Antigua & Barbuda

Earthquakes in Antigua & Barbuda through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 11 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Antigua & Barbuda. One stands far above the rest: an estimated magnitude 8.5 on February 8, 1843 (Pointe-A-Pitre). The next strongest reached 7.5.

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 5,000 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 7 here, back to 1690. NOAA records deaths in 2 of the events here, 5,006 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.5 on March 16, 1985 (18 km SE of Market Shop, Saint Kitts and Nevis). NOAA’s record here begins on April 16, 1690 with an earthquake. 5 of the 7 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began in or off Antigua & Barbuda, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 3.7 m, on November 1, 1755.

The events

  • July 10, 2023Earthquake · M 6.6278 km NNE of Codrington, Antigua and BarbudaUSGS
  • March 16, 1985Earthquake · M 6.518 km SE of Market Shop, Saint Kitts and NevisUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • October 8, 1974Earthquake · M 7.525 km NW of Saint John’s, Antigua and BarbudaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 29, 1897Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)6 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • February 8, 1843Earthquake · M 8.5 (est.)Pointe-A-Pitre · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • November 1, 1755Tsunami · 3.7 m hereLisbonNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 16, 1690Earthquake · M 7.0 (est.)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Antigua & Barbuda when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Antigua & Barbuda is the nearest country.
  • 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.
  • The map frames the box around Antigua & Barbuda, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
  • 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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