Earthquakes in Venezuela through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 36 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Venezuela. 5 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8 on September 1, 1530 (Cumana).
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 4.8 on October 13 (0 km SW of Cepitá, Colombia). The strongest: magnitude 5 on October 2 (22 km SSE of Güiria, Venezuela).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: an estimated magnitude 7.7 on March 26, 1812 (La Guaira), for which NOAA records 26,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 68 here, back to 1498. NOAA records deaths in 24 of the events here, 51,154 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.2 on June 24, 2026 (20 km E of San Felipe, Venezuela). NOAA’s record here begins on August 2, 1498 with an earthquake (Boca De La Sierpe). 42 of the 68 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 18 tsunamis that began in or off Venezuela. The highest water NOAA records here was 10 m, on October 29, 1900. The deadliest, on September 1, 1530, killed 4 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano in or off Venezuela.
The events
- June 24, 2026Earthquake · M 7.520 km W of Catia La Mar, VenezuelaUSGS
- June 24, 2026Earthquake · M 7.220 km E of San Felipe, Venezuela · 6,509 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 3, 1911EruptionPiparoNOAA NCEI
- October 29, 1900Earthquake · M 7.7Near the coast of Venezuela · 25 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 29, 1900Tsunami · 10 m hereMancutoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 26, 1812Earthquake · M 7.7 (est.)La Guaira · 26,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 14, 1797EarthquakeCumana, Cariaco · 16,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- February 3, 1610Earthquake · M 7.9 (est.)La Grita,Bailadores,Merida · 60 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- September 1, 1530Earthquake · M 8.0 (est.)Cumana · 4 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- September 1, 1530Tsunami · 7.3 m hereCumana · 4 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- August 2, 1498EarthquakeBoca De La SierpeNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Venezuela 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 Venezuela 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 Venezuela, 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