Earthquakes in Ghana through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 6 or more in Ghana. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was an estimated magnitude 6.5 on July 10, 1862 (Accra,Christiansborg,Ashanti,Akwapim).
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.
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.4 on June 22, 1939 (8 km ENE of Swedru, Ghana), for which NOAA records 22 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 6 here, back to 1615. NOAA records deaths in 2 of the events here, 25 in all. NOAA’s record here begins in 1615 with an earthquake (Elmina). 5 of the 6 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began in Ghana.
The events
- June 22, 1939Earthquake · M 6.48 km ENE of Swedru, Ghana · 22 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- November 20, 1906Earthquake · M 5.0Ho, Akpafu, Palime, Misa, Accra; TogoNOAA NCEI
- April 14, 1872Earthquake · M 4.9 (est.)AccraNOAA NCEI
- July 10, 1862Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)Accra,Christiansborg,Ashanti,Akwapim · 3 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- July 10, 1862TsunamiGold CoastNOAA NCEI
- December 18, 1636Earthquake · M 5.7 (est.)Fort Duma, AwoinNOAA NCEI
- 1615EarthquakeElminaNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Ghana when it began inside its borders. Damage can reach across them.
- 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 Ghana, 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