List of earthquakes in the Caribbean

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Major earthquakes in the Caribbean are infrequent and are sometimes accompanied by tsunami.

Contents

Earthquakes

DateRegion Mag. MMI DeathsInjuriesCommentsSource
2021-08-14 Haiti 7.2 Mw VIII2,24812,763Severe damage
2020-01-28 Jamaica, Cuba, Cayman Islands 7.7 Mw VI0.3–1 meter tsunami
2020-01-07 Puerto Rico 6.4 Mw VIII49
2018-10-07 Haiti5.9 Mw VI18548
2018-08-21 Venezuela, Trinidad 7.3 Mw VII5122
2010-01-12 Haiti 7.0 Mw X100,000–316,000Extreme damage and minor damaging tsunami
2007-11-29 Martinique 7.4 Mw VI–VII6402
2004-11-21 Guadeloupe, Dominica 6.3 Mw VII113Non-destructive tsunami
2003-09-22 Dominican Republic 6.4 Mw VII3
1997-04-22 Trinidad and Tobago 6.7 Mw VII2Damage
1993-01-13 Jamaica 5.5 MwVII1Some damage [1]
1984-06-24 Dominican Republic 6.7 Mw VII5Limited damage / tsunami
1974-10-08 Antigua, Barbuda 6.9 Mw VII4
1946-08-04 Dominican Republic 8.1 Ms IX2,550Destructive tsunami
1943-07-29 Puerto Rico 7.7 Mw VIIModerate damage [2]
1918-10-11 Puerto Rico 7.1 Mw IX76–116Destructive tsunami
1907-01-14 Jamaica 6.5 Mw 800–1,000Tsunami
1867-11-18 Virgin Islands 7.5 Muk X24Destructive tsunami
1843-02-08 Lesser Antilles 8.5 Muk IX1,500–5,000Extreme damage
1842-05-07 Haiti 8.1 Ms IX5,300Severe damage and destructive tsunami
1839-01-11 Martinique 7.8 Muk IX390–4,000Severe
1787-05-02 Puerto Rico 6.9, 8.0–8.25Tsunami
1766-10-21 Venezuela, Trinidad 7.5 Ms IXSevere [3]
1692-06-07 Jamaica 7.5 Mw ~5,000Tsunami
1690-04-16 Antigua, Saint Kitts and Nevis 8.0 Ms IXSomeDestructive tsunami [3]
Note: The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

See also

Related Research Articles

The 1918 San Fermín earthquake, also known as the Puerto Rico earthquake of 1918, struck the island of Puerto Rico at 10:14:42 local time on October 11. The earthquake measured 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale and IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The mainshock epicenter occurred off the northwestern coast of the island, somewhere along the Puerto Rico Trench.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1946 Dominican Republic earthquake</span> 8.1 magnitude scale earthquake and tsunami near Dominican Republic

The 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake occurred on August 4 at 17:51 UTC near Samaná, Dominican Republic. The mainshock measured 7.8 on the moment magnitude scale and 8.1 on the surface wave magnitude scale. An aftershock occurred four days later on August 8 at 13:28 UTC with a moment magnitude of 7.0. A tsunami was generated by the initial earthquake and caused widespread devastation across Hispaniola. The tsunami was observed in much of the Caribbean and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lists of 20th-century earthquakes</span>

This list of 20th-century earthquakes is a global list of notable earthquakes that occurred in the 20th century. After 1900 most earthquakes have some degree of instrumental records and this means that the locations and magnitudes are more reliable than for earlier events. To prevent this list becoming unmanageable, only those of magnitude 6 and above are included unless they are notable for some other reason.

The 1797 Sumatra earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on February 10. It was the first in a series of great earthquakes that ruptured part of the Sumatran segment of the Sunda megathrust. It caused a damaging tsunami that was particularly severe near Padang, where a 150–200 ton English ship was driven 1 km inland up the Arau River.

