Earthquakes in Dominican Republic through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 25 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Dominican Republic. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8 on May 7, 1842 (Cap-Haitien).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.8 on September 27 (8 km WSW of Guaymate, Dominican Republic).
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 5,300 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 23 here, back to 1502. NOAA records deaths in 7 of the events here, 7,221 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 4.5 on October 16, 2003 (Moca, Santiago). NOAA’s record here begins in 1502 with an earthquake (Santo Domingo). 15 of the 23 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 8 tsunamis that began in or off Dominican Republic, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5 m, on August 4, 1946. The deadliest, on August 4, 1946, killed 1,790 people here by NOAA’s runup records.
The events
- October 16, 2003Earthquake · M 4.5Moca, SantiagoNOAA NCEI
- June 24, 1984Earthquake · M 6.952 km S of San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 21, 1948Earthquake · M 7.111 km WNW of Sánchez, Dominican RepublicUSGS
- August 8, 1946Earthquake · M 7.024 km NNW of Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic · 75 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- August 4, 1946Earthquake · M 7.816 km NNW of Miches, Dominican Republic · 1,790 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 4, 1946Tsunami · 5 m hereNortheastern Coast · 1,790 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 7, 1842Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Cap-Haitien · 5,300 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1502EarthquakeSanto DomingoNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Dominican Republic 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 Dominican Republic 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 Dominican Republic, 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