Earthquakes in Monaco through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Monaco. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was an estimated magnitude 6.5 on February 23, 1887 (Ligurian Coast).
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
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 600 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 7 here, back to 1494. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 754 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is an earthquake on October 16, 1896 (Ligurian Coast). NOAA’s record here begins on June 23, 1494 with an earthquake (Lantosque,Roquebilliere,Nice). 7 of the 7 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began in or off Monaco.
The events
- July 19, 1963Earthquake · M 6.358 km SSE of San Lorenzo al Mare, ItalyUSGS
- July 19, 1963Earthquake · M 6.162 km SSE of San Lorenzo al Mare, ItalyUSGS
- October 16, 1896EarthquakeLigurian CoastNOAA NCEI
- February 23, 1887Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)Ligurian Coast · 600 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 26, 1831EarthquakeCoast Of Liguria · 4 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- January 8, 1819TsunamiGenoaNOAA NCEI
- February 15, 1644EarthquakeCorsica,Belvedere,Roquebilliere · 150 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- June 18, 1618EarthquakeDuranus,Coaraze,Roquesperviera,SaorgeNOAA NCEI
- June 23, 1494EarthquakeLantosque,Roquebilliere,NiceNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Monaco 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 Monaco 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 Monaco, 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