Largest Earthquakes in the United States

The United States experiences thousands of earthquakes every year, but only a fraction are large enough to cause damage or be widely felt. The largest earthquakes tend to occur along the Pacific plate boundary in Alaska and California, though significant events have struck the central US and even the East Coast.

This table shows the 100 largest earthquakes recorded in or near US states since 2004, ranked by magnitude. Magnitude measures the energy released at the earthquake's source — each whole number increase represents roughly 32 times more energy. A magnitude 7.0 releases about 1,000 times more energy than a magnitude 5.0.