Croatia

Earthquakes in Croatia through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Croatia. The strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.2 on April 6, 1667 (Croatia: Dubrovnik: Ragusa).

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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 57 here, back to 1280. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 5,017 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.4 on December 29, 2020 (2 km WSW of Petrinja, Croatia). NOAA’s record here begins on June 6, 1280 with an earthquake (Croatia). 46 of the 57 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 12 tsunamis that began in or off Croatia, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 3 m, on June 21, 1978.

The events

  • December 29, 2020Earthquake · M 6.42 km WSW of Petrinja, Croatia · 8 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • June 21, 1978Tsunami · 3 m hereEastern Italy, Adriatic SeaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 11, 1962Earthquake · M 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, Croatia · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • January 7, 1962Earthquake · M 6.2Croatia · 4 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • September 14, 1843Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)Croatia: DubrovnikNOAA NCEI
  • April 6, 1667Earthquake · M 7.2 (est.)Croatia: Dubrovnik: Ragusa · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • June 6, 1280EarthquakeCroatiaNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Croatia 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 Croatia 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 Croatia, 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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