USGS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog · 2005–present
Every recorded earthquake, counted and mapped.
317,293 magnitude-4-and-above events worldwide since 2005, plus 14,444 significant M6+ earthquakes back to 1900, sorted by country, U.S. state, year and magnitude. Straight from USGS data, nothing modelled.
Catalogued events (M4+)
317,293
Worldwide, 2005–present
Significant (M6+)
14,444
Since 1900
Countries & territories
187
With recorded activity
Strongest recorded
M9.5
Chile, 1960
The global picture
Roughly 99% of the world's catalogued earthquakes are moderate (M4–5.9); only 3,219 of 317,293 reached the M6+ threshold where serious damage becomes likely.
- ~14,621
- M4+ events/year avg (2005–2025 complete years)
- 87.23%
- are M4.0–4.9, felt but rarely damaging
- 3,219
- reached M6+ in the modern catalog
- 2025
- busiest year worldwide (18,267 M4+ events)
Earthquake frequency follows a power law: each whole step up the magnitude scale is roughly ten times rarer and releases about 32× more energy.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 317,293 magnitude-4-and-above earthquakes have been catalogued worldwide since 2005 (complete years 2005–2025, plus open 2026), alongside 14,444 significant magnitude-6-and-above events reaching back to 1900. PlainQuake aggregates that public-domain record, drawn from the USGS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog and last refreshed in August 2026, into country, U.S. state, year and magnitude views, so you can see where the Earth shakes hardest and how often. See our methodology for exactly how every figure is computed.
Earthquakes by U.S. state & territory
View all 39 states as a list
- Alaska: 9K
- MP: 3K
- GU: 2K
- California: 885
- PR: 297
- Oregon: 267
- VI: 222
- Hawaii: 206
- Nevada: 170
- Oklahoma: 97
- Idaho: 73
- Georgia: 67
- Texas: 53
- New Mexico: 37
- Montana: 28
- Utah: 25
- AS: 24
- Washington: 17
- Wyoming: 13
- Colorado: 12
- Kansas: 12
- Arizona: 7
- Arkansas: 5
- Virginia: 5
- Louisiana: 5
- Tennessee: 3
- Illinois: 3
- Nebraska: 2
- Missouri: 2
- Kentucky: 1
- Maine: 1
- South Carolina: 1
- Michigan: 1
- Delaware: 1
- Ohio: 1
- Maryland: 1
- North Carolina: 1
- New Jersey: 1
- Florida: 1
Color encodes each state's M4+ earthquake count in the USGS catalog. Pacific states and territories near subduction zones, Alaska, the Mariana Islands, Guam, dominate; the eastern U.S. shows sparse but consequential activity. Select any state to open its full seismic profile.
Frequency vs. severity: where both risks meet
The 20 most-catalogued countries, plotted by how OFTEN they shake (M4+ event count) against how HARD the strongest one ever hit (max recorded magnitude). Bubble size also tracks event count.
Magnitude distribution (M4+, 2005–present)
M4.0-4.9
276,788
87.23% of catalog
M5.0-5.9
37,286
11.75% of catalog
M6.0-6.9
2,895
0.91% of catalog
M7.0-7.9
301
0.09% of catalog
M8.0+
23
0.01% of catalog
USGS PGA seismic hazard tiers
Peak Ground Acceleration tiers used in the USGS National Seismic Hazard Map and ASCE 7-22 seismic design. Each tier maps to a FEMA Seismic Design Category (SDC) used in the International Building Code.
Recent significant earthquakes
View all M6+ →| Mag | Location | Depth | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | 215 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste | 10.0 km | Aug 24, 2026 |
| 6.0 | 33 km SSW of Honchō, Japan | 42.9 km | Aug 23, 2026 |
| 6.2 | Scotia Sea | 10.0 km | Aug 22, 2026 |
| 6.7 | 31 km NW of Aniso, Peru | 99.0 km | Aug 20, 2026 |
| 6.1 | 56 km NNE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu | 188.1 km | Aug 16, 2026 |
| 6.9 | 9 km WNW of Pematangsiantar, Indonesia | 175.0 km | Aug 15, 2026 |
| 6.1 | 58 km N of Ende, Indonesia | 10.0 km | Aug 14, 2026 |
| 7.7 | 68 km NNW of Ende, Indonesia | 10.0 km | Aug 14, 2026 |
| 6.0 | South Sandwich Islands region | 10.0 km | Aug 12, 2026 |
| 7.4 | 5 km S of San José del Palmar, Colombia | 110.3 km | Aug 10, 2026 |
| 6.3 | south of the Kermadec Islands | 216.7 km | Aug 5, 2026 |
| 6.3 | 28 km SW of Sarangani, Philippines | 10.0 km | Aug 5, 2026 |
| 6.8 | The 2026 Kumamoto Region, Japan Earthquake | 10.0 km | Jul 28, 2026 |
| 6.0 | 55 km W of Sola, Vanuatu | 15.0 km | Jul 24, 2026 |
| 6.4 | 96 km SW of Puerto Madero, Mexico | 10.0 km | Jul 17, 2026 |
| 7.3 | 52 km W of Puerto Madero, Mexico | 22.0 km | Jul 17, 2026 |
| 6.2 | 33 km WSW of Sarangani, Philippines | 47.8 km | Jul 14, 2026 |
| 6.3 | southeast of the Loyalty Islands | 16.0 km | Jul 13, 2026 |
| 6.4 | 196 km SE of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea | 10.0 km | Jul 13, 2026 |
| 6.4 | South Sandwich Islands region | 26.0 km | Jul 11, 2026 |
Annual earthquake activity
