Parma

Earthquakes near Parma through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Parma, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.3 on September 7, 1920 (2 km SW of Molazzana, Italy).

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake on December 25, 1222 (Brescia), for which NOAA records 12,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 35 here, back to 178 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 7 of the events here, 13,491 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.9 on May 29, 2012 (Emilia Romagna: Medolla, Mirandola, Cavezzo). NOAA’s record here begins in 178 BCE with an earthquake (Sabines). It grows thinner going back: 15 of the 35 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 23 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Parma.

The events

  • May 29, 2012Earthquake · M 5.9Emilia Romagna: Medolla, Mirandola, Cavezzo · 17 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • May 20, 2012Earthquake · M 6.04 km NNE of Massa Finalese, Italy · 7 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • September 7, 1920Earthquake · M 6.32 km SW of Molazzana, Italy · 1,400 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 23, 1730TsunamiTorre AnnunziataNOAA NCEI
  • December 25, 1222EarthquakeBrescia · 12,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • 178 BCEEarthquakeSabinesNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Parma 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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