Buenaventura

Earthquakes near Buenaventura through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 7 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Buenaventura, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.8 in 1566.

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.4 on February 8, 1995 (24 km NW of Darien, Colombia), for which NOAA records 45 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 9 here, back to 1566. NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 153 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.2 on November 15, 2004 (32 km SSW of Pizarro, Colombia). NOAA’s record here begins in 1566 with an earthquake. 5 of the 9 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Buenaventura, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The deadliest here came on January 31, 1906 from a magnitude 8.8 earthquake (Off Coast): NOAA’s runup records count 100 deaths within 100 km of Buenaventura.

The events

  • November 15, 2004Earthquake · M 7.232 km SSW of Pizarro, ColombiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • February 8, 1995Earthquake · M 6.424 km NW of Darien, Colombia · 45 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 3, 1906Earthquake · M 7.7NOAA NCEI
  • January 31, 1906Tsunami · 5 m highOff Coast · 100 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • 1566Earthquake · M 7.8 (est.)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Buenaventura 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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