May 20, 1795 Earthquake: Sierra Leone
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Sierra Leone on May 20, 1795 at 22:00 UTC.
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
- May 20, 1795
- Time
- 22:00 UTC
- Place
- Sierra Leone
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- Intensity
- 5 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 9.300° N, 13.400° W
- Country
- Sierra Leone
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.
Two strong earthquakes were felt at Freetown in Sierra Leone on 20 May and 19 June 1795. A third shock was felt at Bereri and in the Susi country on 28 March 1796. There is no indication of the extent Of the earthquake and its aftershocks, which may have been centred somewhere between Freetown and Bereri or just offshore (Winterbottom, 1803 ; Ministbre de la Marine et des Colonies, 1884). The shocks were apparently felt in the land of the Fuhlas and at Labe , and caused considerable damage at unspecified localities. (reference #1214)
More
Significant earthquakes of 1795The 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 1528.