October 29, 1989 Earthquake: Algiers, Cherchell, Tipaza, Algeria
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Algiers, Cherchell, Tipaza, Algeria on October 29, 1989 at 19:09:12 UTC, 6 km below the surface. It killed 30 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
- October 29, 1989
- Time
- 19:09:12 UTC
- Place
- Algiers, Cherchell, Tipaza, Algeria
- Magnitude
- 5.7 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 6 km (4 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 36.788° N, 2.448° E
- Country
- Algeria
The toll
- Deaths
- 30
- Injuries
- 245
- Damage
- $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.
Deaths and injuries occurred in the Cherchell-Tipaza area. Felt in the Bolearic islands, Spain. Depth from broadband displacement seismograms. Soloviev et al. (2001): "The macroseismic epicentre was determined to be in the small village of Sidi Amar 80 km to the west of the city of Algiers. An opened fault over 5 km long with an average block displacement of 7cm was revealed during a field survey."
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 1716, Algiers, Algeria
- March 2, 1825, Blida, Algiers, Algeria
- October 10, 1980, Northern, Algeria
- May 21, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghia, Thenia, Algeria
- September 9, 1954, Orleansville, Algeria
- January 2, 1867, El Affroun, Algeria
- February 21, 1960, Melouza, Algeria
- January 15, 1891, Bourava, Gouraya, Algeria
- June 24, 1910, Masqueray, Kabylia, Algeria
- May 27, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghaia, Algeria
- August 1, 2014, Algiers, Algeria
- May 14, 2010, Beni Yellman, Northern, Algeria
- January 26, 1987, Mohammadia, Qued, Fodda, Tissemsilt, Algeria
- November 7, 1959, Bou-Medfa, Algeria
- October 31, 1988, Blida, Medea-Algiers, Algeria
More
Significant earthquakes of 1989The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1989Recent 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 5216.