The powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June 2026 have renewed attention on the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in Greece.
The Venezuelan sequence included two powerful earthquakes near the country’s northern coast, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, briefly triggering tsunami advisories for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and causing serious damage in Caracas, La Guaira, and surrounding areas.
Following the event, Greek seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos published a historical overview of Greece’s most powerful known earthquakes, tracing major seismic events from antiquity to the modern instrumental era.
Seismologist lists Greece’s powerful Known earthquakes
Writing on social media, Papadopoulos said he compiled the list in response to a question often raised after major earthquakes abroad: “What are the largest earthquakes to have occurred in Greece?”
His overview identifies 15 earthquakes in Greek territory with estimated magnitudes of at least 7.2. The list spans more than two millennia, beginning with ancient Rhodes and extending to the northern Aegean earthquake of 1981.
For earthquakes from antiquity through 1899, Papadopoulos used geological, historical, and archaeological evidence. For events from 1900 onward, he relied on instrumental seismic records.
He said the estimates draw on his own published research and books, while also taking into account findings by other researchers.
Historical earthquake magnitudes require caution
Papadopoulos stressed that magnitudes assigned to historical earthquakes require careful interpretation.
Modern instruments measure contemporary seismic events. By contrast, researchers reconstruct ancient and pre-instrumental earthquakes through written accounts, archaeological damage, geological traces, and later scientific analysis.
For that reason, Papadopoulos noted that historical earthquake magnitudes may carry uncertainties of about ±0.3 magnitude units or more.
Most of the earthquakes on the list occurred at shallow depths. However, Papadopoulos also identified several intermediate-depth events with focal depths greater than 60 kilometers. These include the 1856 earthquake in the Sea of Crete and the 1926 earthquake near Rhodes.
Some destructive Greek earthquakes don’t appear on the list
Papadopoulos clarified that the ranking focuses only on estimated magnitude, not on the scale of destruction each earthquake caused.
That distinction explains why some of Greece’s most devastating earthquakes do not appear. The destructive 1881 Chios earthquake, for example, falls outside the list. The 1953 Kefalonia earthquake sequence also does not appear, as later scientific reassessments placed its magnitude below 7.2.
According to Papadopoulos, the listed magnitudes likely reflect the maximum seismic potential of their respective source regions. He added, however, that future earthquake potential requires further geological and geophysical evidence.
The 15 most powerful earthquakes in Greece
Papadopoulos identified the following as the strongest known earthquakes in Greek territory:
227 BC – Rhodes: magnitude 7.5
142 AD – Rhodes: magnitude 7.2
365 AD – western Crete: magnitude 8.3
1303 – east of Crete and Rhodes: magnitude 8.0
1481 – Rhodes: magnitude 7.2
1609 – Rhodes: magnitude 7.4
1829 – between Drama and Xanthi in northeastern Greece: magnitude 7.3
1856 – Sea of Crete: magnitude 7.6
1867 – Kefalonia: magnitude 7.4
1905 – Mount Athos peninsula: magnitude 7.2
1926 – Rhodes: magnitude 7.4
1948 – Karpathos: magnitude 7.3
1956 – Amorgos: magnitude 7.7
1957 – Rhodes: magnitude 7.3
1981 – northern Aegean Sea: magnitude 7.2
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