October 1766 Earthquake: Goree Island, Senegal
An earthquake struck Goree Island, Senegal in October 1766.
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 1766
- Place
- Goree Island, Senegal
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 14.670° N, 17.400° W
- Country
- Senegal
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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.
1766 October, Senegal, East Atlantic. In Gore, “there was a strong earthquake not long ago, which caused considerable damage, and in two places the local harbor was so filled with sand that ships can hardly enter it”, found in the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti. (reference #14362)
Note: presently no other source to confirm this event in 1766. Other significant earthquake events have been cataloged in the region over 100+ years prior (e.g. 1636 Ghana, 1618 Mali, etc). See reference #1214
More
Significant earthquakes of 1766The 1700sRecent earthquakes near here
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 10993.