The 1980 El Asnam earthquake occurred on October 10 at 13:25:23 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme).

The shocks were felt over 550 km (340 mi) away, with the initial earthquake lasting 35 seconds.

The earthquake created about 42 km (26 mi) of surface rupture and had a vertical slip of up to 4.2 m (14 ft).

[6] In addition to destroying homes, the earthquake also demolished critical infrastructure, including the main hospital, the central mosque, and a girls' school.

[6][10] The earthquake caused approximately $5.2 billion in damage, which was 22% of Algeria's GDP at the time.