August 16, 1839 Earthquake: Switzerland
An earthquake struck Switzerland on August 16, 1839 at 17:30:00 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
- August 16, 1839
- Time
- 17:30:00 UTC
- Place
- Switzerland
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 45.900° N, 6.100° E
- Country
- Switzerland
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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.
- March 11, 1584, Geneva-Yvoire, Switzerland
- February 13, 1991, France
- March 11, 1817, Chamonix Valley, France
- April 2, 1808, Valley of Pellice, Chisone, Italy
- July 25, 1855, Haut-Valais, Switzerland
- May 3, 1574, Switzerland
- March 13, 1584, Switzerland
- March 14, 1584, Switzerland
- April 25, 1962, Correncon,chateau-Bernard,le Gua,rencurel, France
- June 20, 1927, Northern Italy
- 1003, Burgundy, France
- March 30, 1759, Pinerolo, Italy
- December 9, 1755, Switzerland
- January 1, 1851, Switzerland
- January 18, 1155, Borgogne, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1839The 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 1817.