December 13, 1910 Earthquake: Rukwa, Tanzania
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Rukwa, Tanzania on December 13, 1910 at 11:37:28 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 13, 1910
- Time
- 11:37:28 UTC
- Place
- Rukwa, Tanzania
- Magnitude
- 7.3 (Mw)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 7.842° S, 30.955° E
- Country
- Tanzania
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.
The 13 December 1910 Rukwa (Tanzania) M7.3 earthquake was the largest recorded earthquake in sub-Saharan Africa. The event was recorded by European seismic stations (Ayele and Kulhanek, 2000). It was felt throughout Tanzania and in all neighbouring countries (Fig. 15.3). The observed damage occurred in the epicentral area with many of the European type structures destroyed or severely damaged (Ambraseys, 1991a). The earthquake triggered landslides and set up water-waves in Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. It caused springs of water in the Zimba and Mbosi areas to dry up (Ambraseys and Adams, 1991). According to Vittori et al. (1997) and Delvaux et al. (2012), the earthquake is likely to have occurred along the 160-km-long Kanda fault system on the Ufipa plateau between Lakes Rukwa and Tanganyika. (reference #13028)
1910 Dec 13, 11:37:28.18 UTC, magnitude 7.29 Mw, 7.842 S 30.955 E (reference #10476)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1910The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1910Recent 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 2916.