March 18, 1817 Earthquake: La Rioja, Spain
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck La Rioja, Spain on March 18, 1817 at 10:45 UTC. It killed 1 person.
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 18, 1817
- Time
- 10:45 UTC
- Place
- La Rioja, Spain
- Magnitude
- 5.7 (Mw)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 42.300° N, 2.250° W
- Country
- Spain
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
1817 March 18, 10h 45m, 2 05 W 42 15.0 N, Intensity VIII (reference #1193)
1817 March 18 (and following days) At 10h 45m. (reference #9896)
1817 March 18, 10h 45m, 2 15 W 42 18.0 N, Intensity VII to VIII. 1 death. (reference #12773)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
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 10691.