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Major earthquakes in the Caribbean are infrequent and are sometimes accompanied by tsunami.
Date | Region | Mag. | MMI | Deaths | Injuries | Comments | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021-08-14 | Haiti | 7.2 Mw | VIII | 2,248 | 12,763 | Severe damage | |
2020-01-28 | Jamaica, Cuba, Cayman Islands | 7.7 Mw | VI | 0.3–1 meter tsunami | |||
2020-01-07 | Puerto Rico | 6.4 Mw | VIII | 4 | 9 | ||
2018-10-07 | Haiti | 5.9 Mw | VI | 18 | 548 | ||
2018-08-21 | Venezuela, Trinidad | 7.3 Mw | VII | 5 | 122 | ||
2010-01-12 | Haiti | 7.0 Mw | X | 100,000–316,000 | Extreme damage and minor damaging tsunami | ||
2007-11-29 | Martinique | 7.4 Mw | VI–VII | 6 | 402 | ||
2004-11-21 | Guadeloupe, Dominica | 6.3 Mw | VII | 1 | 13 | Non-destructive tsunami | |
2003-09-22 | Dominican Republic | 6.4 Mw | VII | 3 | |||
1997-04-22 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6.7 Mw | VII | 2 | Damage | ||
1993-01-13 | Jamaica | 5.5 Mw | VII | 1 | Some damage | [1] | |
1984-06-24 | Dominican Republic | 6.7 Mw | VII | 5 | Limited damage / tsunami | ||
1974-10-08 | Antigua, Barbuda | 6.9 Mw | VII | 4 | |||
1946-08-04 | Dominican Republic | 7.8 Mw | IX | 2,550 | Destructive tsunami | ||
1943-07-29 | Puerto Rico | 7.7 Mw | VII | Moderate damage | [2] | ||
1918-10-11 | Puerto Rico | 7.1 Mw | IX | 76–116 | Destructive tsunami | ||
1907-01-14 | Jamaica | 6.2 Mw | 800–1,000 | Tsunami | |||
1867-11-18 | Virgin Islands | 7.2 Mw | X | 24 | Destructive tsunami | ||
1843-02-08 | Lesser Antilles | 8.5 Muk | IX | 1,500–5,000 | Extreme damage | ||
1842-05-07 | Haiti | 8.1 Ms | IX | 5,300 | Severe damage and destructive tsunami | ||
1839-01-11 | Martinique | 7.5–8.0 Mw | IX | 390–4,000 | Severe | ||
1787-05-02 | Puerto Rico | 6.9, 8.0–8.25 | Tsunami | ||||
1766-10-21 | Venezuela, Trinidad | 6.5–7.5 Ms | IX | Severe | [3] | ||
1692-06-07 | Jamaica | 7.5 Mw | ~5,000 | Tsunami | |||
1690-04-16 | Antigua, Saint Kitts and Nevis | 8.0 Ms | IX | Some | Destructive 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. |
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.
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.
This list of 20th-century earthquakes is a list of earthquakes of magnitude 6 and above that occurred in the 20th century. Sone smaller events which nevertheless had a significant impact are also included. 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.
The 1797 Sumatra earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on 10 February. 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 t English ship was driven 1 km (0.62 mi) inland up the Arau River.
The 1868 Hawaiʻi 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.
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.
An earthquake struck the Jordan Rift Valley on December 5, AD 1033 and caused extreme devastation in the Levant region. It was part of a sequence of four strong earthquakes in the region between 1033 and 1035. 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 affected Alaska at 12:27 AKST on 28 February. The thrust-faulting Mw 7.5 earthquake had an epicenter in the Granite Mountains. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII, damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. Damage also extended across the border in parts of Yukon, Canada.
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