February 23, 1818 Earthquake: Vence, Grasse, Nice, Liguria, France, Italy
An earthquake struck Vence, Grasse, Nice, Liguria, France, Italy on February 23, 1818 at 18:10 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
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 23, 1818
- Time
- 18:10 UTC
- Place
- Vence, Grasse, Nice, Liguria, France, Italy
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 43.917° N, 8.033° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- 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.
February 23, 1818, 18:10 UTC, Western Liguria, Italy, 43 deg 30 min N, 8 deg E, intensity VIII. (reference #1075)
February 23, 1818, 18:00 UTC, 43.9 N, 8.1 E, intensity IX-X. Severe shock in Liguria. Some houses damaged at Diano-Castello, Alassio, S. Remo and Vence, serious damage occurred only exceptionally, houses destroyed at
Vence, epicenter in the sea(?). (reference #1099)
February 20-28, 1818, volcanic earthquake. Aci Platani collapse of almost all the houses. Other seriously affected localities included Zafferana (33 dead), Aci-Catena, Nicolosi, Trecastagni. Catane was partially ruined. 72 total deaths [probably associated with earthquake on February 20, 1818], 7,140,000 lires damage, intensity X1/2. (reference #1093)
February 23, 1818, Liguria, Italy. In France: Intensity VIII Vence, intensity VI-VII Grasse, intensity VI Nice. (reference #1159)
1818, February 23, 19h 20m. Ligurian Sea, Italy. The earthquake damaged several buildings in Remo, Alassio, Var; the arch of the parish church in Diano Castello collapse
Considerable destruction occurred in Oneglia and other places. The earthquake was strong in Marseille, Nice, Savona, Porto Maurizio, (Ligure), Borgio, Rialto and so on.
The sea near Antibes and Var rolled onto the coast with force, it was very turbulent in Genoa; the sea bed became dry. (reference #2130)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 7, 1920, Carrara,garfagnana, Italy
- July 20, 1564, Corsica,la Bollene-Vesubie,venanson, France
- February 23, 1887, Ligurian Coast, Italy
- February 15, 1644, Corsica,belvedere,roquebilliere, France
- February 14, 1834, Borgo Val Di Taro, Italy
- October 9, 1828, Pavia, Italy
- February 13, 1991, France
- April 11, 1837, Italy
- May 26, 1831, Coast of Liguria, Italy
- April 2, 1808, Valley of Pellice, Chisone, Italy
- December 29, 1854, Cagnes, Bar, St Paul, Grasse, Menton, Nice, France
- April 18, 1968, Liguria, Italy
- October 16, 1896, Ligurian Coast, Italy
- 217 BC, Liguria (Ligurie), Gaule, Italy
- June 18, 1618, Duranus,coaraze,roquesperviera,saorge, France
More
Significant earthquakes of 1818The 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 1627.