All years →| Year | Total M4+ | M5+ | M6+ | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18,267 | 2,125 | 144 | 8.8 |
| 2024 | 14,132 | 1,504 | 99 | 7.5 |
| 2023 | 16,178 | 1,778 | 147 | 7.8 |
| 2022 | 15,714 | 1,724 | 127 | 7.6 |
| 2021 | 17,257 | 2,223 | 157 | 8.2 |
| 2020 | 13,934 | 1,448 | 121 | 7.8 |
| 2019 | 13,526 | 1,644 | 145 | 8.0 |
| 2018 | 14,495 | 1,761 | 133 | 8.2 |
| 2017 | 13,075 | 1,561 | 110 | 8.2 |
| 2016 | 15,388 | 1,704 | 147 | 7.9 |
Showing the ten most recent complete years. 2026 is still in progress, see the year index for year-to-date figures.
Earthquake guides
How Earthquakes Are Measured
Moment magnitude, seismograph networks, depth classification, and how USGS locates seismic events.
Earthquake Risk in the US
Which US regions face the most seismic risk, major fault lines, and what USGS data reveals about frequency.
Reading Earthquake Data
How to interpret magnitude, depth, location, and yearly statistics, and what makes an earthquake truly dangerous.
Earthquake Preparedness Guide
Emergency supplies checklist, household plan, building safety, and what to do during and after an earthquake.
Most Seismically Active US Regions
US states ranked by earthquake frequency and magnitude, from Alaska's dominance to the New Madrid zone.
Earthquake Magnitude Scales Explained
Why moment magnitude replaced Richter, what each step on the scale means, and how energy release multiplies.
Come back when the catalog moves
USGS ComCat keeps updating. PlainQuake refreshes from that feed so country and state ranks shift when new M4+ and significant M6+ events land. Two return paths are live now: save countries to My watchlist (stored only in this browser), and subscribe to the significant-earthquake RSS feed.
What to do with this data
317,293 M4+ earthquakes catalogued worldwide since 2005 - 2025 was the busiest year on record with 18,267.
- Compare all 187 tracked countries by total activity or strongest event. Open the country rankings
- Check a specific U.S. state's computed earthquake risk level against every other state. Open the risk calculator
- See where any state or country stands relative to the rest of the dataset with a single percentile score. Open the percentile tool
Figures reflect the USGS ComCat catalog (M4+ since 2005, M6+ significant events since 1900) - not a real-time hazard or early-warning feed.
About this data
How PlainQuake keeps the USGS catalog honest
What the ComCat surface shows
PlainQuake is a ComCat ledger, not an early-warning service. It rolls every USGS magnitude-4-and-above event since 2005 (plus significant M6+ back to 1900) into country, U.S. state, year, and magnitude desks so you can compare where shaking concentrates, without inventing hazard scores the Survey did not publish.
How counts reach the page
- Pull. Ingest ComCat rows from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program API for the coverage window we publish.
- Keep USGS parameters intact. Magnitude, depth, origin time, and coordinates stay as reported; we never interpolate or editorially smooth a seismic value.
- Place, then aggregate. Map events to countries (and U.S. states), then compute distributions and yearly totals so every on-page figure still resolves to a ComCat row.
Independence and correction notes
PlainQuake accepts no payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement for rankings or country pages. Found an error or a stale refresh? File it on the contact page, we respond within 72 hours and publish corrections with a visible revision note. Full attribution and cadence live on the methodology page.
Frequently asked
What data does PlainQuake provide?
PlainQuake aggregates the USGS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat): 317,293 magnitude-4-and-above events worldwide from 2005 onward, plus 14,444 significant (M6+) earthquakes back to 1900, organised by country, U.S. state, year and magnitude.
What magnitude earthquakes are included?
The worldwide catalog covers magnitude 4.0 and above (the threshold at which events are reliably detected and located globally). A separate historical series covers significant magnitude-6.0-and-above earthquakes back to 1900.
Where does the data come from?
Every figure comes from the U.S. Geological Survey Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat) - the authoritative public-domain record of global seismicity. Nothing is modelled or estimated by PlainQuake.
According to the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, PlainQuake's figures are rendered directly from 317,293 recorded M4+ earthquakes and 14,444 significant M6+ events (USGS ComCat, 2005-present) -- no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-26.