May 26, 1618 Earthquake: Bombay, India
An earthquake struck Bombay, India on May 26, 1618. It killed 2,000 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
- May 26, 1618
- Place
- Bombay, India
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 18.900° N, 72.900° E
- Country
- India
The toll
- Deaths
- 2,000
- 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.
May 26,1618, Bombay, India, Intensity IX (?). This earthquake was accompanied by a severe hurricane. 2,000 lives and 60 vessels are reported to have been lost in Bombay. Because of the hurricane the estimate of epicentral intensity of the earthquake, which may have been quite strong, is uncertain.
(reference #1274)
May 26, 1618, India, Bombay earthquake?, intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
May 26, 1618, Bombay, India. Lists the source as Oldham, T. (1883). A Catalogue of Indian earthquakes from the earliest to the end of A.D. 1869, Memo. Geol. Surv. Ind. 19 (3), 1-53 (reference #1212)
May 1618, Delta of River Indus, caused great damage. (reference #1100)
Simultaneously there was a severe tropical cyclone and 60 vessels lost in Mumbai (former Bombay). (reference #11454)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1618The 1600sRecent 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 879.