September 30, 1531 Earthquake: Baza, Spain
An earthquake struck Baza, Spain on September 30, 1531. It killed 400 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
- September 30, 1531
- Place
- Baza, Spain
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.533° N, 2.733° W
- Country
- Spain
The toll
- Deaths
- 400
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
1531 Sept 30, 04 hour, 400 deaths (reference #12773)
1531 Sept 30. Destroying entire blocks of houses, towers, churches and the Alcazaba in Baza, killing more than 1000 people. (reference #13516)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 21, 1829, Torrevieja, Murcia, Spain
- September 22, 1522, Fez, Almeria, Morocco, Spain
- December 25, 1884, Arenas del Rey, Vega, Alhama, Malaga, Spain
- August 25, 1804, Almeria, Dalias, Roquetas, Spain
- November 9, 1518, Vera, Spain
- October 9, 1680, Malaga, Spain
- August 28, 1674, Lorca, Spain
- October 27, 1806, Granada, Spain
- April 19, 1956, Spain
- May 11, 2011, Lorca, Spain
- January 13, 1804, Dalias, Almeria, Spain
- April 24, 1431, Granada, Spain
- March 29, 1954, Spain
- January 29, 2005, La Paca, Zarcilla DE Ramos, Spain
- February 2, 1999, Mula, Puebla DE Mula, Spain
More
Significant earthquakes of 1531The 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 10684.