Italy

Earthquakes in Italy through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 27 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Italy. The strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.4 on January 11, 1693 (Sicily, Calabria).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.9 on October 23 (53 km WNW of Leni, Italy).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.1 on December 28, 1908 (The 1908 Messina, Italy Earthquake and Tsunami), for which NOAA records 80,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 352 here, back to 2421 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 167 of the events here, 510,972 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 4.5 on March 4, 2026 (4 km ESE of Catania, Italy). NOAA’s record here begins in 2421 BCE with an eruption (Vesuvius). It grows thinner going back: 92 of the 352 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 135 tsunamis that began in or off Italy, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 235 m, on October 9, 1963. The deadliest, on February 6, 1783, killed 1,554 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 62 significant eruptions of 5 volcanoes in or off Italy. The largest was Vesuvius in 2421 BCE, at 5 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Etna on February 4, 1169, which killed 16,000 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • March 4, 2026Earthquake · M 4.54 km ESE of Catania, ItalyUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • October 9, 1963Tsunami · 235 m hereVajont Dam, Vajont RiverNOAA NCEI
  • December 28, 1908Earthquake · M 7.1The 1908 Messina, Italy Earthquake and Tsunami · 80,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • September 8, 1905Earthquake · M 7.25 km W of San Nicolò, Italy · 557 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 6, 1783Tsunami · 16 m hereMessina Straits · 1,554 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 20, 1743Earthquake · M 7.1 (est.)SalentoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 11, 1693Earthquake · M 7.4 (est.)Sicily, Calabria · 54,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 9, 1693Earthquake · M 6.0 (est.)Sicily, Calabria, Catania · 60,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • March 27, 1638Earthquake · M 7.0 (est.)Cosenza,Martirano, Nicastro, Calabria · 9,581 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • February 4, 1169EruptionEtna · 16,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • 2421 BCEEruption · VEI 5VesuviusNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Italy 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 Italy 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 Italy, 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

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