March 16, 1644 Earthquake: Pamplona, San Cristobal, Colombia, Venezuela
An earthquake struck Pamplona, San Cristobal, Colombia, Venezuela on March 16, 1644 at 10:00 UTC.
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
- March 16, 1644
- Time
- 10:00 UTC
- Place
- Pamplona, San Cristobal, Colombia, Venezuela
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 7.600° N, 73.000° W
- Country
- Venezuela
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- 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.
A devastating earthquake wreaked havoc in various locations in the Andes mountain range. According to Ramirez (1975), Pamplona was ruined; there were many dead and injured there. According to Centeno (1940), it also caused devastation in Tariba, San Cristobal, Merida, and even Trujillo. In San Antonio de Mucuno, in the Acequias Valley, it is reported that everything was sunk and had deep cracks, one of which ran through the church. (reference #124)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 18, 1875, Cucuta,san Cayetano,villa del Rosario, Colombia
- April 29, 1894, N Santander, Merida,tovar, Colombia, Venezuela
- July 9, 1950, Anboledas, Colombia
- February 3, 1610, La Grita,bailadores,merida, Venezuela
- February 26, 1849, Tachira (Lobatera), Venezuela
- July 29, 1967, Colombia
- October 18, 1981, Venezuela-N Colombia
- April 18, 1974, NE, Cepita, San Andreas, Colombia
- March 6, 1869, San Cristobal, Bogota, Venezuela, Colombia
- February 15, 1796, N Santander,pamplona, Colombia
- January 16, 1644, Merida, Pamploma,herran, Venezuela, Colombia
- September 1799, Cartago, Colombia
- December 31, 1868, Robador,simacota,barichara DE Cabrera, Colombia
- November 26, 1980, E, Venezuela, Colombia
- March 10, 2015, Antioquia, Santander, Colombia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1644The 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 957.