Recent earthquake activity
Earthquakes in Portugal: latest news, today and the last 30 days
Portugal faces the Azores–Gibraltar fracture zone, the boundary where the African and Eurasian plates meet across the Atlantic. The mainland’s largest earthquakes come from offshore sources southwest of Cape St. Vincent — the 1755 Lisbon earthquake among them — while the Azores sit directly on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and produce frequent volcano-tectonic swarms.
Updated 2026-11-02 14:57 UTC
Latest earthquake news in Portugal
The most notable recent events in Portugal, newest first. Each links to its own page with the full record, a map and felt reports. This page is rebuilt every 30 minutes.
- M 4.6 near Arrifes, Portugal
depth 10.0 km · 41 km W of Mosteiros, Portugal
- M 3.9 near Arrifes, Portugal
depth 0.0 km · 38 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
- M 3.7 near Arrifes, Portugal
depth 3.8 km · 39 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
Portugal earthquake activity at a glance
What the last 30 days look like in Portugal
32 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or above were recorded in the last 7 days, down from 35 the week before. In the last 24 hours: 4.
The largest was M5.1 on October 20, 39 km W of Mosteiros, Portugal, 10.0 km deep, and 14 people reported feeling it.
Nearly all were shallow (less than 70 km down), so even moderate magnitudes can be felt clearly close to the epicentre.
Much of that activity is clustered: 18 events within 15 km of 40 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal. A group like that is called an earthquake swarm; swarms are common and do not mean a larger earthquake is coming.
Map of recent earthquakes in Portugal and the surrounding area
Circle size shows magnitude and color shows depth. Select a marker to highlight its event below.
Every recorded event
92 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0+ recorded in Portugal and the surrounding area in the last 30 days. The newest 60 are shown.
Both the USGS global catalog and the EMSC European-Mediterranean catalog are used here, deduplicated — EMSC records the small local events the global catalog does not. 89 of the events below come from EMSC.
M 2.2 49 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.3 6 km NNE of Biscoitos, Portugal
M 2.6 60 km ENE of Chipiona, Spain
M 2.5 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 2.5 38 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.4 48 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.9 37 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.5 51 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.2 STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
M 2.8 47 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.6 48 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.9 37 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.9 39 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 4.6 41 km W of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.5 47 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.0 5 km SE of Monchique, Portugal
M 3.9 38 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.1 37 km NW of Nordeste, Portugal
M 3.1 6 km NNE of Biscoitos, Portugal
M 2.5 AZORES-CAPE ST. VINCENT RIDGE
M 3.2 40 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.7 39 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.7 44 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.5 AZORES-CAPE ST. VINCENT RIDGE
M 2.5 22 km SE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.3 48 km SSE of Castelo Branco, Portugal
M 3.4 40 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.3 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 3.5 38 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.4 41 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.6 STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
M 2.7 48 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.4 WEST OF GIBRALTAR
M 2.1 24 km ESE of Santa Cruz da Graciosa, Portugal
M 2.4 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 2.7 58 km NNW of Fuzeta, Portugal
M 2.0 AZORES-CAPE ST. VINCENT RIDGE
M 2.6 51 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.0 42 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.0 42 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.5 41 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.8 AZORES-CAPE ST. VINCENT RIDGE
M 2.1 30 km SE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.5 46 km SE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.1 41 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.4 37 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.2 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 2.2 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 2.0 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
M 2.4 41 km ENE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 4.7 33 km WNW of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.3 38 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.2 WEST OF GIBRALTAR
M 3.0 13 km ESE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.1 32 km SE of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.2 43 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 3.2 39 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.5 41 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
M 2.5 40 km E of Mosteiros, Portugal
Get earthquake alerts for Portugal
SeismoWatch pushes a notification to your Android phone within minutes of an earthquake in Portugal — at whatever magnitude you choose. No account, no spam.
Frequently asked questions
Was there an earthquake in Portugal today?
Yes — 4 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or above were recorded in the last 24 hours. The most recent was M2.3 near Isla Cristina, Spain, 9 h ago. The list on this page is rebuilt every 30 minutes, newest first.
How many earthquakes does Portugal get?
92 of magnitude 2.0 or above in the last 30 days, 32 of them in the last 7. Most are too small to feel; that is normal for a seismically active region.
What was the biggest recent earthquake in Portugal?
Magnitude 5.1 on October 20, 2026, 39 km W of Mosteiros, Portugal, at a depth of 10.0 km. 14 people reported feeling it.
How deep are earthquakes in Portugal?
In the last 30 days they ranged from 0.0 km to 48.0 km deep. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly near the epicentre; deep ones are felt weakly over a wider area.
How can I get earthquake alerts for Portugal?
Install the free SeismoWatch Android app, draw a box over Portugal, set a minimum magnitude, and turn alerts on. Alerts are sent after an event is published, so they are not an early warning.
Where does this data come from?
From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) global catalog and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), deduplicated. Each event links to its own page with the full record.
The strongest earthquakes recorded in Portugal since 1960
The 10 largest events of magnitude 6.0 or above in the Portugal monitoring area, from the USGS catalog. Recent activity is best read against this: a region's ordinary weeks look very different from its worst days.
| Magnitude | Location | Date | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| M 7.9 | Azores-Cape St. Vincent Ridge | May 26, 1975 | 33.0 km |
| M 7.8 | 188 km SW of Sagres, Portugal | February 28, 1969 | 14.5 km |
| M 6.7 | 29 km NE of Ribeira Seca, Portugal | January 1, 1980 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.6 | 91 km SSE of Olhão, Portugal | March 15, 1964 | 28.5 km |
| M 6.4 | Azores-Cape St. Vincent Ridge | October 17, 1983 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.3 | 74 km SE of Povoação, Portugal | April 5, 2007 | 14.0 km |
| M 6.2 | 12 km N of Horta, Portugal | July 9, 1998 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.2 | 169 km WSW of Sagres, Portugal | February 28, 1969 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.1 | 82 km SE of Senhora do Rosário, Portugal | April 7, 2007 | 8.0 km |
| M 6.0 | 272 km W of Sagres, Portugal | September 6, 1969 | 45.0 km |
Coverage and data notes
Events are preliminary, so magnitudes and locations may be revised. This page uses a rectangular monitoring area around Portugal, so border areas and nearby offshore zones can include events outside the administrative boundary. Completeness varies: a national network usually records more small earthquakes than the catalogs used here, so treat the counts as a floor rather than a census.
Event data: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), in Venezuela FUNVISIS and in Brazil the RSBR through the Centro de Sismologia da USP. Populated places and time zones: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Preliminary solutions are revised as more observations arrive.