Country profile · USGS ComCat
Earthquakes in Antarctica
Antarctica has catalogued 1 M4+ earthquakes since 2005 (ranked 173rd of 187 countries), with the strongest reaching magnitude M4.5.
Antarctica ranks 173rd of 187 countries by catalogued seismic activity - a country with limited but non-zero seismic activity, averaging about 0 M4+ events a year alongside 0 significant M6+ earthquakes since 1900.
- 1
- M4+ events (since 2005)
- 0
- Major M6+ (since 1900)
- M4.5
- Strongest
- ~0
- M4+ per year
The verdict
Antarctica is relatively quiet seismically compared to most places tracked here, with 1 M4+ earthquakes logged since 2005 and 0 major M6+ events since 1900, the strongest reaching magnitude 4.5.
- N/A
- no yearly breakdown available
- N/A
- average recorded event depth
- 0%
- of events are shallow (<70 km, the most damaging kind)
Average catalogued magnitude is 4.5 - most events are moderate M4-5 tremors that are felt but rarely cause damage. Antarctica is among the quietest tracked; the next step up is Central African Republic at 2 M4+ events.
USGS event tape strip
Event tape ANTARCTICA · Antarctica M4+ · 173rd/187
Antarctica · 1 M4+ · max M4.5 · 0 M6+
- PCT 1
- VS-PEER 173rd/187
- COMCAT M4.5
- TAPE 0
- EPIC near Central African Republic
- YOY Aug 19, 2011
Stamps derive from this country's USGS ComCat row (M4+ book, rank, peak magnitude, M6+ record, ladder neighbour, depth/peak year), not a hazard forecast. PlainQuake is informational only - not professional advice and not a substitute for official USGS guidance. See our disclaimer. Verify with USGS ComCat → · Read with methodology → · How earthquakes are measured → · Reading earthquake data → · All country catalog rows → · Countries ranked →
Where Antarctica sits in the catalog
Rank 173rd of 187 tracked countries (0th percentile by M4+ count since 2005). Antarctica is among the quietest tracked; the next step up is Central African Republic at 2 M4+ events.
- Central African Republic - next more active (2 M4+)
Same M4+ count, broken by peak magnitude
15 tracked countries share Antarctica's exact count of 1 M4+ events since 2005. Among that cohort, Antarctica ranks 6th of 15 by strongest recorded magnitude (M4.5).
0 of 1 catalogued M4+ events since 2005 reached M6.0 or higher.
Other countries in this catalog sample
A Antarctica-keyed shuffle of the full 186-country roster, not the six nearest by count.
Peak-magnitude sample from the same roster
A second Antarctica-keyed shuffle of countries with a recorded max magnitude.
Showing 6 of 186 countries with a recorded max magnitude.
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.