May 17, 1520 Earthquake: Ragusa, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Balkans NW
An earthquake struck Ragusa, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Balkans NW on May 17, 1520.
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
- May 17, 1520
- Place
- Ragusa, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Balkans NW
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 42.600° N, 18.100° E
- Country
- Croatia
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Injuries
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- 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.
In the morning of 17 May 1520, a violent earthquake (IX MCS) hit Dubrovnik. Poet and annalist Nikola Ranjina, who witnessed the earthquake (Ranjina 1883), and Serafino Razzi, author of the first printed history of Dubrovnik (Razzi 1903), describe in detail the disaster in which many palaces and churches were completely demolished, killing and injuring a number of people (Skurla 1871; Kispatic 1891–1895). Strong shaking was also felt in Kotor. Captain Contarini, who was on board his ship at the time of the earthquake, wrote a report to Venice saying: ‘the ship was fluttering like a leaf, and one could see the mountains tremble’ (Sanudo 1863; Albini 2004) (Fig. 11). From this account, we may gather that a seaquake was felt at sea, but with no evidence of a tsunami. (reference #9531)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 6, 1667, Ragusa, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Balkans NW
- April 15, 1979, Montenegro, Balkans NW
- June 1, 1905, Shkoder, Albania
- November 26, 2019, Durres, Thumane, Tirana, Albania
- January 7, 1962, Croatia, Balkans NW
- May 13, 1984, Dubrovnik, Ljubinje, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- April 22, 2022, Mostar, Stolac, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Balkans NW, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- January 11, 1962, Croatia, Balkans NW
- November 3, 1968, Montenegro, Balkans NW
- 1451, Croatia, Balkans NW
- 1471, Croatia, Balkans NW
- February 15, 1482, Croatia, Balkans NW
- December 7, 1504, Croatia, Balkans NW
- May 6, 1516, Croatia, Balkans NW
- July 28, 1516, Croatia, Balkans NW
More
Significant earthquakes of 1520The 1500sRecent 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 10623.