August 18, 1874 Earthquake: Pilar, Venezuela
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Pilar, Venezuela on August 18, 1874 at 03:00:00 UTC, 16 km below the surface.
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 18, 1874
- Time
- 03:00:00 UTC
- Place
- Pilar, Venezuela
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 16 km (10 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 10.500° N, 63.100° W
- Country
- Venezuela
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 14, 1797, Cumana, Cariaco, Venezuela
- July 15, 1853, Cumana, Venezuela
- July 9, 1997, Cariaco-Cumana, Venezuela
- January 17, 1929, Cumana, Venezuela
- June 12, 1974, Venezuela
- August 21, 2018, Sucre, Trinidad, Venezuela
- September 1, 1530, Cumana, Venezuela
- September 20, 1968, Carupano, Venezuela
- June 11, 1986, Venezuela
- September 29, 2006, Gasparillo, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
- August 13, 1868, Rio Caribe, Venezuela
- June 7, 1900, Casanay (Casanai),cariaco, Venezuela
- January 15, 2010, Cariaco, Venezuela
- August 1823, Cariaco, Margarita Island, Venezuela
- August 2, 1498, Boca DE LA Sierpe, Venezuela
More
Significant earthquakes of 1874The 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 2217.