List of historical earthquakes

This is a list of historical earthquakes.

Historical earthquakes are significant earthquakes that occurred before the early 20th century. These events are primarily documented through written sources, observations of shaking objects or animal behavior, religious beliefs (e.g., "God's punishment") or palaeoseismological techniques. Due to the lack of instrumental recordings, there is often significant uncertainty in the locations, magnitudes, and dates of these earthquakes. The number of fatalities is also often uncertain, especially for older events.

Unless otherwise noted, times are local time and magnitudes use the moment magnitude scale ().

Pre-11th century Date Time Event Magnitude Fatalities Location Comments Sources1920 BCE Jishi Gorge outburst flood China Flood caused by landslide triggered by earthquake1740 BCE Mount Tai earthquake China"Bamboo Annals""Bamboo Annals", listed under Xia chapters on King Fa's 7th year.吳階平, 喻滄, 季羨林. (2002) 世紀中國學術大典: 測繪學, 大氣科學, 固體地球物理學, 應用地球物理學, 海洋科學. 福建教育出版社. , . p 41.479 BCE 479 BC Potidaea earthquake7.0  Greece Earthquake followed by a sea withdrawal and large wave (likely a tsunami) that reportedly drowned Persian soldiers during the siege of Potidaea464 BCE 464 BC Sparta earthquake7.2 up to 20,000 Greece Led to helot uprising and strained relations with Athens as a factor in the Peloponnesian War373 BCE Greece Resulting tsunami destroyed the city of Helike226 BCE 226 BC Rhodes earthquake Greece Destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, city of Kameiros60 BCE8.5 Lusitania (now Portugal) Caused tsunami17 CEAt night AD 17 Lydia earthquake Lydia (now Turkey) Destroyed 13 cities in Asia MinorTacitus and Pliny the Elder13 December 115 CE 115 Antioch earthquake7.5 ~260,000 Roman Syria (now Turkey)29 April 801 CE 801 Apennine earthquake5.4  Papal States (now Italy) Rome greatly damaged; also felt in Spoleto24 November 847 CE 847 Damascus earthquake7.3 70,000 Abbasid Caliphate (now Syria)December 856 CE45,000 Byzantine Empire (now Greece)22 December 856 CE 856 Damghan earthquake7.9 200,000 Abbasid Caliphate (now Iran) City of Qumis (Hecatompylos) partially destroyed with 45,096 casualties reported; aftershocks continued for about one year13 July 869 CE 869 Jōgan earthquake8.6–9.0~1,000 Japan23 March 893 CE 893 Ardabil earthquake5.3–6.0150,000 Armenia (now Iran) Regarded as "fake earthquake" due to misunderstanding of original Armenian sources for the 893 Dvin event (below)28 December 893 CE00:00 (midnight) 893 Dvin earthquake5.3–6.0 or ≥7.030,000 Armenia Later wrongly located in India

11th–16th centuries Date Time Event Magnitude Fatalities Location Comments Sources December 1033 1033 Jordan Valley earthquake7.370,000 Jordan Valley (now Israel) Caused tsunami December 103722,391 China August 12, 10427.250,000 Syria March 18, 1068 1068 Near East earthquake7.0+20,000 Near East (now Syria) October 11, 1138 1138 Aleppo earthquake7.1230,000 Syria September 30, 1139 1139 Ganja earthquake7.7 230,000–300,000 Azerbaijan Resulted in total destruction of Ganja August 12, 115708:15 1157 Hama earthquake7.4 8,000 Syria Largest in sequence of earthquakes from late 1156 to early 1159 February 4, 1169 1169 Sicily earthquake7.3 15,000 Sicily (now Italy) June 29, 117006:29 1170 Syria earthquake7.730,000-105,000 Syria 5,000–80,000 in Aleppo;Ayyubid Architecture, Chapter 7 by Terry Allen 25,000 in HamaNumerous Crusader-era sources July 5, 1201 and/or May 20, 1202 1202 Syria earthquake7.6 1,100,000 Levant (now Syria) Fatalities include deaths from subsequent famine and disease May 11, 122206:15 1222 Cyprus earthquake7.0–7.5 Cyprus Damage in Paphos, Limassol and Nicosia 1269 1269 Cilicia earthquake7.22±0.4660,000 Cilicia (now Turkey) September 27, 1290 1290 Zhili earthquake6.8 100,000 Zhili (now China)USGS page of most destructive earthquakes May 26, 1293 1293 Kamakura earthquake7.123,024 Japan August 8, 130306:00 1303 Crete earthquake8≤10,000 Crete (now Greece) Resulting tsunami devastated Alexandria, Egypt September 25, 1303 1303 Hongdong earthquake7.2–7.6170,000, 200,000+, or 270,000 China Destroyed Taiyuan and Pingyang January 1, 13416 Crimea (now Ukraine) January 25, 134815:00 1348 Friuli earthquake6.63±0.1010,000 Italy Felt in Carinthia and Styria. Deadly earthquakeIISEENET (Information Network of Earthquake disaster Prevention Technologies) – Search Page August 24, 1356 1356 Lisbon earthquake8.5 PortugalCosta, Marisa; Fonseca, João (2007). "Sismicidade histórica em Portugal no período medieval" October 18, 1356 1356 Basel earthquake6.0–7.11,000 SwitzerlandLambert, J., Winter1, T., Dewez, T.J.B. & Sabourault, P. 2004. New hypotheses on the maximum damage area of the 1356 Basel earthquake (Switzerland). "Quaternary Science Reviews", 24, 381–399. May 21, 1382 1382 Dover Straits earthquake6.0  England (now United Kingdom) "Earthquake Synod" that struck during synod called to condemn heresy of John Wycliffe with some viewing event as portentous"Earthquake Synod." In Cross, F. L. and E. A. Livingstone, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. London: Oxford UP, 1974. p. 437De Hamel, Christopher. The Book. A History of the Bible. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2001. p. 169 February 2, 1428 1428 Catalonia earthquake6.7 "thousands" Catalonia (now Spain) Sometimes called "terratrèmol de la candelera" because it took place during CandlemasJosep Perarnau i Espelt (2002). "La lletra de Felip de Malla informant el rei Alfons del terratrèmol de la Candelera, 1428". "Arxiu de textos catalans antics", 21:665–670. ISSN 0211-9811 December 5 & 30, 1456 1456 Central Italy earthquakes7.230,000–70,000 Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) Largest and most widespread earthquake on Italian Peninsula with another 7.0 shock on December 30 May 3, 148103:00 1481 Rhodes earthquake7.1 30,000 Rhodes (now Greece) Largest in series of earthquakes that lasted 10 months September 20, 149808:00 1498 Meiō earthquake8.6 31,000 Honshu (now Japan) June 6, 1505 1505 Lo Mustang earthquake8.2–8.8 Nepal Killed approximately 30% of Nepalese population September 10, 150922:00 1509 Constantinople earthquake7.2±0.3 10,000 Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) January 26, 153104:00 1531 Lisbon earthquake6.4–7.130,000 Portugal 1548 1548 Bengal earthquake7.1+ Bengal (now Bangladesh) Felt over large area with water and mud ejected from ground due to liquefaction causing extensive damage January 23, 1556 1556 Shaanxi earthquake7.0-8.0830,000+ China Deadliest earthquake in recorded historyUSGS November 16–17, 157003:00 1570 Ferrara earthquake5.5 171 ItalyAzariah de Rossi's "Kol Elohim" December 16, 157514:30 1575 Valdivia earthquake8.5  Chile June 11, 1585 1585 Aleutian Islands earthquake9.25 Alaska (now United States) Moderate tsunami struck Sanriku coast of Japan on June 11; Hawaiian oral traditions report deaths after tsunami-like event; paleotsunami evidence in Hawaiian Islands consistent with large 16th-century tsunami with modelling of 9.25 Aleutian Islands earthquake January 18, 158623:00 1586 Tenshō earthquake7.9 8,000 Chūbu region (now Japan) Caused tsunami

