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Biggest earthquakes by year
What was the biggest earthquake of each year? The table below covers 76 years of USGS records, from 1950 to 2025: 986 events of magnitude 7 or higher, with the largest of each year highlighted.
The biggest earthquake of each year (1950 to 2025)
| Year | Largest magnitude | Location (USGS catalog) | Total M7+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8.8 | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia Earthquake | 16 |
| 2024 | 7.5 | Noto Peninsula, Japan Earthquake | 10 |
| 2023 | 7.8 | Pazarcik earthquake, Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence | 19 |
| 2022 | 7.6 | 35 km SSW of Aguililla, Mexico | 11 |
| 2021 | 8.2 | Chignik, Alaska Earthquake | 19 |
| 2020 | 7.8 | Perryville, Alaska Earthquake | 9 |
| 2019 | 8.0 | 78 km NE of Navarro, Peru | 10 |
| 2018 | 8.2 | Fiji Earthquake | 17 |
| 2017 | 8.2 | Tehuantepec, Mexico Earthquake | 7 |
| 2016 | 7.9 | 140 km E of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 16 |
| 2015 | 8.3 | 48 km W of Illapel, Chile | 19 |
| 2014 | 8.2 | 93 km NW of Iquique, Chile | 12 |
| 2013 | 8.3 | Sea of Okhotsk Earthquake | 19 |
| 2012 | 8.6 | Wharton Basin Earthquake | 16 |
| 2011 | 9.1 | Great Tohoku Earthquake, Japan | 20 |
| 2010 | 8.8 | Maule, Chile Earthquake | 24 |
| 2009 | 8.1 | Samoa Earthquake | 17 |
| 2008 | 7.9 | 58 km W of Tianpeng, China | 12 |
| 2007 | 8.4 | 122 km SW of Bengkulu, Indonesia | 18 |
| 2006 | 8.3 | Kuril Islands Earthquake | 11 |
| 2005 | 8.6 | 78 km WSW of Singkil, Indonesia | 11 |
| 2004 | 9.1 | Sumatra - Andaman Islands Earthquake | 16 |
| 2003 | 8.2 | Tokachi-Oki Earthquake | 15 |
| 2002 | 7.9 | Denali Fault, Alaska Earthquake | 13 |
| 2001 | 8.4 | 6 km SSW of Atico, Peru | 15 |
| 2000 | 8.0 | New Ireland Earthquake | 15 |
| 1999 | 7.7 | 21 km S of Puli, Taiwan | 18 |
| 1998 | 8.1 | Balleny Islands Earthquake | 12 |
| 1997 | 7.8 | 156 km S of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia | 16 |
| 1996 | 8.1 | Biak, Indonesia Earthquake | 15 |
| 1995 | 8.0 | 36 km NNE of Antofagasta, Chile | 20 |
| 1994 | 8.3 | 48 km E of Shikotan, Russia | 13 |
| 1993 | 7.8 | 32 km S of Inarajan Village, Guam | 12 |
| 1992 | 7.8 | 37 km WNW of Maumere, Indonesia | 13 |
| 1991 | 7.6 | 248 km E of Kuril’sk, Russia | 17 |
| 1990 | 7.8 | 75 km NNW of Gorontalo, Indonesia | 18 |
| 1989 | 8.0 | Macquarie Ridge Earthquake | 8 |
| 1988 | 7.8 | Gulf of Alaska | 11 |
| 1987 | 7.9 | 200 km WSW of Yakutat, Alaska | 13 |
| 1986 | 8.0 | Atka, Alaska Earthquake | 11 |
| 1985 | 8.0 | 25 km WSW of Valparaíso, Chile | 15 |
| 1984 | 7.6 | 85 km SE of Honiara, Solomon Islands | 14 |
| 1983 | 7.6 | 157 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea | 14 |
| 1982 | 7.3 | 18 km SSW of La Libertad, El Salvador | 8 |
| 1981 | 7.7 | 133 km NE of Hihifo, Tonga | 10 |
| 1980 | 7.9 | 199 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands | 6 |
| 1979 | 7.9 | 55 km S of Biak, Indonesia | 8 |
| 1978 | 7.7 | 68 km ESE of Ishinomaki, Japan | 12 |
| 1977 | 8.3 | Sumba, Indonesia Earthquake | 11 |
| 1976 | 8.0 | Kermadec Islands, New Zealand Earthquake | 14 |
| 1975 | 7.9 | Azores-Cape St. Vincent Ridge | 13 |
| 1974 | 7.6 | 77 km WSW of Callao, Peru | 11 |
| 1973 | 7.7 | 19 km ESE of Nemuro, Japan | 9 |
| 1972 | 8.0 | Mindanao, Philippines Earthquake | 15 |
| 1971 | 8.1 | Bougainville Earthquake | 11 |
| 1970 | 8.0 | 95 km N of San Antonio del Estrecho, Peru | 17 |
| 1969 | 8.2 | Hokkaido Toho-oki Earthquake | 15 |
| 1968 | 8.2 | Tokachi-Oki Earthquake | 20 |
| 1967 | 7.3 | 34 km NE of Tocopilla, Chile | 10 |
| 1966 | 8.1 | 67 km W of Paramonga, Peru | 9 |
| 1965 | 8.7 | Western Aleutian Islands (Hawadax/Rat Islands) Earthquake | 15 |
| 1964 | 9.2 | Prince William Sound, Alaska Earthquake | 7 |
| 1963 | 8.5 | Kuril Islands Earthquake | 17 |
| 1962 | 7.5 | 262 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga | 9 |
| 1961 | 7.6 | 132 km W of Iñapari, Peru | 11 |
| 1960 | 9.5 | Great Chilean Earthquake (Valdivia Earthquake) | 13 |
| 1959 | 7.9 | 76 km ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia | 6 |
| 1958 | 8.3 | Kuril Islands Earthquake | 7 |
| 1957 | 8.6 | Atka, Alaska Earthquake | 19 |
| 1956 | 7.7 | 19 km SSE of Amorgós, Greece | 5 |
| 1955 | 7.5 | Kermadec Islands region | 9 |
| 1954 | 7.8 | Strait of Gibraltar | 6 |
| 1953 | 7.9 | 174 km SE of Katsuura, Japan | 9 |
| 1952 | 9.0 | 89 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia | 6 |
| 1951 | 7.8 | Taiwan | 8 |
| 1950 | 8.6 | Assam-Tibet Earthquake | 13 |
How to read this table
The magnitude scale is logarithmic: each additional whole number multiplies the energy released by roughly 32 times. An M8 is not "a bit bigger" than an M7; it is dozens of times more energy. And an M9 releases about 32 times the energy of an M8. That is why the top of the table matters so much: the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile, at magnitude 9.5, remains the largest ever recorded by instruments and released more energy than many entire years combined.
Another pattern the table reveals: the planet records on average 13 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher per year, and most of them happen along the Ring of Fire, the arc of colliding tectonic plate boundaries that wraps around the Pacific Ocean, from Chile to Alaska and from Japan to New Zealand. A year with few M7+ events does not mean a quiet planet, and a busy year does not mean earthquakes "are increasing": the variation is statistical, and the long term average has stayed stable for as long as modern seismographs have existed. Each row of this table, it is worth remembering, represents real communities that felt the ground move; the numbers are cold, the consequences never are.
Source: USGS Earthquake Catalog (public domain), snapshot of 2026-07-09. Magnitudes and locations as listed in the catalog; historical events may be revised by seismologists over time.
Last updated: · Methodology and sources