Earthquakes in Canada through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 117 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Canada. 8 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8.2 on September 4, 1899 (Cape Yakataga).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 3 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.2 on September 28 (192 km WSW of Port McNeill, Canada). The strongest: magnitude 5.4 on September 28 (207 km WSW of Port McNeill, Canada).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake in 1774 (Newfoundland), for which NOAA records 300 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 24 here, back to 1663. NOAA records deaths in 11 of the events here, 2,384 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.2 on May 1, 2017 (47 km NW of Mosquito Lake, Alaska). NOAA’s record here begins on February 5, 1663 with an earthquake (St Lawrence Valley). It grows thinner going back: 16 of the 24 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 36 tsunamis that began in or off Canada, and 4 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 38 m, on December 4, 2007. The deadliest here came on November 18, 1929 from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake (Grand Banks, Newfoundland): NOAA’s runup records count 28 deaths in Canada. NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano in or off Canada.
The events
- May 1, 2017Earthquake · M 6.247 km NW of Mosquito Lake, AlaskaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- October 28, 2012Earthquake · M 7.8206 km SW of Prince Rupert, Canada · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 4, 2007Tsunami · 38 m hereChehalis Lake, ChilliwackNOAA NCEI
- July 10, 1958Earthquake · M 7.8The 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 22, 1949Earthquake · M 8.0The 1949 Haida Gwaii, Canada EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 18, 1929Tsunami · 13 m hereGrand Banks, Newfoundland · 28 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 26, 1929Earthquake · M 7.5262 km W of Port McNeill, CanadaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- September 4, 1899Earthquake · M 8.2 (est.)Cape YakatagaNOAA NCEI
- October 20, 1870EarthquakeQuebec: Quebec City, Charlevoix · 2 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 1774EarthquakeNewfoundland · 300 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 1730EruptionTseax River ConeNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 5, 1663Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)St Lawrence ValleyNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Canada when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Canada is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Canada, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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