August 25, 1766 Earthquake: Saint-Pierre, Martinique
An earthquake struck Saint-Pierre, Martinique on August 25, 1766. 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
- August 25, 1766
- Place
- Saint-Pierre, Martinique
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 14.400° N, 61.100° W
- Country
- Martinique
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
Reference #364 cites Mallet (ref #10511) with an 1766 August 13 event at 10pm intensity IV, as well as Perrey (ref #501) with an event in August 1766 with intensity VIII with houses thrown down. Ref #501 states the event occurred at the end of the month.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 12, 1788, Saint Lucia
- January 11, 1839, Fort-De-France, St Pierre, Castries, Martinique
- November 29, 2007, Martinique
- November 21, 2004, Basse-Terre, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
- November 30, 1823, Saint Pierre Harbor, Martinique
- September 1702, Martinique
- November 7, 1727, Martinique
- April 24, 1767, Martinique & Barbados
- November 30, 1824, Saint Pierre, Martinique
- November 30, 1827, Martinique
- February 16, 1906, Castries, Saint Lucia
- December 3, 1906, Martinique
- April 1765, Dominica
- August 30, 1844, Kingstown, Saint Vincent, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- February 14, 2005, Guadeloupe
More
Significant earthquakes of 1766The 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 1384.