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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 5.0 mlJuly 26, 1947
3km N of Desert Hot Springs, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.2 mlJuly 25, 1947
10km SSE of Yucca Valley, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.8 mlJuly 25, 1947
6km SSE of Yucca Valley, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.7 mlJuly 24, 1947
3km ENE of Garnet, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.3 mlJuly 24, 1947
4km NNE of Desert Hot Springs, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.2 mlMay 27, 1947
41 km WSW of Ferndale, California
M 4.7 mlMay 11, 1947
22km NNW of Twentynine Palms, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.5 mlApril 19, 1947
36km SSE of Fort Irwin, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.0 mlApril 11, 1947
37km SSE of Fort Irwin, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.8 mlApril 10, 1947
37km NW of Ludlow, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.0 mlApril 10, 1947
27km S of Fort Irwin, CA · depth 6 km
M 6.5 mwApril 10, 1947
The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · depth 6 km
M 4.6 mlMarch 30, 1947
41 km WSW of Ferndale, California
M 4.5 mlFebruary 6, 1947
4km WNW of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.9 mlSeptember 28, 1946
1km NE of Banning, CA · depth 13 km
M 4.5 mlAugust 30, 1946
6km NNE of Westmorland, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.5 mlJuly 18, 1946
17km WSW of Amboy, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.8 mlJune 15, 1946
49km SSE of Campo, CA · depth 32 km
M 4.7 mlJune 4, 1946
38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.5 mlMay 29, 1946
Central California
M 5.2 mlMarch 18, 1946
15km NNE of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.6 mlMarch 18, 1946
14km NNW of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.6 mlMarch 18, 1946
15km NNW of Ridgecrest, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.8 mlMarch 16, 1946
27km WNW of Inyokern, CA · depth 0 km
M 5.0 mlMarch 15, 1946
22km WNW of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.4 mlMarch 15, 1946
4km N of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.2 mlMarch 15, 1946
8km NE of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 6.3 mhMarch 15, 1946
The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · depth 6 km
M 5.4 mlMarch 15, 1946
14km NW of Inyokern, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.3 mlJanuary 8, 1946
13km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.8 mlAugust 15, 1945
5km N of Westmorland, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.7 mlJune 14, 1945
52km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA · depth 6 km
M 6.3 mwMay 19, 1945
191 km WSW of Ferndale, California · depth 10 km
M 4.6 mlMay 17, 1945
0 km NNW of Ridgemark, California
M 4.9 mlApril 1, 1945
12km ENE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA · depth 0 km
M 4.9 mlMarch 20, 1945
13km NNW of Twentynine Palms, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.5 mlDecember 23, 1944
27km WSW of Stovepipe Wells, CA · depth 6 km
M 4.7 mlNovember 8, 1944
72 km WSW of Crescent City, California
M 4.6 mlJuly 3, 1944
19km W of Johannesburg, CA · depth 6 km
M 5.2 mlJune 12, 1944
12km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA · 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.