October 19, 1820 Earthquake: Omoa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
An earthquake struck Omoa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras on October 19, 1820.
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
- October 19, 1820
- Place
- Omoa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 15.700° N, 88.000° W
- Country
- Honduras
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
1820 October 19. Omoa, St. Pedo (reference #1055)
1820 October 19. Omoa, St. Pardo. In St. Pardo the church and many houses were thrown down. The earth opened in many places, some little hills fell into the river, and many people perished (reference #497)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- February 4, 1976, Chimaltenango, Guatemala City
- September 29, 1982, Honduras-Guatemala-El Salvador
- July 11, 1999, W, Izabal-Puerto Barrios, Honduras, Guatemala
- August 9, 1980, Izabel Province, Honduras, N Guatemala
- August 4, 1856, Coast, Honduras
- November 24, 1539, Cabo DE Higueras, Honduras
- April 10, 2013, Atlantida, Honduras
- December 3, 1934, San Jorge, LA Encarnacion, San Fernando, Honduras
- December 29, 1915, Gracias, El Salvador, Honduras
More
Significant earthquakes of 1820The 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 10579.