February 2, 1851 Earthquake: Cartagena, Colombia
A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Cartagena, Colombia on February 2, 1851 at 10:00 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
- February 2, 1851
- Time
- 10:00 UTC
- Place
- Cartagena, Colombia
- Magnitude
- 5 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 10.400° N, 76.400° W
- Country
- Colombia
The toll
- Injuries
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
02 Feb 1851, 10.4N 76.4W, magnitude 5.0 (Ms) (reference #1205)
02 Feb 1851, 10.4N 75.4W (reference #1118)
February 2, 5 a.m. in the morning, in Cartagena (South America); number of houses overturned, several injured people. (reference #1532)
More
Significant earthquakes of 1851The 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 1909.