Earthquakes in Georgia through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 8 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Georgia. The strongest was a magnitude 7 on April 29, 1991 (22 km WNW of Java, Georgia).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 270 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 19 here, back to 51 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 548 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6 on September 6, 2009 (Northwestern). NOAA’s record here begins in 51 BCE with an earthquake (Dyoscuria [sukhumi]). It grows thinner going back: 8 of the 19 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists one tsunami that began in or off Georgia. It reached 0.8 m, on December 4, 1970.
The events
- September 6, 2009Earthquake · M 6.0NorthwesternNOAA NCEI
- April 29, 1991Earthquake · M 7.022 km WNW of Java, Georgia · 270 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 4, 1970Tsunami · 0.8 m highBlack SeaNOAA NCEI
- July 16, 1963Earthquake · M 6.440 km NNW of Tqvarch'eli, GeorgiaUSGS
- May 7, 1940Earthquake · M 6.015 km SE of Khashuri, Georgia · 16 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- October 21, 1905Earthquake · M 6.428 km N of Tqvarch'eli, GeorgiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 31, 1899Earthquake · M 5.6 (est.)247 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 1350Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)Chegem Gorge, ChrebaloNOAA NCEI
- April 14, 1275Earthquake · M 6.7 (est.)NOAA NCEI
- 51 BCEEarthquake · M 5.5 (est.)Dyoscuria [sukhumi]NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Georgia 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 Georgia 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 Georgia, 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