February 18, 1772 Earthquake: Kola Peninsula, NW Russia
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Kola Peninsula, NW Russia on February 18, 1772.
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
- February 18, 1772
- Place
- Kola Peninsula, NW Russia
- Magnitude
- 6
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 68.700° N, 33.300° E
- Country
- Russia
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 #496:
1772 Feb 18. In the neighborhood of Kola, Russian Lapland. An earthquake lasting about a minute, in the direction N. to S.. Preceded by a noise like that of a carriage upon pavement. The houses were shaken, and tiles fell from the roofs. The weather was cloudy and stormy all day. During the disturbances quantity of snow fell, accompanied by a high wind.
Reference #14425:
we obtain M [magnitude] = 6 ± 0.5 in a variant that should be regarded with caution […] the fact that on the West Murman coast earthquakes with M > 5 have not yet been recorded cannot serve as a counterargument due to the short instrumental period.
Note: Reference #14421 and #14425 note a tsunami following the earthquake; however, this is based on legends/folklore, deposits and other environmental indicators (including carcasses of apparently already dead whales found under raised ice mounds) not first-hand accounts of tsunami waves.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1772The 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 11005.