Earthquakes in France, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 17 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off France. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.4 on November 29, 2007 (18 km WNW of Basse-Pointe, Martinique).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 34 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.2 on October 23 (50 km WNW of Malfa, Italy). The strongest: magnitude 6.8 on October 13 (central Mid-Atlantic Ridge).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 3.8 on February 13, 1991, for which NOAA records 9 deaths. 18 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 24 in all. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1967–1976, with 5 of the 17. 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 lists 7 tsunamis that began in or off France, and 5 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 4.05 m, on December 26, 2004. The deadliest, on October 16, 1979, killed one person here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano in or off France. The largest was Fournaise, Piton de la in August 1972, at 2 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 3 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- October 27, 2025Earthquake · M 6.5164 km E of Beauséjour, GuadeloupeUSGS
- 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
- December 26, 2004Tsunami · 4.05 m hereOff W. Coast Of SumatraNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 21, 2004Earthquake · M 6.320 km SSW of Petites Anses, Guadeloupe · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 13, 1991Earthquake · M 3.89 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- October 16, 1979Tsunami · 3 m hereFrench Riviera (Ligurian Sea) · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 1972Eruption · VEI 2Fournaise, Piton de la · 3 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 25, 1969Earthquake · M 7.2162 km ESE of Beauséjour, GuadeloupeUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- January 8, 1959Earthquake · M 6.418 km SSE of Berekua, DominicaUSGS
- March 19, 1953Earthquake · M 7.318 km WSW of Soufrière, Saint LuciaUSGS
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