Earthquakes in France through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 19 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off France. 5 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8.5 on February 8, 1843 (Pointe-A-Pitre).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 32 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.7 on October 23 (61 km WNW of Leni, Italy). The strongest: magnitude 6.8 on October 13 (central Mid-Atlantic Ridge).
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 5,000 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 74 here, back to 218 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 19 of the events here, 41,391 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 4.8 on June 16, 2023 (5 km WNW of Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon, France). NOAA’s record here begins in 218 BCE with an earthquake (Liguria (Ligurie), Gaule). It grows thinner going back: 18 of the 74 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 38 tsunamis that began in or off France, and 10 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 18 m, on March 11, 1584. The deadliest, on October 16, 1979, killed one person here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 8 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off France. The largest was Pelee on May 8, 1902, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 28,000 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- June 16, 2023Earthquake · M 4.85 km WNW of Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon, FranceUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- November 29, 2007Earthquake · M 7.418 km WNW of Basse-Pointe, Martinique · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 16, 1979Tsunami · 3 m hereFrench Riviera (Ligurian Sea) · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 19, 1953Earthquake · M 7.318 km WSW of Soufrière, Saint LuciaUSGS
- May 8, 1902Eruption · VEI 4Pelee · 28,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 5, 1902Eruption · VEI 4Pelee · 23 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 8, 1843Earthquake · M 8.5 (est.)Pointe-A-Pitre · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 11, 1839Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Fort-De-France, St Pierre; Castries · 390 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 11, 1817Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Chamonix Valley · 4 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- March 11, 1584Tsunami · 18 m hereSwitzerlandNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1227EarthquakeLambesc, High Alps,Provence · 5,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 218 BCEEarthquakeLiguria (Ligurie), GauleNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for France 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 France 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 France, 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