Country profile · USGS ComCat
Earthquakes in Kiribati
Kiribati has catalogued 6 M4+ earthquakes since 2005 (ranked 150th of 187 countries), with the strongest reaching magnitude M5.1.
Kiribati ranks 150th 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.
- 6
- M4+ events (since 2005)
- 0
- Major M6+ (since 1900)
- M5.1
- Strongest
- ~0
- M4+ per year
The verdict
Kiribati is relatively quiet seismically compared to most places tracked here, with 6 M4+ earthquakes logged since 2005 and 0 major M6+ events since 1900, the strongest reaching magnitude 5.1.
- 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 4.7 - most events are moderate M4-5 tremors that are felt but rarely cause damage. On the M4+ activity ladder Hungary sits immediately above at 7 events and Jordan sits immediately below at 5.
USGS event tape strip
Event tape KIRIBATI · Kiribati M4+ · 150th/187
Kiribati · 6 M4+ · max M5.1 · 0 M6+
- YOY 6
- BAND 150th/187
- STRIP M5.1
- BOOK 0
- RANK near Hungary
- MAX Jan 4, 2023
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 Kiribati sits in the catalog
Rank 150th of 187 tracked countries (17th percentile by M4+ count since 2005). On the M4+ activity ladder Hungary sits immediately above at 7 events and Jordan sits immediately below at 5.
Same M4+ count, broken by peak magnitude
6 tracked countries share Kiribati's exact count of 6 M4+ events since 2005. Among that cohort, Kiribati ranks 1st of 6 by strongest recorded magnitude (M5.1).
| Country | M4+ count | Strongest |
|---|---|---|
| Kiribati (this page) | 6 | M5.1 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 6 | M4.8 |
| United Arab Emirates | 6 | M4.7 |
0 of 6 catalogued M4+ events since 2005 reached M6.0 or higher.
Other countries in this catalog sample
A Kiribati-keyed shuffle of the full 186-country roster, not the six nearest by count.
Peak-magnitude sample from the same roster
A second Kiribati-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.