The 1868 Hawaii earthquake was the largest recorded in the history of Hawaiʻi island, with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 Mfa and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The earthquake occurred at 4 p.m. local time on April 2, 1868 and caused a landslide and tsunami that led to 77 deaths. The aftershock sequence for this event has continued up to the present day.

The 1935 Sumatra earthquake occurred at 09:35 local time on 28 December. It had a magnitude of Mw 7.7 and a maximum felt intensity of VII (Damaging) on the European macroseismic scale. It triggered a minor tsunami.

The 2002 Sumatra earthquake occurred at 01:26 UTC on 2 November. It had a magnitude of 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale with an epicenter just north of Simeulue island and caused three deaths. This earthquake is regarded as a foreshock of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which had an epicenter about 60 km to the northwest.

The 1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake occurred at 17:00 local time on 7 May. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the Ms scale and triggered a destructive tsunami. It badly affected the northern coast of Haiti and part of what is now the Dominican Republic. Port-de-Paix suffered the greatest damage from both earthquake and tsunami. Approximately 5,000 people were killed by the effects of the earthquake shaking and another 300 by the tsunami.

The 1931 Southwest Sumatra earthquake occurred on 25 September at 05:59 UTC. It was located between the Enggano Island and Sumatra, Indonesia, then under the rule of Dutch East Indies. It had a magnitude of Mw 7.3, or Ms 7.5.

The 1974 Lesser Antilles earthquake occurred at 05:50:58 local time on October 8 with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Four people were injured in what the United States' National Geophysical Data Center called a moderately destructive event.

The 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake occurred at 10:37 local time on 8 February in the island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5, making it the strongest recorded earthquake in the Caribbean and a maximum perceived intensity of shaking of IX on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake was felt widely throughout the Caribbean and as far away as New York. Around 1,500 to 5,000 people were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami</span> Earthquake and tsunami in the Caribbean

The 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami occurred on November 18, at 14.45 in the Anegada Passage about 20 km southwest of Saint Thomas, Danish West Indies. The Ms  7.5 earthquake came just 20 days after the devastating San Narciso Hurricane in the same region. Tsunamis from this earthquake were some of the highest ever recorded in the Lesser Antilles. Wave heights exceeded 10 m (33 ft) in some islands in the Lesser Antilles. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in no more than 50 fatalities, although hundreds of casualties were reported.

On January 30, 1973, at 15:01 (UTC–6), a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck 35.3 km (21.9 mi) beneath the Sierra Madre del Sur range in the Mexican states of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacán. On the Mercalli intensity scale, the earthquake reached a maximum intensity of X (Extreme), causing serious damage in the region. At least 56 people were killed and about 390 were injured. The event is commonly referred to as the Colima earthquake.

During April 1819, the area around Copiapó in northern Chile was struck by a sequence of earthquakes over a period of several days. The largest of these earthquakes occurred on 11 April at about 15:00 local time, with an estimated magnitude of Mw 8.5. The other two events, on 3 April between 08:00 and 09:00 local time and on 4 April at 16:00 local time, are interpreted as foreshocks to the mainshock on 11 April. The mainshock triggered a tsunami that affected 800 km of coastline and was also recorded at Hawaii. The city of Copiapó was devastated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake</span> Earthquake in the Levant

An earthquake struck the Jordan Rift Valley on December 5, 1033 and caused extreme devastation in the Levant region. It was part of a sequence of four strong earthquakes in the region between 1033 AD and 1035 AD. Scholars have estimated the moment magnitude to be greater than 7.0 Mw  and evaluated the Modified Mercalli intensity to X (Extreme). It triggered a tsunami along the Mediterranean coast, causing damage and fatalities. At least 70,000 people were killed in the disaster.

The 1979 Saint Elias earthquake occurred near noon local time on the 28th of February. It measured Mw 7.4–7.6. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII, damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. The epicenter lies near the Alaskan border between America and Canada.

References

  1. "M 5.5 - 3 km N of Easington, Jamaica". earthquake.usgs.gov.
  2. "M 7.7 - 45 km N of San Antonio, Puerto Rico" . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  3. 1 2 NGDC 1972.

Sources

Further reading