Puerto Vallarta will take part in Mexico’s nationwide safety drill on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, at 12:00 noon. Jalisco’s State Civil Protection and Firefighters Unit and the national civil-protection platform both set that hour as the single start time. It is a practice, not a real earthquake or tsunami.
Hotels, shops, and offices around downtown Puerto Vallarta and the Malecón may sound alarms, pause service, and ask people to walk to assembly points. If you are on a beach or staying in Marina Vallarta, follow staff instructions and treat the sirens as a rehearsal unless officials say otherwise.
Jalisco’s official hypothesis for the exercise is two hypothetical quakes, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6. The second scenario, placed in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, includes a tsunami that would affect the Jalisco coast at Cihuatlán, La Huerta, Tomatlán, Cabo Corrientes, and Puerto Vallarta. Civil Protection wants families, schools, and workplaces to rehearse what they would do if that kind of alert were real.
Buildings that want a participation certificate should register by Friday, Sept. 18, on the Jalisco platform or the national 2nd Simulacro Nacional 2026 site. Tell your hotel desk you know it is a drill, so nobody calls 911 for the exercise itself.
