October 11, 1737 Earthquake: Calcutta, India
An earthquake struck Calcutta, India on October 11, 1737. 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
- October 11, 1737
- Place
- Calcutta, India
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Country
- India
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #1696 finds that this event was actually a cyclone, NOT an earthquake and tsunami.
the Calcutta Earthquake placed one line above the Kamchatskaya Earthquake [by Milne 1911, ref #1055] has total fatalities of 300,000. I am also suspicious of the report that the Calcutta Earthquake of Oct. 11, 1737 killed 300,000 people, and I found an article reporting that high water accompanied by a cyclone hit Calcutta on Oct. 7 in the same year, killing 300,000 people. An earthquake may have hit Calcutta, but it is highly likely that the fatalities caused by the high water have been mixed up as those caused by the earthquake. (reference #11168)
More
Significant earthquakes of 1737The 1700sThis 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 1268.