Earthquakes in Iran through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 108 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Iran. 12 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.9 on December 22, 856 (Damghan, Qumis).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 16 (70 km NNE of Mīnāb, Iran).
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 200,000 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 385 here, back to 401 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 192 of the events here, 1,010,638 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.4 on December 5, 2024 (31 km SE of Masjed Soleymān, Iran). NOAA’s record here begins in 401 BCE with an earthquake (Rey,Eivan-E-Kay). It grows thinner going back: 211 of the 385 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began in or off Iran, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 13.66 m, on November 27, 1945. The deadliest, on March 19, 2017, killed 2 people here by NOAA’s runup records.
The events
- December 5, 2024Earthquake · M 5.431 km SE of Masjed Soleymān, IranUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 19, 2017Tsunami · 3 m herePersian Gulf · 2 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- April 16, 2013Earthquake · M 7.7Mashkal · 40 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 27, 1945Tsunami · 13.66 m hereMakran CoastNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 8, 1780Earthquake · M 7.7 (est.)Tabriz · 50,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 18, 1727EarthquakeTabriz · 77,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 26, 1721Earthquake · M 7.7 (est.)Tabriz · 40,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1101Earthquake · M 6.5 (est.)Khorasan · 60,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- December 22, 856Earthquake · M 7.9 (est.)Damghan, Qumis · 200,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- 401 BCEEarthquake · M 7.6 (est.)Rey,Eivan-E-KayNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Iran 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 Iran 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 Iran, 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