December 27, 1722 Earthquake: Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

Name: December 27, 1722 Earthquake: Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Start: 1722-12-27
Location: Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

December 27, 1722 · Deaths: many · 27 houses destroyed

An earthquake struck Tavira, Algarve, Portugal on December 27, 1722 at 16:30 UTC. It caused a tsunami.

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: December 27, 1722
Time: 16:30 UTC
Place: Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Intensity: 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 37.200° N, 7.600° W
Country: Portugal

The toll

Deaths: Many (about 101 to 1,000)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Houses destroyed: 27

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.

1722, December 27, 17:30 (local time), Port Tavira, Portugal, 37.2 N, -7.6 W, intensity X. (reference #1193)

December 27, 1722, Portugal. The shock was felt at Portimao (37o08'N., 8o3'W.) and the south coast in the vicinity of Cabo de Sho Vicente (37o01'N., 9o00'W.). The sea was much agitated. (reference #41)

December 27, 1722, intensity 10.5, great earthquake in Algarve with many victims. In Tavira, 27 houses were thrown to the ground and the majority of the others were in ruin. Albufeira, Loule, Lagoa, and Faro were also devastated. (reference #1093)

On 27 December 1722 an earthquake stroke Tavira (Algarve) at approximately 5–6 p.m. It was felt all over Algarve, from San Vincent Cape up to the Spanish border (Mendonca, 1758). This information is reproduced in most seismic catalogs (e.g. Rodriguez, 1932; Runa and Freire, 1991; Martins and Victor, 2001). (reference #4649)

[...] the 27 December 1722 Tavira earthquake and tsunami was probably generated offshore, close to 37°01′N, 7°49′W. (reference #12951)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1722 The 1700s Recent earthquakes near here This 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 1227.