal architecture in a zone of confronted plates.

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