Earthquakes in Colombia through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 81 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Colombia. 10 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8.2 on June 18, 1826 (Engativa,Bogota,Ramiriqui,Umbita,Tunja).
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 16 (51 km ESE of Juradó, Colombia). The strongest: magnitude 4.8 on October 13 (0 km SW of Cepitá, Colombia).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.1 on January 25, 1999 (Near Armenia, Colombia), for which NOAA records 1,185 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 88 here, back to 1566. NOAA records deaths in 49 of the events here, 31,076 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.3 on June 8, 2025 (15 km NE of Paratebueno, Colombia). NOAA’s record here begins in 1566 with an earthquake. It grows thinner going back: 50 of the 88 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 7 tsunamis that began in or off Colombia, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 8 m, on July 19, 2017. The deadliest here came on January 31, 1906 from a magnitude 8.8 earthquake (Off Coast): NOAA’s runup records count 598 deaths in Colombia. NOAA lists 11 significant eruptions of 5 volcanoes in or off Colombia. The largest was Ruiz, Nevado del on March 12, 1595, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Ruiz, Nevado del on November 13, 1985, which killed 23,080 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- June 8, 2025Earthquake · M 6.315 km NE of Paratebueno, ColombiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 19, 2017Tsunami · 8 m hereOff The Coast Near Santa MartaNOAA NCEI
- January 25, 1999Earthquake · M 6.1Near Armenia, Colombia · 1,185 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 13, 1985Eruption · VEI 3Ruiz, Nevado del · 23,080 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 12, 1979Earthquake · M 7.756 km NW of Valdez, Ecuador · 600 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 31, 1970Earthquake · M 8.095 km N of San Antonio del Estrecho, Peru · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 31, 1906Tsunami · 5 m hereOff Coast · 598 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 18, 1900Earthquake · M 7.9NOAA NCEI
- May 18, 1875Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)Cucuta,San Cayetano,Villa Del Rosario · 1,001 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 18, 1826Earthquake · M 8.2 (est.)Engativa,Bogota,Ramiriqui,Umbita,TunjaNOAA NCEI
- March 12, 1595Eruption · VEI 4Ruiz, Nevado del · 636 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1566Earthquake · M 7.8 (est.)NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Colombia 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 Colombia 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 Colombia, 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