Earthquakes in Comoros through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 6 or more in or off Comoros. It was a magnitude 6.2 on August 23, 1918 (1 km NNE of Vanadjou, Comoros).
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.
What the record holds
NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 20 in all. NOAA’s record here begins in March 1883 with an eruption (Karthala). NOAA lists one tsunami from elsewhere that reached Comoros with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 6.9 m, on December 26, 2004. NOAA lists 6 significant eruptions of one volcano in or off Comoros. The largest was Karthala on November 25, 2005, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Karthala in 1903, which killed 17 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- November 25, 2005Eruption · VEI 3Karthala · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 26, 2004Tsunami · 6.9 m hereOff W. Coast Of SumatraNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 5, 1977Eruption · VEI 1Karthala · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 23, 1918Earthquake · M 6.21 km NNE of Vanadjou, ComorosUSGS
- February 25, 1904Eruption · VEI 2Karthala · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1903EruptionKarthala · 17 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 1883Eruption · VEI 2KarthalaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Comoros 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 Comoros 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 Comoros, 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