Cartago

Earthquakes near Cartago, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 12 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Cartago, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.4 on August 10, 2026 (4 km SSW of San José del Palmar, Colombia).

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The last 30 days · as of

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

The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 10 (6 km WSW of Filadelfia, Colombia).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.2 on November 19, 1991 (33 km NNW of Santa Genoveva de Docordó, Colombia), for which NOAA records 2 deaths. 9 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 8 of the events here, 24,416 in all. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1987–1996, with 3 of the 12. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.6 on January 19, 2024 (7 km E of Cartago, Colombia). NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano within 100 km of Cartago. The largest was Ruiz, Nevado del on November 13, 1985, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 23,080 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • August 10, 2026Earthquake · M 7.44 km SSW of San José del Palmar, ColombiaUSGS
  • January 19, 2024Earthquake · M 5.67 km E of Cartago, Colombia · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • November 19, 1991Earthquake · M 7.233 km NNW of Santa Genoveva de Docordó, Colombia · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • November 13, 1985Eruption · VEI 3Ruiz, Nevado del · 23,080 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Cartago 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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