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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

All recorded earthquakes

M 4.7 mlSeptember 10, 1984
71 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 5 km
M 4.9 mbSeptember 10, 1984
223 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.5 mlSeptember 10, 1984
116 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 5 km
M 4.7 mbSeptember 10, 1984
244 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.6 mbSeptember 10, 1984
241 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.5 mbSeptember 10, 1984
226 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 6.7 mwSeptember 10, 1984
217 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.7 mlAugust 4, 1984
42 km SW of Ferndale, California · depth 20 km
M 4.7 mlApril 28, 1984
7 km ESE of Mammoth Lakes, California · depth 2 km
M 6.2 mlApril 24, 1984
The 1984 Morgan Hill, California Earthquake · depth 8 km
M 5.2 mlFebruary 28, 1984
80 km WSW of Ferndale, California · depth 8 km
M 4.5 mlFebruary 27, 1984
3 km S of Round Valley, California · depth 8 km
M 4.5 mlJanuary 23, 1984
14 km NNW of Big Sur, California · depth 7 km
M 5.1 mlJanuary 23, 1984
14 km NW of Big Sur, California · depth 7 km
M 5.7 mlDecember 20, 1983
118 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 8 km
M 4.5 mlOctober 21, 1983
20km NNE of Kernville, CA · depth 0 km
M 4.8 mlSeptember 30, 1983
9 km W of Aspen Springs, California · depth 8 km
M 4.8 mdSeptember 11, 1983
11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 9 km
M 5.5 mdSeptember 9, 1983
11 km NE of Coalinga, California · depth 7 km
M 5.2 mlAugust 29, 1983
25 km NW of San Simeon, California · depth 10 km
M 5.5 mlAugust 24, 1983
60 km WSW of Ferndale, California · depth 11 km
M 5.0 mdJuly 25, 1983
10 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 8 km
M 4.8 mdJuly 22, 1983
9 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 8 km
M 5.4 maJuly 22, 1983
11 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 7 km
M 4.7 mdJuly 9, 1983
12 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 8 km
M 4.8 mlJuly 5, 1983
13 km ENE of Mono City, California · depth 8 km
M 5.3 mlJuly 3, 1983
11 km W of Aspen Springs, California · depth 9 km
M 4.7 mlJune 29, 1983
28km SW of Coronado, CA · depth 9 km
M 4.5 maJune 11, 1983
15 km NW of Coalinga, California · depth 5 km
M 5.1 msMay 29, 1983
100 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.6 mbMay 18, 1983
254 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 5.0 mbMay 18, 1983
256 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.6 mbMay 16, 1983
254 km W of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 5.2 mlMay 9, 1983
12 km NNE of Coalinga, California · depth 13 km
M 4.7 mdMay 3, 1983
12 km NNE of Coalinga, California · depth 8 km
M 4.7 mdMay 3, 1983
15 km NNW of Coalinga, California · depth 5 km
M 4.8 mdMay 3, 1983
14 km N of Coalinga, California · depth 10 km
M 5.5 mbMay 2, 1983
11 km NNE of Coalinga, California · depth 8 km
M 6.7 mlMay 2, 1983
The 1983 Coalinga, California Earthquake · depth 10 km
M 4.8 mlJanuary 25, 1983
15 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California · depth 3 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.