Earthquake records
The strongest, deepest and most felt earthquakes on record, a century of counts, and what the numbers say about earthquake seasons and "earthquake weather".
The strongest earthquakes since 1900
A century of earthquakes
Magnitude 6 and 7+ earthquakes per year, worldwide. Strong quakes have been recorded consistently since 1900, so this is a fair comparison, unlike smaller ones.
Small quakes are common, big ones are rare
Earthquakes of each magnitude since 2000 (log scale). For every step up in magnitude there are about ten times fewer: the Gutenberg–Richter law, drawn from our own data.
Is there an earthquake season?
M5+ since 1973, by month. The bars are flat: earthquakes ignore the calendar.
Or a time of day?
M5+ since 1973, by hour (UTC). Flat again: no "earthquake weather" or time.
The deepest (M5+)
- 5.5 281 km SE of Levuka, Fiji Oct 22, 1985
- 5.6 south of the Fiji Islands Aug 19, 2002
- 5.7 260 km SE of Levuka, Fiji Jun 17, 1977
- 6.1 206 km SE of Levuka, Fiji May 6, 2007
- 6.0 275 km SE of Levuka, Fiji Sep 2, 2000
- 5.2 277 km SSE of Levuka, Fiji Oct 22, 1985
- 5.0 Fiji region Feb 2, 1995
- 5.4 186 km SE of Levuka, Fiji Oct 2, 1996
- 5.1 south of the Fiji Islands Nov 9, 1994
- 5.2 south of the Fiji Islands Jan 6, 1991
The most felt
Most "Did You Feel It?" reports.
- 4.8 2024 Tewksbury, New Jersey Earthquake Apr 5, 2024
- 5.8 11 km SSW of Mineral, Virginia Aug 23, 2011
- 7.2 The 2010 Sierra El Mayor, B.C., Mexico Earthquake Apr 4, 2010
- 5.1 4 km SE of Sparta, North Carolina Aug 9, 2020
- 5.4 6 km NNE of East Foothills, California Oct 31, 2007
- 5.7 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma Nov 6, 2011
- 5.3 29 km NNE of Val-des-Monts, Canada Jun 23, 2010
- 5.8 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma Sep 3, 2016
- 4.7 2km E of Lennox, CA May 18, 2009
- 4.1 21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee May 10, 2025
How deep do earthquakes start?
M4.5+ since 2000. Most break within the top 35 km; a few start as deep as 700 km, inside sinking ocean plates.