• 30,377 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.5 or higher that occurred between 1000 AD and 2014 were combined in a single European earthquake catalogue and incorporated in the updated earthquake hazard model of Europe.
• 11 significant earthquakes, with a magnitude 7.5 and larger, have occurred in the last 100 years in Europe.
• Over 300 significantly damaging earthquakes have occurred in Europe since the beginning of the 20^th century (www.emdat.be).
• In 1755, an earthquake with a magnitude 8.5 hit the city of Lisbon. Further, it triggered a tsunami and fire that almost destroyed the entire capital of Portugal. Up to now, it has been one of the most destructive and deadliest disastrous events in Europe.
• In 2020 alone, three major earthquakes occurred in Europe (Croatia, Turkey, Greece), causing more than 1 billion Euros in damage.
• Over 13 million Europeans have had their lives affected by earthquakes in the last thousand years (www.emdat.be)
• During the 20^th century, earthquakes in Europe accounted for more than 200,000 deaths and over 250 billion Euros in losses (www.emdat.be).
• 17,127 people lost their lives in the 1999 Izmir earthquake in Turkey (www.emdat.be). This earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.5, also triggered a tsunami in the Sea of Marmara.
• Italy is the European country with the most recorded earthquakes. The country lies on several boundaries of tectonic plates, such as the Alpine subduction zone in the north and the Adriatic plate, which extends across the whole of Italy and is in a constant stress regime with the Eurasian and African plates.
• The Nordic countries Finland and Norway have the lowest earthquake frequency in Europe. Due to their rather small populations and comparably low earthquake hazard, only a few more densely populated places such as the capitals Helsinki and Oslo are more prone to earthquake risk than other regions in these countries.
• Over 1,200 active faults, and thus places where future earthquakes are more likely to happen at some point, have been mapped in Europe.

The table below provides a summary list of past damaging earthquakes in Europe selected from the international disasters database (EM-DAT), indicating the number of people who lost their lives, the number of injured people, as well as the total amount of damages in million dollars (according to todays’ value), where available.