North Korea
Earthquakes in North Korea, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 8 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off North Korea. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.8 on October 8, 1960 (108 km SSE of Kilju, North Korea).
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
NOAA lists 2 tsunamis from elsewhere that reached North Korea with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.1 m, on July 12, 1993.
The events
- July 12, 1993Tsunami · 2.1 m hereSea Of JapanNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 11, 1990Earthquake · M 6.367 km SE of Rajin, North KoreaUSGS
- September 29, 1973Earthquake · M 6.561 km SSE of Ungsang-nodongjagu, North KoreaUSGS
- October 8, 1960Earthquake · M 6.8108 km SSE of Kilju, North KoreaUSGS
- November 19, 1954Earthquake · M 6.4212 km ESE of Hoemul-li, North KoreaUSGS
- March 19, 1952Earthquake · M 6.33 km ENE of Chunghwa, North KoreaUSGS
Good to know
- An event counts for North Korea 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 North Korea 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 North Korea, 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