November 1587 Earthquake: Loule, Portugal
An earthquake struck Loule, Portugal in November 1587. It killed 170 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
- November 1587
- Place
- Loule, Portugal
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.100° N, 8.000° W
- Country
- Portugal
The toll
- Deaths
- 170
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
End of November, 1587, intensity 10-10.5, local earthquake on the fault Boliqueime-Loule-Santa Catarina in the Algarve. 170 people perished under the ruins of Loule. (reference #1093)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 1, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 21, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal
- November 11, 1858, Setubal, Portugal
- March 6, 1719, Algarve, Spain, Portugal
- January 12, 1856, Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
- December 27, 1722, Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
- August 14, 1978, Spain
- May 26, 881, Spain, Algeria, Morocco
- 216 BC, Cadiz, Spain
- 241 BC, Cadiz, Spain
- 1344, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 5, 1772, Lisbon, Portugal
- August 24, 1356, Sevilla, Cordova, Lisbon, Spain, Portugal
- March 29, 1756, Lisbon, Portugal
More
Significant earthquakes of 1587The 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 791.