Worldwide · UTC

Earthquake history: Worldwide archive

The historical catalogue includes USGS M6+ from 1900, M4.5+ from 1970 and delivered events since the project began. It is not a complete record of all small earthquakes.

Known events in this window: 11,478 · 2026 · August

Catalogue coverage

The historical catalogue includes USGS M6+ from 1900, M4.5+ from 1970 and delivered events since the project began. It is not a complete record of all small earthquakes.

— UTC

Timeline

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How to look up a historical earthquake

Start with a year and narrow it down by month if you know the approximate date. Check origin time and epicentre to distinguish earthquakes in the same sequence. Older records capture mainly larger events. An increase in entries across decades can reflect better detection as well as changes in seismic activity.

Curated earthquake histories

Country timelines with the most important earthquakes, checked against the USGS catalogue, with context and sources.

The strongest earthquakes since 1900