Earthquakes in Canada, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 98 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Canada. 7 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8 on August 22, 1949 (The 1949 Haida Gwaii, Canada Earthquake).
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: a magnitude 7.8 on July 10, 1958 (The 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami), for which NOAA records 5 deaths. 16 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 33 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 lists 19 tsunamis that began in or off Canada, and 3 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.
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
- November 25, 1988Earthquake · M 5.8Quebec: Saguenay, Quebec City · 2 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 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
- June 23, 1946Earthquake · M 7.5The 1946 Vancouver Island, Canada Earthquake · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- 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
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