December 18, 1594 Earthquake: Ica, Peru

Date

December 18, 1594

Place

Ica, Peru

Intensity

9 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

14.000° S, 76.000° W

Country

Peru

Deaths

40

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.

• 1657, Lima,callao, Peru11,000 deaths · 198 km
• October 20, 1687, Lima, PeruM8.5 · 5,000 deaths · 78 km
• August 15, 2007, Ica, Pisco, Lima, PeruM8 · 596 deaths · $600 million · 93,708 houses destroyed · 94 km
• May 12, 1664, Ica, Pisco, PeruM7.3 · 400 deaths · 24 km
• March 30, 1813, Ica, Peru32 deaths · 66 km
• August 24, 1942, Ica, Nazca, PeruM8.2 · 30 deaths · 111 km
• November 12, 1996, Chincha Alta, Acari, Nazca, Marcona, PeruM7.7 · 14 deaths · 4,006 houses destroyed · 116 km
• May 7, 1647, Peru14 deaths · 198 km
• June 22, 1981, Central, PeruM5.2 · 10 deaths · $5 million · 185 km
• January 5, 1974, Lima, Yauyos, PeruM6.3 · 10 deaths · 193 km
• April 18, 1981, Ayacucho, PeruM4.8 · 8 deaths · 200 km
• November 12, 1980, S Central, PeruM4.9 · 7 deaths · $1 million · 173 km
• December 10, 1950, Ica,chimbote,huaraz,cajamarca,cuzco,moquegua, PeruM7 · 4 deaths · 39 km
• May 28, 1948, Canete, PeruM7 · 4 deaths · 124 km
• March 28, 1982, Coast, Lunahuana, Lima, Huancayo, PeruM6.1 · 3 deaths · $5 million · 146 km

Significant earthquakes of 1594The 1500sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 804.