November 17, 1888 Earthquake: Guanare, Venezuela
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Guanare, Venezuela on November 17, 1888 at 17:30:00 UTC, 45 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
- November 17, 1888
- Time
- 17:30:00 UTC
- Place
- Guanare, Venezuela
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Focal depth
- 45 km (28 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 9.200° N, 69.800° W
- Country
- Venezuela
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
- August 3, 1950, El Tocuyo, Venezuela
- June 26, 1870, El Tocuyo, Venezuela
- April 5, 1975, Venezuela
- July 18, 1986, Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela
- November 22, 2015, Merida, Venezuela
- November 7, 2015, Merida, Venezuela
- December 1775, Trujillo, Venezuela
- September 29, 1886, Trujillo, Venezuela
- November 4, 1894, Carache, Venezuela
- August 17, 1991, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
- July 14, 1899, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
- August 12, 1834, Merida, Venezuela
- November 27, 2009, Siquisique, Venezuela
- 1786, Merida, Venezuela
- September 19, 1966, Venezuela
More
Significant earthquakes of 1888The 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 2388.