Earthquakes in Myanmar (Burma) through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 71 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Myanmar (Burma). 14 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.9 on May 23, 1912 (32 km NW of Taunggyi, Myanmar).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 10 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 23 (18 km NNW of Yongning, China). The strongest: magnitude 4.8 on October 3 (85 km NE of Sittwe, Burma (Myanmar)).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.7 on March 28, 2025 (2025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake), for which NOAA records 3,815 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 42 here, back to 1467. NOAA records deaths in 18 of the events here, 5,131 in all. NOAA’s record here begins in 1467 with an earthquake (Ava (Innwa)). It grows thinner going back: 29 of the 42 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began in or off Myanmar (Burma), and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.9 m, on December 26, 2004. The deadliest, on May 5, 1930, killed 500 people here by NOAA’s runup records.
The events
- March 28, 2025Earthquake · M 7.72025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake · 3,815 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 26, 2004Tsunami · 2.9 m hereOff W. Coast Of Sumatra · 114 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 12, 1946Earthquake · M 7.6MyanmarUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 27, 1931Earthquake · M 7.637 km S of Sarupathar, IndiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 3, 1930Earthquake · M 7.536 km SSW of Pyu, Myanmar · 36 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 5, 1930Earthquake · M 7.441 km SW of Nyaunglebin, Myanmar · 500 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 5, 1930Tsunami · 1.06 m hereMyanmar Coast · 500 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 23, 1912Earthquake · M 7.932 km NW of Taunggyi, MyanmarUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 23, 1839EarthquakeAva, Amarapura · 400 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1467EarthquakeAva (Innwa)NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Myanmar (Burma) 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 Myanmar (Burma) 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 Myanmar (Burma), 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