January 12, 1856 Earthquake: Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
An earthquake struck Tavira, Algarve, Portugal on January 12, 1856 at 10:20 UTC. It killed 2 people.
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
- January 12, 1856
- Time
- 10:20 UTC
- Place
- Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.100° N, 8.000° W
- Country
- Portugal
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 100
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.
January 12, 1856, 11:20 (local time), Port Loule, Portugal, 37.1 N, 8 W, intensity VIII. (reference #1193)
January 12, 1856, intensity X, earthquake in Algarve, in particular in Tavira nearly 100 houses were ruined. (reference #1093)
January 12, 1856, Portugal (Algarve), Soule, faro, Albufeira and Tavira, intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur. (reference #1055)
January 12, 1856, 11:20, Golfo de Cadiz, 36 45 N, 7 40 W, intensity VII to VIII. 2 deaths (reference #12773)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 1, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 21, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal
- November 1587, Loule, Portugal
- November 11, 1858, Setubal, Portugal
- March 6, 1719, Algarve, Spain, Portugal
- December 27, 1722, Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
- August 14, 1978, Spain
- May 26, 881, Spain, Algeria, Morocco
- 216 BC, Cadiz, Spain
- 241 BC, Cadiz, Spain
- 1344, Lisbon, Portugal
- April 5, 1772, Lisbon, Portugal
- August 24, 1356, Sevilla, Cordova, Lisbon, Spain, Portugal
- March 29, 1756, Lisbon, Portugal
More
Significant earthquakes of 1856The 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 7937.