January 27, 1805 Earthquake: Cumana, Venezuela
An earthquake struck Cumana, Venezuela on January 27, 1805 at 13:00 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
- January 27, 1805
- Time
- 13:00 UTC
- Place
- Cumana, Venezuela
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 10.500° N, 64.200° W
- Country
- Venezuela
- Region
- South America
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.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1209 Askew, B.L., and S.T. Algermissen (1985). Catalog of Earthquakes for South America, Hypocenter and Intensity Data, vol. 8 - Venezuela, Centro Regional de Sismologia para America del Sur, Lima, Peru.
- #1502 Fiedler, G.E. (1961). Areas afectadas por teremotos en Venezuela (1791-1814), Boletin Geologica 4, Publicacion Especial 3, Memorias del III Congreso Geologico Venezolano, Ministeria de Minas e Hidrocarburos, Caracas (in Spanish).
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 14, 1797, Cumana, Cariaco, Venezuela
- July 15, 1853, Cumana, Venezuela
- July 9, 1997, Cariaco-Cumana, Venezuela
- January 17, 1929, Cumana, Venezuela
- June 12, 1974, Venezuela
- August 21, 2018, Sucre, Trinidad, Venezuela
- September 1, 1530, Cumana, Venezuela
- September 20, 1968, Carupano, Venezuela
- June 11, 1986, Venezuela
- 1543, Cumana, Isla Cubagua, Venezuela
- 1750, Cumana, Venezuela
- April 12, 1839, Cumana, Venezuela
- November 4, 1932, Cumana, Venezuela
- August 11, 2008, Cariaco-Cumana, Venezuela
- October 21, 1766, Cumana, San Juan Bautista, Trinidad, Venezuela
More
Significant earthquakes of 1805The 1800sRecent 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 1571.