San Francisco

Earthquakes near San Francisco, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 3 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of San Francisco, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.9 on October 18, 1989 (The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of San Francisco in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 62 deaths for it. 9 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 66 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6 on August 24, 2014 (The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of San Francisco, and 5 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 3.6 m, on March 28, 1964. The deadliest here came on March 28, 1964 from a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (Prince William Sound, Ak): NOAA’s runup records count one death within 100 km of San Francisco.

The events

  • August 24, 2014Earthquake · M 6.0The 2014 South Napa, California Earthquake · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • October 18, 1989Earthquake · M 6.9The 1989 Loma Prieta, California Earthquake · 62 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 24, 1984Earthquake · M 6.2The 1984 Morgan Hill, California EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 28, 1964Tsunami · 3.6 m herePrince William Sound, Ak · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for San Francisco when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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