All earthquakes

Earthquakes in 1917

The USGS located 156 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more worldwide in 1917, 87 of them magnitude 6 or more, and 29 of magnitude 2.5 or more in the United States. The largest: M8.2 1917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand Earthquake, May 1, 1917.

From the USGS catalog. Magnitude 4.5 and up worldwide, and 2.5 and up in the United States. Times are local to each quake.

19161918

Map

Where the largest earthquakes of 1917 were located. Select one for its page.

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The largest

The 25 largest of 1917, by magnitude.

  1. 8.21917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand Earthquake · 15 km deepNew Zealand
  2. 8.0The 1917 Samoa-Tonga Earthquake · 15 km deepTonga
  3. 8.043 km E of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia · 20 km deepRussia
  4. 7.5Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 35 km deepNew Zealand
  5. 7.593 km SW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea · 35 km deepPapua New Guinea
  6. 7.47 km WSW of Rajin, North Korea · 460 km deepNorth Korea
  7. 7.454 km SE of Sand Point, Alaska · 35 km deepAlaska
  8. 7.3120 km ENE of Hirara, Japan · 35 km deepJapan
  9. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste · 140 km deepTimor Leste
  10. 7.231 km S of San Francisco Cozoaltepec, Mexico · 20 km deepMexico
  11. 7.1261 km S of Merizo Village, Guam · 15 km deepGuam
  12. 7.1123 km SE of Honchō, Japan · 15 km deepJapan
  13. 7.155 km ESE of Farkhār, Afghanistan · 200 km deepAfghanistan
  14. 7.05 km SE of Castilla La Nueva, Colombia · 15 km deepColombia
  15. 7.084 km SW of Niquero, Cuba · 15 km deepCuba
  16. 7.0Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 35 km deepNew Zealand
  17. 7.042 km W of Xunchang, China · 15 km deepChina
  18. 6.928 km NNE of Sinabang, Indonesia · 15 km deepIndonesia
  19. 6.937 km S of Daliao, Philippines · 35 km deepPhilippines
  20. 6.9148 km E of Yamada, Japan · 15 km deepJapan
  21. 6.972 km WNW of Calingasta, Argentina · 115 km deepArgentina
  22. 6.957 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 35 km deepChile
  23. 6.894 km NE of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic · 15 km deepDominican Republic
  24. 6.8238 km WNW of Sabang, Indonesia · 15 km deepIndonesia
  25. 6.856 km SSE of Castlepoint, New Zealand · 15 km deepNew Zealand

Month by month

Counted by UTC date, which is how the catalog files them.

MonthQuakesLargestWhere
January 1917138.043 km E of Ust’-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia
February 191797.084 km SW of Niquero, Cuba
March 191796.9148 km E of Yamada, Japan
April 1917137.155 km ESE of Farkhār, Afghanistan
May 1917208.21917 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand Earthquake
June 1917238.0The 1917 Samoa-Tonga Earthquake
July 1917297.593 km SW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea
August 1917107.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
September 191766.3central Mid-Atlantic Ridge
October 191796.3197 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
November 1917107.5Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
December 191797.231 km S of San Francisco Cozoaltepec, Mexico

By state

Where the year’s United States quakes of magnitude 2.5 and up were located. A state with none that year is not listed.

By country

Where the year’s quakes of magnitude 4.5 and up were located. Quakes at sea, away from any country, are not counted here.

What this means

The catalog is only as complete as the instruments of the time. Worldwide coverage of magnitude 5 and up dates from the 1960s, and of 4.5 from the 1990s; earlier years hold the large quakes and the ones near a station, so a low count in an early year means fewer instruments, not a quiet earth.

By year

Every year the USGS catalog covers.

Sources

Earthquakes, magnitudes, depths, shaking estimates and felt reports from the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, read from its live feeds and its catalog back to 1900. Tsunami messages from NOAA’s tsunami warning centers.