1497 Earthquake: Qalhat, Oman
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Qalhat, Oman in 1497.
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
- 1497
- Place
- Qalhat, Oman
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Mw)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 22.800° N, 59.250° E
- Country
- Oman
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
We suggest that an earthquake in 1497 moderately damaged Qalhat. The city was in the process of being rebuilt at the time of visit and attack by Albuquerque in 1507–1508. The city completely recovered both from natural and man-made calamities by 1515–1516.
Therefore, the earthquake event of 1497AD is suggested with a hypothetical epicenter near Tiwi or Qalhat Fault and a magnitude between Mw5.5–5.0
Qalhat, a busy Medieval port of Oman, suffered seismic damage in 1497. We assign intensity VII or less based on sparse archaeoseismological evidence, and Mw 5.5 based on ShakeMap calculations. The event was possibly caused by a rupture along the >20 km long Tiwi or Qalhat Fault.
(above from reference #13848)
Thus it is most likely that the earthquake of 1497 was relatively local to Qalhat and of moderate size […] In conclusion, the most likely explanation of the Qalhat story is that the town was damaged by an earthquake in April 1497 with a local epicentre, and a magnitude in the region of 6 Mw. (reference #1328)
NOTE: ref #1117 and others attribute felt effects in Oman to 1483 event.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1497The 1400sRecent earthquakes near here
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 10758.