List of earthquakes in California

Probabilistic seismic hazard map

Earthquakes in California are common occurrences since the state is located on the San Andreas Fault, which cuts across California and forms the tectonic plate boundary between the Pacific and the North American Plate. There are many thousands of small earthquakes per year, most of them so small that they are not felt. California's complex landscape can be attributed to the network of faults that run through the state. The earliest reported earthquake in California was felt in 1769 by the Portola expedition about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.[1][2]

Summary

California has numerous active faults throughout the state which are known to produce large earthquakes. The most active of these is the San Jacinto Fault Zone in Southern California, which has produced large events on a regular basis throughout recent history. The Mendocino Triple Junction located offshore of Northern California is also very active, producing many earthquakes above M6 throughout history.[3] Northern California is also subject to megathrust earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone (extending north from Mendocino), such as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, magnitude of approximately 9. The town of Parkfield in central California is located on a section of the San Andreas Fault that produces an earthquake of about M6 every 20–30 years on average in 1857, 1881, 1901, 1922, 1934, 1966 and 2004.[4]

The largest recorded earthquake in California was the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 7.9. This earthquake ruptured the San Andreas Fault from Parkfield to Wrightwood, a distance of 225 miles (350 km). The most destructive earthquake to date was the 7.8 magnitude 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when more than 3,000 people perished in the earthquake and the fires that followed. The 1906 quake ruptured the northern segment of the San Andreas Fault for 296 miles (477 km), from San Juan Bautista to near Cape Mendocino in the north.[5] More recently, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which registered 6.9 and affected the San Francisco Bay Area,[6] and the 1994 Northridge earthquake which registered 6.7 and hit the Greater Los Angeles Area,[7] caused widespread damage and deaths in their respective regions.

