Croatia

Earthquakes in Croatia, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Croatia. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.4 on December 29, 2020 (2 km WSW of Petrinja, Croatia).

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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 8 deaths for it. 11 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 17 in all. NOAA lists 6 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
  • May 24, 1979Earthquake · M 6.28 km WSW of Budva, MontenegroUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • June 21, 1978Tsunami · 3 m hereEastern Italy, Adriatic SeaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 13, 1964Earthquake · M 6.0Croatia · 3 deaths (NOAA)NOAA 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
  • December 29, 1942Earthquake · M 6.22 km SE of Grabovci, CroatiaUSGS · NOAA 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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