Country profile · USGS ComCat
Earthquakes in United Kingdom
United Kingdom has catalogued 10 M4+ earthquakes since 2005 (ranked 143rd of 187 countries), with the strongest reaching magnitude M4.8.
United Kingdom ranks 143rd 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.
- 10
- M4+ events (since 2005)
- 0
- Major M6+ (since 1900)
- M4.8
- Strongest
- ~0
- M4+ per year
The verdict
United Kingdom is relatively quiet seismically compared to most places tracked here, with 10 M4+ earthquakes logged since 2005 and 0 major M6+ events since 1900, the strongest reaching magnitude 4.8.
- 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 4.3 - most events are moderate M4-5 tremors that are felt but rarely cause damage. On the M4+ activity ladder Austria sits immediately above at 11 events and Germany sits immediately below at 9.
USGS event tape strip
Event tape UNITED-KINGD · United Kingdom M4+ · 143rd/187
United Kingdom · 10 M4+ · max M4.8 · 0 M6+
- PHOTO 10
- BUSY 143rd/187
- SHAL M4.8
- PCT 0
- VS-PEER near Austria
- COMCAT Jan 31, 2022
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 United Kingdom sits in the catalog
Rank 143rd of 187 tracked countries (23th percentile by M4+ count since 2005). On the M4+ activity ladder Austria sits immediately above at 11 events and Germany sits immediately below at 9.
Same M4+ count, broken by peak magnitude
2 tracked countries share United Kingdom's exact count of 10 M4+ events since 2005. Among that cohort, United Kingdom ranks 1st of 2 by strongest recorded magnitude (M4.8).
| Country | M4+ count | Strongest |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (this page) | 10 | M4.8 |
| Slovenia | 10 | M4.5 |
0 of 10 catalogued M4+ events since 2005 reached M6.0 or higher.
Other countries in this catalog sample
A United Kingdom-keyed shuffle of the full 186-country roster, not the six nearest by count.
Peak-magnitude sample from the same roster
A second United Kingdom-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.