1502 Earthquake: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
An earthquake struck Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1502.
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
- 1502
- Place
- Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 18.300° N, 69.500° W
- Country
- Dominican Republic
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 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.
Reference #124: Herrera (1601) states a great earthquake destroyed the city [Santo Domingo] while Charlevoix (1781) attributes the destruction to a hurricane at end of June that sank various Spanish ships and damaged wood and straw structures
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 4, 1946, Northeastern Coast, Dominican Republic
- August 8, 1946, Northeastern Coast, Dominican Republic
- May 9, 1673, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- June 24, 1984, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- June 11, 1971, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- December 29, 1897, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- September 8, 1615, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
- 1691, Azua, Dominican Republic
- November 1, 1989, Mona Passage, Puerto Rico, US Territories
- April 20, 1564, Concepcion DE LA Vega, Dominican Republic
- January 30, 1776, W, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
- October 18, 1751, Azua DE Compostela, Dominican Republic
- November 12, 1918, Puerto Rico, US Territories
- 1783, Santiago DE Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
- April 24, 1916, Santo Dominigo, Dominican Republic
More
Significant earthquakes of 1502The 1500sRecent 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 659.