March 11, 1817 Earthquake: Chamonix Valley, France
A magnitude 8 earthquake struck Chamonix Valley, France on March 11, 1817 at 20:10:00 UTC. It killed 4 people.
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
- March 11, 1817
- Time
- 20:10:00 UTC
- Place
- Chamonix Valley, France
- Magnitude
- 8
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 45.900° N, 6.800° E
- Country
- France
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 18, 1356, Basel, Switzerland
- March 11, 1584, Geneva-Yvoire, Switzerland
- February 13, 1991, France
- September 18, 1601, Switzerland
- April 2, 1808, Valley of Pellice, Chisone, Italy
- July 25, 1855, Haut-Valais, Switzerland
- March 13, 1584, Switzerland
- March 14, 1584, Switzerland
- August 16, 1839, Switzerland
- May 3, 1574, Switzerland
- June 20, 1927, Northern Italy
- January 18, 1155, Borgogne, Italy
- December 9, 1755, Switzerland
- January 1, 1851, Switzerland
- April 18, 1835, Switzerland
More
Significant earthquakes of 1817The 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 1623.