October 9, 1680 Earthquake: Malaga, Spain
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Malaga, Spain on October 9, 1680 at 07:00 UTC. It killed 70 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
- October 9, 1680
- Time
- 07:00 UTC
- Place
- Malaga, Spain
- Magnitude
- 6.8 (Mw)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 36.800° N, 4.600° W
- Country
- Spain
The toll
- Deaths
- 70
- Injuries
- 250
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 2,111
- Houses damaged
- 4,320
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.
1680 Oct 09, 7:30 UT, 36 30 N 04 24 W, IX intensity (reference #1124)
1680 Oct 09, 7:00, 36 48 N 04 36 W, VIII-IX intensity, magnitude 6.8 (reference #12773)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 22, 1522, Fez, Almeria, Morocco, Spain
- December 25, 1884, Arenas del Rey, Vega, Alhama, Malaga, Spain
- February 24, 2004, Al Hoceima, Imzourene, Beni Abdallah, Morocco
- September 30, 1531, Baza, Spain
- August 25, 1804, Almeria, Dalias, Roquetas, Spain
- January 29, 1909, Tetuan (Tetouan),romars, Morocco
- April 5, 1504, Carmona, Spain
- October 27, 1806, Granada, Spain
- April 19, 1956, Spain
- January 13, 1804, Dalias, Almeria, Spain
- January 25, 2016, Melilla, Morocco
- April 24, 1431, Granada, Spain
- March 29, 1954, Spain
- 1464, Sevilla (Seville), Spain
- July 5, 1930, Montilla, Spain
More
Significant earthquakes of 1680The 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 1089.