Málaga

Earthquakes near Málaga through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Málaga, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. One stands far above the rest: a magnitude 7.8 on March 29, 1954 (Strait of Gibraltar). The next strongest reached 6.8.

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an estimated magnitude 6.7 on December 25, 1884 (Arenas Del Rey, Vega, Alhama, Malaga), for which NOAA records 745 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 6 here, back to 1431. NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 839 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5 on April 19, 1956. NOAA’s record here begins on April 24, 1431 with an earthquake (Granada). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Málaga. The highest water NOAA records here was 5 m, on October 9, 1680.

The events

  • April 19, 1956Earthquake · M 5.011 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 29, 1954Earthquake · M 7.8Strait of GibraltarUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 25, 1884Earthquake · M 6.7 (est.)Arenas Del Rey, Vega, Alhama, Malaga · 745 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 9, 1680Earthquake · M 6.8 (est.)Malaga · 70 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • October 9, 1680Tsunami · 5 m hereAlboran SeaNOAA NCEI
  • April 24, 1431EarthquakeGranadaNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Málaga 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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