October 18, 1356 Earthquake: Basel, Switzerland
An earthquake struck Basel, Switzerland on October 18, 1356 at 21:30 UTC. It killed 300 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 18, 1356
- Time
- 21:30 UTC
- Place
- Basel, Switzerland
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 47.400° N, 7.600° E
- Country
- Switzerland
The toll
- Deaths
- 300
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1356, October 18. Germany, all the upper Rhine, especially at Strasburg and Bale, district of Constance, Lausanne, Berne and the borders of Bavaria. Intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall,
the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur. (reference #1055)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 1584, Geneva-Yvoire, Switzerland
- September 18, 1601, Switzerland
- March 11, 1817, Chamonix Valley, France
- July 25, 1855, Haut-Valais, Switzerland
- May 12, 1021, Switzerland
- November 24, 1346, Switzerland
- September 14, 1454, Switzerland
- September 15, 1454, Switzerland
- November 29, 1610, Switzerland
- December 8, 2006, Basel, Switzerland
- March 23, 1391, Switzerland
- April 18, 1835, Switzerland
- 1375, Switzerland
- December 5, 2004, Emmendingen, Freiburg Im Breisgau, Germany
- March 1616, Switzerland
More
Significant earthquakes of 1356The 1300sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 551.