December 1, 1867 Earthquake: Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, US Territories
An earthquake struck Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, US Territories on December 1, 1867 at 11:10:00 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
- December 1, 1867
- Time
- 11:10:00 UTC
- Place
- Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, US Territories
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 18.400° N, 64.300° W
- Country
- US Territories
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
1867, December 1st 0720, 0945, 1225, 1250. 07:20 min. A... sharp shock of earthquake followed by another in two minutes less severe. 9:45 slight shock. 12.25 p.m. sharp shock. 12.50 PM “about 2 min long” (Porter, 1934). Campbell reports: Aftershocks of earthquake of November18th, VII-VIII. There were three shocks at 0710, 1210 and 1240 on this date. Damage in Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico. See Reid and Taber (1919). Noticeable strong shakes were felt during early December (Neumann, 1913) A strong earthquake was felt in San Juan. Houses abandoned. There were also strong aftershocks on December 12th, 1867, and January 5th, 1868. (reference #14050)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 18, 1867, Virgin Islands, US Territories
- August 2, 1837, Virgin Islands, US Territories
- September 1871, Tortola Island, British Virgin Islands
- August 21, 1871, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, US Territories
- March 17, 1868, San Juan, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, US Territories
- March 11, 1874, Virgin Islands, US Territories
More
Significant earthquakes of 1867The 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 2121.