Country profile · USGS ComCat
Earthquakes in Mauritania
Mauritania has catalogued 21 M4+ earthquakes since 2005 (ranked 119th of 187 countries), with the strongest reaching magnitude M4.6.
Mauritania ranks 119th of 187 countries by catalogued seismic activity - a country with limited but non-zero seismic activity, averaging about 1 M4+ events a year alongside 0 significant M6+ earthquakes since 1900.
- 21
- M4+ events (since 2005)
- 0
- Major M6+ (since 1900)
- M4.6
- Strongest
- ~1
- M4+ per year
The verdict
Mauritania is below the global median in catalogued seismic activity, with 21 M4+ earthquakes logged since 2005 and 0 major M6+ events since 1900, the strongest reaching magnitude 4.6.
- 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 4.2 - most events are moderate M4-5 tremors that are felt but rarely cause damage. On the M4+ activity ladder Saint Kitts and Nevis sits immediately above at 23 events and Namibia sits immediately below at 20.
USGS ComCat event tape
Event tape MAURITANIA · Mauritania M4+ · 119th/187
Mauritania · 21 M4+ · max M4.6 · 0 M6+
- TAPE 21
- EPIC 119th/187
- YOY M4.6
- BAND 0
- STRIP near Saint Kitts and Nevis
- BOOK Jul 1, 2021
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 Mauritania sits in the catalog
Rank 119th of 187 tracked countries (36th percentile by M4+ count since 2005). On the M4+ activity ladder Saint Kitts and Nevis sits immediately above at 23 events and Namibia sits immediately below at 20.
- Saint Kitts and Nevis - next more active (23 M4+)
- Namibia - next less active (20 M4+)
Same M4+ count, broken by peak magnitude
2 tracked countries share Mauritania's exact count of 21 M4+ events since 2005. Among that cohort, Mauritania ranks 2nd of 2 by strongest recorded magnitude (M4.6).
| Country | M4+ count | Strongest |
|---|---|---|
| Norway | 21 | M5.2 |
| Mauritania (this page) | 21 | M4.6 |
0 of 21 catalogued M4+ events since 2005 reached M6.0 or higher.
Other countries in this catalog sample
A Mauritania-keyed shuffle of the full 186-country roster, not the six nearest by count.
Peak-magnitude sample from the same roster
A second Mauritania-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.