Significant earthquakes of 1860

April 17, 1860 Earthquake: Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti

April 17, 1860

An earthquake struck Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti on April 17, 1860 at 15:10 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
April 17, 1860
Time
15:10 UTC
Place
Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti
Epicenter
18.550° N, 73.500° W
Country
Haiti

The toll

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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Building damage was also reported from the event in this town, but it is unclear whether this was associated with shaking or the tsunami. This shock was also felt at Les Cayes (Muuller, 1860), and though it is likely to have been felt at other locations in southern Haiti, none of the other sources call attention to it specifically [...] Fairly prolonged shock at Petit-Trou Nippes (Feuille de Commerce, 19 May 1860). A tsunami flooded the cemetery (Feuille de Commerce, 19 May 1860). Building damage is said to have occurred during this event (Feuille de Commerce, 19 May 1860) but it is unclear if this is related to the aftershock or the tsunami. This shock was also felt at Les Cayes at 11:10pm (Muller, 1860). (reference #13268)

Note: aftershock of 08 April 1860 event. Lat/long is estimate

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

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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 10639.