Athens

Earthquakes near Athens through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 11 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Athens, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.5 on September 30, 1870.

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Athens in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.5 on September 30 (3 km W of Thívai, Greece).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake in December 856 (Korinthos,Patrai (Patras)), for which NOAA records 45,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 31 here, back to 481 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 15 of the events here, 53,230 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.3 on July 19, 2019 (1 km NNE of Magoúla, Greece). NOAA’s record here begins on 481 BCE with an earthquake (Saronic Gulf). It grows thinner going back: 12 of the 31 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 8 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Athens, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 10 m, on July 9, 1956.

The events

  • July 19, 2019Earthquake · M 5.31 km NNE of Magoúla, GreeceUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • July 9, 1956Tsunami · 10 m hereAmorgos Island, Aegean IslandsNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • September 30, 1870Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)100 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • December 856EarthquakeKorinthos,Patrai (Patras) · 45,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • 374 BCEEarthquake · M 7.3 (est.)NOAA NCEI
  • 481 BCEEarthquakeSaronic GulfNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Athens 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

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