Earthquakes

Date Area M MMI Deaths Injuries Total damage / notes
1812-12-08 Inland Empire 6.9 ML VIII 40 Moderate
1812-12-21 Central Coast 7.1 MLa VIII 1 Tsunami [8]
1836-06-10 Bay Area 6.8 MLa VIII N/A Damage / ground disturbances [8]
1838-06 Bay Area 7.0 MLa VIII N/A Minor [8]
1857-01-09 Central–Southern 7.9 Mw IX 2 Severe
1865-10-08 Santa Cruz Mountains 6.3 MLa VIII N/A $500,000 [9]
1868-10-21 Bay Area 6.8–7.0 ML IX 30 $350,000
1872-03-26 Eastern 7.4–7.9 Mw X 27 56 $250,000
1892-02-23 Baja California 7.1–7.2 Mw VIII N/A Moderate
1892-04-19 North Bay 6.4 MLa IX 1 $225,000 / doublet [10]
1892-04-21 Central Valley 6.2 MLa IX N/A Doublet [10]
1898-03-30 North Bay 6.2 MLa VIII N/A $350,000 / severe [11]
1899-12-25 Inland Empire 6.7 Mw IX 6 $50,000 or more [12]
1906-04-18 Northern–Central 7.8 Mw XI 3000 Conflagration / tsunami
1915-06-22 Imperial Valley 5.5 Mw VIII 6 $900,000 / doublet [13]
1915-06-22 Imperial Valley 5.5 Mw VIII N/A Doublet [13]
1918-04-21 Inland Empire 6.7 Mw IX 1 $200,000 [14]
1920-06-21 Los Angeles Area 4.9 ML VIII N/A More than $100,000 [15]
1923-01-22 North Coast 7.2 Ms VIII N/A Severe / tsunami [16]
1925-06-29 Central Coast 6.8 Mw IX 13 $8 million
1927-11-04 Central Coast 7.3 Mw VIII N/A Tsunami [17]
1932-06-06 North Coast 6.4 Ms VIII 1 Several Severe [18]
1933-03-10 South Coast 6.4 Mw VIII 115–120 $40 million
1940-05-18 Imperial Valley 6.9 Mw X 9 20 $6 million
1948-12-04 Inland Empire 6.3 ML VII N/A Several Minor
1952-07-21 Central Valley 7.3 Mw XI 12 Hundreds $60 million
1952-08-22 Central Valley 5.8 Mw VIII 2 Several $10 million
1954-12-21 North Coast 6.5 ML VII 1 Several $2.1 million [19]
1957-03-22 Bay Area 5.7 Mw VII 1 40 $1 million
1968-04-08 Imperial Valley 6.5 Mw VII N/A Damage / rockslides [20]
1969-10-01 North Bay 5.6 Mw VII 1 $8.35 million / doublet
1969-10-01 North Bay 5.7 Mw VIII N/A Doublet
1971-02-09 Los Angeles Area 6.5–6.7 Mw XI 64 2,000 $553 million
1973-02-21 South Coast 5.7 Mb VII N/A $1 million NGDC
1975-08-01 Butte County 5.7 ML VIII N/A 10 $3 million NGDC
1978-08-13 Central Coast 5.8 Mw VII N/A 65 $12 million [21]
1979-08-06 South Bay 5.7 Mw VII N/A 16 $500,000
1979-10-15 Imperial Valley 6.4 Mw IX N/A 91 $30 million
1980-01-24 East Bay 5.8 Mw VII N/A $11.5 million / doublet [22]
1980-01-26 East Bay 5.4 Mw VII N/A Doublet [23]
1980-05-25 Eastern 6.2 Mw VII N/A 9 $1.5 million / swarm [24]
1980-11-08 North Coast 7.3 Mw VII N/A 6 $2–2.75 million
1983-05-02 Central Valley 6.2 Mw VIII N/A 94 $10 million
1984-04-24 South Bay 6.2 Mw VIII N/A 21–27 $7.5–8 million
1986-07-08 Inland Empire 6.0 Mw VII N/A 29–40 $4.5–6 million
1986-07-21 Eastern 6.2 Mw VI N/A 2 $2.7 million / sequence
1987-10-01 Los Angeles Area 5.9 Mw VIII 8 200 $213–358 million
1987-11-23 Imperial Valley 6.1 Mw VI N/A $3 million [25]
1987-11-24 Imperial Valley 6.5 Mw VII N/A Triggered [25]
1989-08-08 Santa Cruz Mountains 5.4 ML VII 1 Moderate
1989-10-17 Santa Cruz Mountains 6.9 Mw IX 63 3,757 $5.6–6 billion / tsunami
1990-02-28 Los Angeles Area 5.5 Mb VII N/A 30 $12.7 million NGDC
1991-06-28 Los Angeles Area 5.6 Mw VII 1 $33.5–40 million
1991-08-17 North Coast 6.3 Mw VII N/A Damage / landslides [26]
1992-04-22 Inland Empire 6.2 Mw VII N/A 32 Light–moderate [27]
1992-04-25 North Coast 7.2 Mw IX N/A 98–356 $48.3–75 million / tsunami
1992-04-26 North Coast 6.5 Mw VIII N/A Damage / triggered
1992-04-26 North Coast 6.6 Mw VIII N/A Damage / triggered
1992-06-28 Inland Empire 7.3 Mw IX 3 400+ $92 million
1992-06-28 Inland Empire 6.5 Mw VIII N/A Moderate / triggered
1994-01-17 Los Angeles Area 6.7 Mw IX 57 8,700+ $13–$40 billion
1994-12-26 North Coast 4.8 Ms VII N/A $2.1 million [28]
1999-10-16 Eastern 7.1 Mw VIII N/A 5 Limited
2000-09-03 North Bay 5.0 Mw VII N/A 41 $10–50 million
2003-12-22 Central Coast 6.6 Mw VIII 2 40 $250–300 million
2007-10-30 South Bay 5.6 Mw VI N/A Minor
2008-07-29 Los Angeles Area 5.5 Mw VI N/A 8 Limited
2010-01-09 North Coast 6.5 Mw VI N/A 35 $21.8–43 million
2010-04-04 Baja California 7.2 Mw VII 2–4 100–233 $1.15 billion
2014-03-28 Los Angeles Area 5.1 Mw VI N/A Few $10.8 million NGDC
2014-08-24 North Bay 6.0 Mw VIII 1 ~200 $362 million–$1 billion
Note: Stover & Coffman 1993 uses various seismic scales. MLa is a local magnitude (equivalent to ML) for events that occurred prior to the instrumental period and is based on the area of perceptibility (as presented on isoseismal maps). The list includes events that occurred offshore or in Baja California, Mexico.

See also

References

Sources

External links

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