March 30, 1738 Earthquake: Medimurje, Croatia, Balkans NW
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Medimurje, Croatia, Balkans NW on March 30, 1738.
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 30, 1738
- Place
- Medimurje, Croatia, Balkans NW
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (ML)
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 46.450° N, 16.390° E
- Country
- Croatia
- Region
- Southern Europe
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
By reviewing the previously mentioned literature, it is clear that the sources do not agree on the date of the earthquake[...]In favor of the Benger's date, we find in the DAP that the earthquake occurred in Sv. Jelena on 30 March 1738, on Palm Sunday (Dominica Palmarum), which indeed fell on that day in 1738. As here the earthquake is explicitly and clearly related to a specific festivity, we believe that this date is most likely the correct one.
The 30 March 1738 earthquake with an epicenter near Cakovec in Medimurje (Croatia) is the largest earthquake we know of in the four-border area that includes northernmost Croatia, northeastern Slovenia, southeastern Austria, and southwestern Hungary.
(above from reference #12621)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #12621 Herak, D., Zivcic, M., Vrkic, I.,and Herak, M. (2020). The Medimurje (Croatia) Earthquake of 1738. Seismological Research Letters, XX, 1-15, DOI:10.1785/ 0220190304
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- June 28, 1763, Komarom, Gyor, Czechoslovakia, Hungary
- December 4, 1690, Carinthie, Austria
- October 26, 1969, Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Balkans NW, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- October 27, 1969, Kakasi, Jablan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Balkans NW, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- December 29, 2020, Petrinja, Croatia, Balkans NW
- April 14, 1895, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Balkans NW
- April 13, 1964, Croatia, Balkans NW
- March 22, 2020, Zagreb, Croatia, Balkans NW
- May 20, 1459, Croatia, Balkans NW
- November 8, 1878, Croatia, Balkans NW
- September 5, 1590, Nagykanizsa, Zagreb, Hungary, Croatia, Balkans NW
- October 13, 1775, Bedekovcina, Croatia, Balkans NW
- November 9, 1880, Croatia, Balkans NW
- March 26, 1502, Croatia, Balkans NW
- April 25, 1201, Styria, Slovenia, Balkans NW
More
Significant earthquakes of 1738The 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 10477.