17th century Date Time Event Magnitude Fatalities Location Comments Sources November 24, 160413:30 1604 Arica earthquake8.7–9.0100+ Chile Created large tsunami that caused widespread damage to Southern Peru February 3, 160520:00 1605 Keichō earthquake7.9 "thousands" Shikoku (now Japan) July 13, 1605 1605 Guangdong earthquake7.5 "several thousand" Hainan (now China)Likelihood of Tsunamis Affecting the Coast of Southeastern China Wong, W.T. & Chan, Y.W. 6th General Assembly of Asian Seismological Commission 2006 (ASC2006) and Symposium on Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation, Bangkok, Thailand, 7–10 November 2006 December 11, 161110:30 1611 Sanriku earthquake8.1 5,000 Sanriku (now Japan) October 25, 1622 1622 North Guyuan earthquake7.0 12,000 Ningxia (now China) May 11, 162403:00–04:00 1624 Fez earthquake6.0"thousands" Morocco August 1, 1629 1629 Banda Sea earthquake8.2–8.80 Banda Sea (now Indonesia) March 27, 1638 1638 Calabrian earthquakes7.19,581–30,000 Calabria (now Italy) Sequence of four earthquakes February 5, 1641At night 1641 Tabriz earthquake6.8 12,613–30,000 Iran February 5, 166317:30 1663 Charlevoix earthquake7.3–7.90 Quebec (now Canada) Landslides were most significant feature April 6, 1667 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake7.23,000 Croatia November 25, 1667 1667 Shamakhi earthquake6.9 80,000 Azerbaijan July 25, 1668 1668 Shandong earthquake8.542,578 Shandong (now China) Largest recorded earthquake in East China August 17, 1668 1668 North Anatolia earthquake88,000 Anatolia (now Turkey) Largest recorded earthquake in TurkeyUSGS February 17, 167419:30 1674 Ambon earthquake and megatsunami6.82,347 Ambon (now Indonesia) Tsunami up to 100 meters high; first and largest documented tsunami in Indonesia November 4, 167720:00 1677 Bōsō earthquake8.3–8.6569 Bōsō Peninsula (now Japan) October 20, 168711:30 1687 Peru earthquake8.25,000 Peru June 5, 1688 1688 Sannio earthquake710,000 Sannio (now Italy) Destroyed Cerreto Sannita and Guardia Sanframondi, heavily damaged Benevento September 13, 169211:00 1692 Salta earthquake7.013 Salta Province (now Argentina) Destroyed village of Talavera del Esteco June 7, 169211:43 1692 Jamaica earthquake72,000+ Jamaica January 11, 1693 1693 Sicily earthquake7.560,000 Sicily (now Italy) September 5, 169411:40 1694 Irpinia–Basilicata earthquake6.96,000 Irpinia (now Italy) May 18, 169512:00 1695 Linfen earthquake7.852,600–176,365 Shanxi (now China) January 5, 1699Early morning 1699 Java earthquake7.4–8.0128+ Java (now Indonesia)

18th century