Algiers

Earthquakes near Algiers through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 3 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Algiers, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest was a magnitude 7.3 on October 10, 1980 (3 km NNE of Chlef, Algeria).

Open the live map

The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Algiers in the last 30 days.

Live
Open the live map

What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake in May 1716 (Algiers), for which NOAA records 20,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 20 here, back to 1359. NOAA records deaths in 8 of the events here, 34,402 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.4 on May 28, 2016 (Medea: Mihoub). NOAA’s record here begins on March 3, 1359 with an earthquake (Algiers). It grows thinner going back: 13 of the 20 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Algiers, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5 m, on January 2, 1365.

The events

  • May 28, 2016Earthquake · M 5.4Medea: MihoubNOAA NCEI
  • May 21, 2003Earthquake · M 6.825 km WNW of Dellys, Algeria · 2,287 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 10, 1980Earthquake · M 7.33 km NNE of Chlef, Algeria · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 1716EarthquakeAlgiers · 20,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • January 2, 1365Tsunami · 5 m hereAlgiersNOAA NCEI
  • March 3, 1359EarthquakeAlgiersNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Algiers when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

Other places nearby