Earthquakes in Iceland, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 10 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Iceland. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.9 on March 28, 1963 (41 km W of Siglufjörður, Iceland).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5.3 on October 19 (116 km WNW of Höfn, Iceland).
What the record holds
6 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 5 of the events here, 6 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.3 on May 29, 2008 (8 km N of Selfoss, Iceland). NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began in or off Iceland. The highest water NOAA records here was 75 m, on January 15, 1967. NOAA lists 10 significant eruptions of 8 volcanoes in or off Iceland. The largest was Hekla on November 2, 1947, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Eyjafjallajokull on March 31, 2010, which killed 2 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- March 31, 2010Eruption · VEI 2Eyjafjallajokull · 2 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 29, 2008Earthquake · M 6.38 km N of Selfoss, IcelandUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 21, 2000Earthquake · M 6.512 km ENE of Selfoss, IcelandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- June 17, 2000Earthquake · M 6.525 km E of Selfoss, IcelandUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 13, 1976Earthquake · M 6.436 km ENE of Norðurþing, IcelandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- January 27, 1973Eruption · VEI 3Vestmannaeyjar · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 15, 1967Tsunami · 75 m hereCentral-SouthNOAA NCEI
- March 28, 1963Earthquake · M 6.941 km W of Siglufjörður, IcelandUSGS
- November 2, 1947Eruption · VEI 4Hekla · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 23, 1929Earthquake · M 6.31 km ESE of Hafnarfjörður, IcelandUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Iceland 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 Iceland 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 Iceland, 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