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Home / Earthquakes / California

California Earthquake History

Since April 30, 1900, the USGS has recorded 1,665 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater in California, 107 of them magnitude 6 or above. The strongest was M 7.9.

By decade

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Strongest in California

M 7.9 · The 1906 San Francisco, California EarthquakeApril 18, 1906M 7.5 · The 1952 Kern County, California EarthquakeJuly 21, 1952M 7.4 · 123 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJanuary 31, 1922M 7.3 · The 1992 Landers, California EarthquakeJune 28, 1992M 7.2 · The 1980 Eureka, California EarthquakeNovember 8, 1980M 7.2 · The 1992 Petrolia, California EarthquakeApril 25, 1992M 7.2 · 153 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJune 15, 2005M 7.1 · The 1923 Humboldt County, California EarthquakeJanuary 22, 1923M 7.1 · Gulf of CaliforniaDecember 9, 1901M 7.1 · Baja California, MexicoDecember 12, 1902

All recorded earthquakes

M 4.9 mlJuly 9, 1992
3km SSE of Big Bear City, California · depth -2 km
M 4.9 mlJuly 8, 1992
23km SW of Ludlow, California · depth 5 km
M 5.4 mlJuly 5, 1992
21km SW of Ludlow, California · depth 5 km
M 4.6 mlJuly 5, 1992
15km NNE of Barstow, California · depth -0 km
M 5.3 mlJuly 1, 1992
24km N of Yucca Valley, California · depth 5 km
M 4.5 mlJuly 1, 1992
9km NE of Ridgecrest, California · depth 2 km
M 4.8 mlJune 30, 1992
16km NW of Morongo Valley, CA · depth 12 km
M 5.0 mlJune 30, 1992
14km ENE of Desert Hot Springs, CA · depth 1 km
M 4.6 mlJune 30, 1992
8km NE of Ridgecrest, CA · depth 3 km
M 4.6 mlJune 29, 1992
12km E of Big Bear City, California · depth -0 km
M 4.8 mlJune 29, 1992
13km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA · depth 1 km
M 4.6 mlJune 29, 1992
10km NNE of Yucaipa, CA · depth 3 km
M 4.6 mlJune 29, 1992
6km SE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 4 km
M 5.1 mcJune 29, 1992
4km ESE of Yucca Valley, CA · depth 11 km
M 5.7 mlJune 29, 1992
3km ESE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 10 km
M 4.7 mlJune 29, 1992
32km NE of Boron, California · depth 3 km
M 4.7 mlJune 28, 1992
2km SSE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 3 km
M 5.3 mlJune 28, 1992
1km N of Big Bear Lake, California · depth 7 km
M 5.0 mlJune 28, 1992
7km S of Big Bear Lake, CA · depth 9 km
M 4.8 mlJune 28, 1992
11km SE of Big Bear City, CA · depth 5 km
M 4.6 mlJune 28, 1992
10km SE of Big Bear City, CA · depth 8 km
M 4.7 mlJune 28, 1992
15km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA · depth 4 km
M 6.3 mwJune 28, 1992
The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · depth 4 km
M 4.5 mlJune 28, 1992
12km S of Big Bear City, CA · depth 11 km
M 5.5 mlJune 28, 1992
11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · depth 10 km
M 5.0 mlJune 28, 1992
3km ESE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 5 km
M 4.7 mlJune 28, 1992
16km NNW of Furnace Creek, California · depth 5 km
M 4.9 mlJune 28, 1992
6km NNE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 5 km
M 4.5 mlJune 28, 1992
4km ESE of Yucca Valley, California · depth -1 km
M 4.9 mlJune 28, 1992
34km NNW of Joshua Tree, CA · depth 5 km
M 5.4 mlJune 28, 1992
26km NNW of Yucca Valley, CA · depth 4 km
M 5.5 mlJune 28, 1992
0km E of Yucca Valley, CA · depth 8 km
M 4.5 mhJune 28, 1992
4km WNW of Joshua Tree, California · depth 5 km
M 5.0 mhJune 28, 1992
1km SSE of Yucca Valley, California · depth 6 km
M 5.0 mhJune 28, 1992
7km SSW of Yucca Valley, California · depth 5 km
M 5.7 mlJune 28, 1992
2km SSW of Joshua Tree, California · depth 6 km
M 5.8 mlJune 28, 1992
3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · depth -1 km
M 7.3 mwJune 28, 1992
The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · depth -0 km
M 4.9 mdJune 5, 1992
31 km SSW of Ferndale, California · depth 20 km
M 5.0 mlMay 18, 1992
15km E of Desert Hot Springs, California · depth 6 km

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program. Older and smaller earthquakes are under-counted relative to recent decades as instrumentation improved. A record of past shaking is not a forecast. See About the Data.