Earthquakes in Argentina through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 115 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Argentina. 13 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.5 on October 27, 1894 (La Rioja, San Juan, Mendoza).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 7 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 23 (102 km W of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina). The strongest: magnitude 5.2 on September 25 (69 km SW of San Antonio, Chile).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake on March 20, 1861 (Mendoza, San Luiz), for which NOAA records 14,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 39 here, back to 1692. NOAA records deaths in 16 of the events here, 24,572 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.4 on January 19, 2021 (26 km SW of Pocito, Argentina). NOAA’s record here begins on September 13, 1692 with an earthquake (Santiago, Esteco, Rio De Las Piedras). 19 of the 39 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began in or off Argentina, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5 m, on May 22, 1960. The deadliest here came on May 22, 1960 from a magnitude 9.5 earthquake (Southern Chile): NOAA’s runup records count 3 deaths in Argentina.
The events
- January 19, 2021Earthquake · M 6.426 km SW of Pocito, ArgentinaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- June 23, 1991Earthquake · M 7.327 km NNW of El Hoyo, ArgentinaUSGS
- November 23, 1977Earthquake · M 7.4San Juan, Argentina · 65 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 22, 1960Tsunami · 5 m hereSouthern Chile · 3 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 15, 1944Earthquake · M 6.94 km ESE of Chimbas, Argentina · 10,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 14, 1927Earthquake · M 7.4Mendoza; ChileNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 17, 1920Earthquake · M 6.726 km S of Nueve de Julio, Argentina · 400 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 7, 1912Earthquake · M 7.331 km SE of Villa Atamisqui, ArgentinaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- October 27, 1894Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)La Rioja, San Juan, MendozaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 20, 1861EarthquakeMendoza, San Luiz · 14,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 13, 1692Earthquake · M 7.0 (est.)Santiago, Esteco, Rio De Las Piedras · 11 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Argentina 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 Argentina 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 Argentina, 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