The following is a list of notable

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s and

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

s which had their

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

in areas that are now part of the United States with the latter affecting areas of the United States. Those in ''italics'' were not part of the United States when the event occurred.

List of earthquakes

Earthquake swarms which affected the United States: * 1962–71 Denver earthquake swarm *

Enola earthquake swarm The Enola earthquake swarm was a series of earthquakes in 2001 that centered on Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Littl ...

* 2008 Reno earthquakes *

Guy-Greenbrier earthquake swarm The Guy-Greenbrier earthquake swarm occurred in central Arkansas beginning in August 2010. The epicenters of earthquakes in the swarm showed a linear distribution, with a clear overall shift in activity towards the southwest with time, and the lar ...

* Oklahoma earthquake swarms (2009–present) Earthquakes which affected the United States but whose epicenters were outside the United States borders: *

1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake The 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake struck northeastern North America on February 28, reaching 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale. It was one of the most powerful measured in Canada in the 20th century, with a maximum perceived intensity ...

– magnitude 6.2 earthquake, no injuries or fatalities anywhere * 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake – magnitude 6.4 earthquake with an epicenter less than 1 km inside Mexico – significant damage and injuries on both sides of the border (60 in the US) * 2010 Baja California earthquake (Mexico near S California) – magnitude 7.2 earthquake, 4 fatalities and 100 injuries, none in the United States Earthquakes which did not affect the United States directly, but caused tsunamis which did: * 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami – magnitude 9.5 earthquake, between 2200 and 6000 fatalities, including 61 in Hilo, HI * 2006 Kuril Islands earthquake and tsunami – magnitude 8.3 earthquake, no injuries or fatalities anywhere *

2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami took place on 29 September 2009 in the southern Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The submarine earthquake occurred in an extensional environment and had a moment magnitude of ...

– magnitude 8.0 earthquake with an epicenter southwest of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

generated tsunami waves up to , killing 34 people in American Samoa and causing extensive damage * 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami – magnitude 8.8 earthquake, ~525 fatalities and unknown number of injuries, none in the United States *

2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

– magnitude 9.0 earthquake, 15,850–28,000 fatalities and 6,011 injured, one fatality and unknown number of injuries in the United States *

2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake The 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake occurred just after . The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of V (''Moderate''). The earthquake's epicentre was on Moresby Island of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known ...

– magnitude 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter on

Moresby Island Moresby Island ( hai, Gwaii Haanas) is a large island () that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia, Canada, located at . It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, the second largest Canadian earthquake ever recorded by a seismometer, over 100,000 people were evacuated to higher ground in the state of Hawai'i

List of strongest earthquakes by states and territories

* Noted, magnitudes are reported on the

Moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

(M_w).

References

External links

List of historic U.S. earthquakes
at the United States Geological Survey
Earthquake data
at the National Geophysical Data Center * {{Authority control List of earthquakes in the United States

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Earthquakes Earthquakes List

List of earthquakes

List of strongest earthquakes by states and territories

See also

References

External links