Cali

Earthquakes near Cali through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 9 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Cali, 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 one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Cali in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.6 on September 24 (23 km NNW of Rioblanco, Colombia).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.8 on June 6, 1994 (23 km E of Toribío, Colombia), for which NOAA records 650 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 13 here, back to 1566. NOAA records deaths in 7 of the events here, 964 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.6 on January 26, 2019 (13 km NW of Santa María, Colombia). NOAA’s record here begins in 1566 with an earthquake. It grows thinner going back: 6 of the 13 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Cali. NOAA lists 3 significant eruptions of one volcano within 100 km of Cali. The largest was Huila, Nevado del on April 18, 2007, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index.

The events

  • January 26, 2019Earthquake · M 5.613 km NW of Santa María, Colombia · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • April 18, 2007Eruption · VEI 3Huila, Nevado delNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • June 6, 1994Earthquake · M 6.823 km E of Toribío, Colombia · 650 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 3, 1906Earthquake · M 7.7NOAA NCEI
  • October 11, 1877TsunamiBuenaventuraNOAA NCEI
  • 1566Earthquake · M 7.8 (est.)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Cali 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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