Cumaná

Earthquakes near Cumaná through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Cumaná, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8 on September 1, 1530 (Cumana).

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake on December 14, 1797 (Cumana, Cariaco), for which NOAA records 16,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 21 here, back to 1530. NOAA records deaths in 7 of the events here, 17,145 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.3 on August 21, 2018 (40 km ENE of Carúpano, Venezuela). NOAA’s record here begins on September 1, 1530 with an earthquake (Cumana). 14 of the 21 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Cumaná, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 6 m, on September 1, 1530. The deadliest, on September 1, 1530, killed 4 people here by NOAA’s runup records.

The events

  • August 21, 2018Earthquake · M 7.340 km ENE of Carúpano, Venezuela · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 14, 1797EarthquakeCumana, Cariaco · 16,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • October 21, 1766Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)Cumana, San Juan Bautista; TrinidadNOAA NCEI
  • September 1, 1530Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Cumana · 4 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • September 1, 1530Tsunami · 6 m hereCumana · 4 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Cumaná 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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