Earthquakes in Israel through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 6 or more in or off Israel. The strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.4 on November 25, 1759 (Baalbec; Syria: Damascus, Antioch).
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: an earthquake on December 5, 1033 (Ramala, Gaza, Nablus; Egypt), for which NOAA records 70,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 15 here, back to 761 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 7 of the events here, 131,011 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.2 on November 22, 1995 (27 km SSE of Nuwaybi‘a, Egypt). NOAA’s record here begins in 761 BCE with a tsunami (Israel And Lebanon Coasts). 14 of the 15 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 10 tsunamis that began in or off Israel. The highest water NOAA records here was 8 m, on October 30, 1759.
The events
- November 22, 1995Earthquake · M 7.227 km SSE of Nuwaybi‘a, Egypt · 11 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 1, 1837Earthquake · M 6.4 (est.)Zefat (Safed); Lebanon: Beirut (Beyrout) · 6,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 25, 1759Earthquake · M 7.4 (est.)Baalbec; Syria: Damascus, Antioch · 30,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 30, 1759Earthquake · M 6.6 (est.)Zefat (Safed) · 2,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 30, 1759Tsunami · 8 m hereAkkoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 21, 1752EarthquakePalestine; Syria · 20,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- December 5, 1033EarthquakeRamala, Gaza, Nablus; Egypt · 70,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- July 9, 551Earthquake · M 7.3 (est.)Bayrut (Beirut); Egypt; Iraq;saudi ArabiaNOAA NCEI
- 761 BCETsunamiIsrael And Lebanon CoastsNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Israel 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 Israel 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 Israel, 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