All earthquakes

Earthquakes in 1968

The USGS located 713 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more worldwide in 1968, 159 of them magnitude 6 or more, and 907 of magnitude 2.5 or more in the United States. The largest: M8.2 1968 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake, May 16, 1968.

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.

19671969

Map

Where the largest earthquakes of 1968 were located. Select one for its page.

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The largest

The 25 largest of 1968, by magnitude.

  1. 8.21968 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake · 27 km deepJapan
  2. 7.970 km S of Honchō, Japan · 31 km deepJapan
  3. 7.7121 km E of Bitung, Indonesia · 21 km deepIndonesia
  4. 7.628 km SE of Minuri, Philippines · 31 km deepPhilippines
  5. 7.5143 km WSW of Abepura, Indonesia · 60 km deepIndonesia
  6. 7.560 km ESE of Nobeoka, Japan · 31 km deepJapan
  7. 7.426 km S of Shikotan, Russia · 43 km deepRussia
  8. 7.3Bonin Islands, Japan region · 500 km deepJapan
  9. 7.39 km WSW of La Humedad, Mexico · 30 km deepMexico
  10. 7.3Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 48 km deepNew Zealand
  11. 7.3166 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea · 26 km deepPapua New Guinea
  12. 7.358 km SSE of Malango, Solomon Islands · 543 km deepSolomon Islands
  13. 7.2112 km N of Palu, Indonesia · 17 km deepIndonesia
  14. 7.1Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 52 km deepNew Zealand
  15. 7.135 km SE of Gonābād, Iran · 12 km deepIran
  16. 7.138 km E of Westport, New Zealand · 23 km deepNew Zealand
  17. 7.042 km WNW of Wewak, Papua New Guinea · 13 km deepPapua New Guinea
  18. 7.087 km E of Yamada, Japan · 32 km deepJapan
  19. 7.0194 km ESE of Kuril’sk, Russia · 33 km deepRussia
  20. 7.0Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 56 km deepNew Zealand
  21. 7.055 km S of Mýrina, Greece · 11 km deepGreece
  22. 6.9Kermadec Islands, New Zealand · 60 km deepNew Zealand
  23. 6.977 km NNW of Masamba, Indonesia · 24 km deepIndonesia
  24. 6.893 km WNW of Kandrian, Papua New Guinea · 39 km deepPapua New Guinea
  25. 6.851 km ESE of Hyūga, Japan · 33 km deepJapan

Month by month

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

MonthQuakesLargestWhere
January 19681127.426 km S of Shikotan, Russia
February 19681187.3166 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
March 1968766.530 km SSW of Hihifo, Tonga
April 19681997.560 km ESE of Nobeoka, Japan
May 19681738.21968 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake
June 19681697.087 km E of Yamada, Japan
July 19681627.3Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
August 19681507.7121 km E of Bitung, Indonesia
September 19681157.1Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
October 19681067.3Bonin Islands, Japan region
November 1968826.6north of Ascension Island
December 1968996.7195 km N of Madang, Papua New Guinea

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.