Earthquakes in Spain through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 3 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Spain. One stands far above the rest: a magnitude 7.8 on March 29, 1954 (Strait of Gibraltar). The next strongest reached 6.8.
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 March 21, 1829 (Torrevieja, Murcia), for which NOAA records 2,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 37 here, back to 217 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 22 of the events here, 7,530 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.1 on May 11, 2011 (Lorca). NOAA’s record here begins in 217 BCE with an earthquake (Cadiz). It grows thinner going back: 9 of the 37 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 16 tsunamis that began in or off Spain, and 3 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 18.3 m, on November 1, 1755. The deadliest here came on November 1, 1755 from a magnitude 8.5 earthquake (Lisbon): NOAA’s runup records count 2,014 deaths in Spain. NOAA lists 5 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off Spain. The largest was La Palma on September 19, 2021, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed one person by NOAA’s count.
The events
- September 19, 2021Eruption · VEI 3La Palma · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 11, 2011Earthquake · M 5.1Lorca · 10 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 29, 1954Earthquake · M 7.8Strait of GibraltarUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 16, 1910Earthquake · M 6.461 km SSE of Castell de Ferro, SpainUSGS
- December 25, 1884Earthquake · M 6.7 (est.)Arenas Del Rey, Vega, Alhama, Malaga · 745 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 21, 1829EarthquakeTorrevieja, Murcia · 2,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 13, 1804Earthquake · M 6.7 (est.)Almeria: Dalias · 2 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- November 1, 1755Tsunami · 18.3 m hereLisbon · 2,014 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 9, 1680Earthquake · M 6.8 (est.)Malaga · 70 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- November 22, 1677Eruption · VEI 2La Palma · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 22, 1522EarthquakeAlmeria; Morocco: Fez · 1,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- February 2, 1428EarthquakePrats De Mollo; Spain: Olot · 800 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 217 BCEEarthquakeCadizNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Spain 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 Spain 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 Spain, 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