October 20, 1733 Earthquake: Ancona, Italy
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Ancona, Italy on October 20, 1733.
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 20, 1733
- Place
- Ancona, Italy
- Magnitude
- 6 (Mw)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 43.619° N, 13.513° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
Senigallia: “There was a violent earthquake, which caused a great many houses to collapse, several people to be killed, and a number of ships with 200 sailors or more to sink in the harbor.” (reference #14427) Based on newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti
Reference #14426 lists Intensity of 5-6, while ref #14427 lists Intensity 8.
Note: another earthquake reported on 19 Oct 1733 in same epicentral area.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 14, 1703, Central Apennino, Norcia, L'Aquila, Perugia, Italy
- January 13, 1915, Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi, Italy
- February 2, 1703, L'Aquila (Aquila), Italy
- December 1, 1328, Norcia, Italy
- December 25, 1352, Sansepolcro, Italy
- September 9, 1349, L'Aquila, Abruzzi, Sannio, Italy
- April 14, 1672, Rimini, Italy
- September 30, 1789, Citta Di Castello,sansepolcro, Italy
- April 6, 2009, L'Aquila, Italy
- August 24, 2016, Accumoli, Arquata, Amatrice, Italy
- May 12, 1730, Norcia, Italy
- August 3, 1414, Sansepolcro, Italy
- October 19, 1768, Santa Sofia, Italy
- June 13, 1542, Scarperia, Italy
- August 22, 1859, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1733The 1700sRecent 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 11006.