Earthquakes in United States through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 956 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off United States. 94 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 9.2 on March 28, 1964 (The 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake).
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 4.7 on October 15 (114 km SSW of Nikolski, Alaska). The strongest: magnitude 5.6 on October 15 (43 km NNW of Lake Minchumina, Alaska).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.9 on April 18, 1906 (The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake), for which NOAA records 700 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 280 here, back to 1901 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 84 of the events here, 7,425 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.3 on July 16, 2025 (2025 Sand Point, Alaska Earthquake). NOAA’s record here begins in 1901 BCE with an eruption (Black Peak). It grows thinner going back: 171 of the 280 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 173 tsunamis that began in or off United States, and 25 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 524.26 m, on July 10, 1958. The deadliest, on April 1, 1946, killed 164 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 47 significant eruptions of 20 volcanoes in or off United States. The largest was Black Peak in 1901 BCE, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Kilauea in November 1790, which killed 5,405 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- July 16, 2025Earthquake · M 7.32025 Sand Point, Alaska EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 4, 1965Earthquake · M 8.71965 Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 28, 1964Earthquake · M 9.2The 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake · 139 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 10, 1958Tsunami · 524.26 m hereSe. Alaska, Ak · 5 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 9, 1957Earthquake · M 8.61957 Atka, Alaska Earthquake · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 1, 1946Earthquake · M 8.6The 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska Earthquake · 168 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 1, 1946Tsunami · 42.2 m hereUnimak Island, Ak · 164 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 18, 1906Earthquake · M 7.9The 1906 San Francisco, California Earthquake · 700 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 1790Eruption · VEI 4Kilauea · 5,405 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 27, 1700Earthquake · M 9.0 (est.)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 1901 BCEEruption · VEI 6Black PeakNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for United States 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 United States 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 United States, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026. The map and 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