Earthquakes in Guam, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 36 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Guam. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8 on August 8, 1993 (32 km S of Inarajan Village, Guam).
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
5 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records no deaths for any of them. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1997–2006, with 10 of the 36. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.1 on April 26, 2002 (20 km SSW of Merizo Village, Guam). NOAA lists one tsunami that began in or off Guam, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.4 m, on August 8, 1993.
The events
- May 9, 2008Earthquake · M 6.8181 km WSW of Merizo Village, GuamUSGS
- April 26, 2002Earthquake · M 7.120 km SSW of Merizo Village, GuamUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- October 12, 2001Earthquake · M 7.069 km SSE of Inarajan Village, GuamUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- August 8, 1993Earthquake · M 7.832 km S of Inarajan Village, GuamUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 8, 1993Tsunami · 2.4 m hereGuam, Mariana IslandsNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 28, 1931Earthquake · M 7.2265 km S of Merizo Village, GuamUSGS
Good to know
- An event counts for Guam 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 Guam 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 Guam, 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