February 21, 1960 Earthquake: Melouza, Algeria
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Melouza, Algeria on February 21, 1960 at 08:13:31 UTC, 33 km below the surface. It killed 47 people.
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
- February 21, 1960
- Time
- 08:13:31 UTC
- Place
- Melouza, Algeria
- Magnitude
- 5.6 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.000° N, 4.100° E
- Country
- Algeria
The toll
- Deaths
- 47
- Injuries
- 88
- 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.
February 21, 1960, 08:13:31 UTC, northern Algeria, 36 N, 4.5 E, 47 killed, 88 injured and 500 homes destroyed at Ben-Ilman and Melouza, magnitude 5.75. (reference #45)
February 21, 1960, 08:13:31 UTC, 36 N 4.1 E, magnitude 5.6. In the Djebel Choukott, which forms one of the southern secondary ranges of the Tell Atlas, between Mounts Hodna and Titteri. Local damage to the village of Melouza and the douar of Beni-Ilman; many of the gourbis were destroyed; there were 47 dead and 88 injured; most of the victims were old people, women and children (of whom 15 were killed
in a school). In Algeria, the coastal ranges, the mountains of the inner Tell region and the Saharan Atlas are known
to be periodically the scene of movements whose epicentres occur at various points along the active chain. (reference #1040)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 1716, Algiers, Algeria
- March 2, 1825, Blida, Algiers, Algeria
- May 21, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghia, Thenia, Algeria
- February 12, 1946, Hodna Mountains, Algeria
- January 2, 1867, El Affroun, Algeria
- December 3, 1885, M'Sila, Algeria
- October 29, 1989, Algiers, Cherchell, Tipaza, Algeria
- June 24, 1910, Masqueray, Kabylia, Algeria
- May 27, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghaia, Algeria
- August 22, 1856, Northern, Algeria
- August 1, 2014, Algiers, Algeria
- August 21, 1856, Northern, Algeria
- January 1, 1965, M'Sila, Algeria
- March 20, 2006, Northern, Algeria
- May 14, 2010, Beni Yellman, Northern, Algeria
More
Significant earthquakes of 1960The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1960Recent 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 4214.