April 5, 991 Earthquake: Dimashq (Damascus), Syria

Date

April 5, 991

Place

Dimashq (Damascus), Syria

Intensity

9 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

33.500° N, 36.300° E

Country

Syria

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.

• February 13, 1157, Halab (Aleppo), Syria80,000 deaths · 178 km
• December 5, 1033, Ramala, Gaza, Nablus, Egypt, Israel, Syria70,000 deaths · 133 km
• September 18, 844, Antakya, Dimashq (Damascus), Turkey, Syria50,000 deaths · 0 km
• May 20, 1202, Southwestern, SyriaM7.6 · 30,000 deaths · 28 km
• November 25, 1759, Damascus, Antioch, Baalbec, Syria, Lebanon-SyriaM7.4 · 30,000 deaths · 60 km
• 1183, Tripoli, Antakya, Lebanon, Dimashq, Turkey, Syria20,000 deaths · 113 km
• January 1, 1837, Beirut (Beyrout), Zefat (Safed), Lebanon, IsraelM6.4 · 6,000 deaths · 93 km
• October 30, 1759, Zefat (Safed), IsraelM6.6 · 2,000 deaths · 93 km
• 1155, Tarabulus, Antioch, Lebanon, Dimashq, Turkey, Syria2,000 deaths · 113 km
• February 26, 1796, Al-Ladhiqiyah (Latakia), Syria1,500 deaths · 195 km
• July 11, 1927, Damiya, Israel, JordanM6.3 · 268 deaths · 183 km
• 1339, Tarabulus (Tripolis), Lebanon60 deaths · 116 km
• October 28, 1354, Hamah (Hama),hims (Hums),balabakk, Syria24 deaths · 178 km
• March 29, 1903, Nabulus, IsraelM5.7 · 20 deaths · 172 km
• August 12, 2024, Syria, LebanonM5.2 · 2 deaths · 192 km

Significant earthquakes of 991The 900sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 304.