February 21, 1963 Earthquake: Barce (Al Marj), Libya
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Barce (Al Marj), Libya on February 21, 1963 at 17:14:31 UTC, 5 km below the surface. It killed 300 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, 1963
- Time
- 17:14:31 UTC
- Place
- Barce (Al Marj), Libya
- Magnitude
- 5.4 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 5 km (3 mi)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 32.600° N, 21.000° E
- Country
- Libya
The toll
- Deaths
- 300
- Injuries
- 375
- Damage
- $5 million
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
- 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
February 21, 1963, Libya. The earthquake affected an area in Cyrenaica situated on an alluvial plain lying between two northeasterly trending, fault-controllcd escarpments, in which Barce (Al Marj) is situated. Barce (population 13,000) and farming settlements in a strip 20 km long were badly damaged and many houses collapsed, killing about 300 and injuring 375 people. In all, 12,000 people were made homeless; maximum damage occurred in Maddalena, about 12 km northeast of Barce, where all farmhouses were demolished. The shock was not particularly large and its maximum effects were confined within an area of 6 km radius. It was perceptible in Benghazi, about 100 km to the southwest, and much of the damage was due to the very poor quality of construction. Small magnitude aftershocks continued for two days. (reference #3845)
Casualties were heavy: about 300 people were killed, 375 injured and 12,000 rendered homeless. The actual time of the principal shock was consistently reported by local inhabitants and in press reports as 7:18 p.in. (17: 18 G.M.T.). (reference #13975)
February 21, 1963, 320 killed, $5 million damage. (reference #1250)
February 21, 1963, Al Marj, Libya, 290 deaths, $5 million damage. (reference #1051)
More
Significant earthquakes of 1963The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1963Recent 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 4285.