Most severe and most recent earthquakes
Earthquakes occur naturally in the lithosphere, the outer rock layers of the earth. Like volcanoes and tsunamis, they occur mainly at the edges of tectonic plates. The countries bordering the Pacific, but also in Central Asia, are most clearly affected.On further pages:
▷ Volcanoes
▷ Tsunamis
▷ Tropical storms
Earthquakes today
The map and table below list all earthquakes of the last 24 hours that had a magnitude of at least 2.5 on the Richter scale and were located near inhabited areas. Quakes on the open sea are therefore not included here. The times given refer to the coordinated universal time UTC.We update this page up to 6 times a day. We expect the next update around 14:00 UTC.
Time | Region | Magnitude |
---|---|---|
05:07 | Puerto Rico24 km east of Ponce | 2.6 |
03:40 | Puerto Rico42 km southeast of San Juan | 2.6 |
03:35 | Peru97 km southwest of Minas de Marcona (Ica) | 4.6 |
23:38 | United States43 km southeast of Hilo (Hawaii) | 2.5 |
19:26 | Greece25 km southwest of Pátra (West Greece) | 4.3 |
18:55 | Peru91 km southwest of Minas de Marcona (Ica) | 4.8 |
18:51 | Taiwan16 km west of Hualian (Taiwan) | 4.4 |
18:19 | Peru59 km west of Chuquitira (Tacna) | 5.6 |
17:35 | Papua New Guinea24 km north of Kimbe (West New Britain) | 4.4 |
17:12 | Papua New Guinea98 km northeast of Rabaul (East New Britain) | 5.6 |
The strongest earthquakes in the last 2 weeks
Date | Region | Magnitude |
---|---|---|
Thu 11th | PhilippinesIn the Moro Gulf, 196 km south of Pagadian City. | 7.1 |
Fri 12th | Peru23 km southeast of Acarí (Arequipa) | 5.7 |
Fri 12th | Papua New Guinea98 km northeast of Rabaul (East New Britain) | 5.6 |
Fri 12th | Peru59 km west of Chuquitira (Tacna) | 5.6 |
Sun 7th | Russia77 km south-southwest of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy | 5.5 |
Sun 7th | Russia76 km south-southwest of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy | 5.5 |
Sat 6th | Philippines72 km north of Claveria (Cagayan Valley) | 5.5 |
Thu 11th | Guam120 km south-southwest of Merizo Village | 5.4 |
Mon 8th | Peru95 km southwest of Minas de Marcona (Ica) | 5.4 |
Sat 13th | Japan127 km south-southeast of Itoman | 5.3 |
How earthquakes occur
The Earth is not a solid sphere of stone, but consists of different layers with different densities and temperatures. The outermost layer is the Earth's crust and consists of brittle rock masses that float on the Earth's mantle below. Both layers together form the lithosphere. The heat in the Earth's mantle causes a slow but steady movement in which hot and therefore viscous and malleable rock masses slowly rise from the Earth's interior, cool down again and sink once more. These movements are transferred to the continental plates that make up the Earth's outer crust. In the course of many millions of years, our continents drift further and further apart.If two tectonic plates move towards each other, they fold up at the edges and whole mountain ranges are formed over a long period of time. However, most of these plate boundaries do not run on land, but under water in the oceans. Such huge continental plates do not move at a constant speed. Unlike the deeper layers of the Earth, they are much cooler and therefore firmer. This creates great stresses, which at some point become so great that massive layers of rock break. The resulting jerky discharge of stress generates seismic waves over many kilometers. This is known as earthquakes at the surface.
While the Earth's crust is between 8 and 70 kilometers thick, most earthquakes occur at a depth of 20 to 50 kilometers. That is, where the rock plates are no longer hot enough to deform. The place where the Earth's crust first breaks open is called the hypocenter. The travel time of the seismic waves to different measuring stations often makes it possible to determine this very precisely. The term epicenter describes the location on the Earth's surface above the hypocenter.
The map on the right (source: NASA, DTAM project team) shows the most frequent epicenters of earthquakes, regardless of their magnitude, and thus illustrates the boundaries of the continental plates. In particular, earthquakes occur with striking frequency along the U.S. West Coast and along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The most severe earthquakes since 1950
Chile, Alaska (USA) and Indonesia appear several times in the list of the most severe earthquakes over the last 60 years. The total damage column includes destroyed homes and financial losses. It does not include victims and damage from tsunamis possibly triggered by the quakes.Date | Country | Region | Magnitude | Deaths | Total damage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
05/22/1960 | Chile 05/22/1960: Puerto Montt, Valdivia | Puerto Montt, Valdivia | 9.5 | 2,000 | |
03/28/1964 | United States 03/28/1964: Alaska | Alaska | 9.2 | 15 | |
03/11/2011 | Japan 03/11/2011: Honshu | Honshu | 9.1 | 1,475 | |
12/26/2004 | Indonesia 12/26/2004: Sumatra (Aceh: Off West Coast) | Sumatra (Aceh: Off West Coast) | 9.1 | 1,001 | |
11/04/1952 | Russia 11/04/1952: Kamchatka Peninsula | Kamchatka Peninsula | 9.0 | 0 | |
02/27/2010 | Chile 02/27/2010: Maule, Concepcion, Talcahuano | Maule, Concepcion, Talcahuano | 8.8 | 402 | |
02/04/1965 | United States 02/04/1965: Aleutian Islands (Rat Islands) | Aleutian Islands (Rat Islands) | 8.7 | 0 | |
03/28/2005 | Indonesia 03/28/2005: Sumatera (Sw) | Sumatera (Sw) | 8.6 | 1,303 | |
08/15/1950 | India 08/15/1950: India-China | India-China | 8.6 | 1,530 | |
04/11/2012 | Indonesia 04/11/2012: N Sumatra (Off West Coast) | N Sumatra (Off West Coast) | 8.6 | 10 | |
03/09/1957 | United States 03/09/1957: Alaska | Alaska | 8.6 | 0 | |
10/13/1963 | Russia 10/13/1963: Kuril Islands | Kuril Islands | 8.5 | 0 | |
06/23/2001 | Peru 06/23/2001: Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Ayacucho | Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Ayacucho | 8.4 | 77 | |
09/12/2007 | Indonesia 09/12/2007: Sumatra | Sumatra | 8.4 | 25 | |
09/16/2015 | Chile 09/16/2015: Central | Central | 8.3 | 7 | |
10/04/1994 | Russia 10/04/1994: Kuril Islands; Japan (Hokkaido) | Kuril Islands; Japan (Hokkaido) | 8.3 | 11 | |
09/25/2003 | Japan 09/25/2003: Hokkaido | Hokkaido | 8.3 | 0 | |
11/06/1958 | Russia 11/06/1958: Kuril Islands | Kuril Islands | 8.3 | 0 | |
11/04/1963 | Indonesia 11/04/1963: Banda Sea | Banda Sea | 8.3 | 0 | |
11/15/2006 | Russia 11/15/2006: Kuril Islands | Kuril Islands | 8.3 | 0 |