All earthquakes

Earthquakes in 1970

The USGS located 658 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more worldwide in 1970, 152 of them magnitude 6 or more, and 800 of magnitude 2.5 or more in the United States. The largest: M8.0 95 km N of San Antonio del Estrecho, Peru, Jul 31, 1970.

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.

19691971

Map

Where the largest earthquakes of 1970 were located. Select one for its page.

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The largest

The 25 largest of 1970, by magnitude.

  1. 8.095 km N of San Antonio del Estrecho, Peru · 645 km deepPeru
  2. 7.934 km SW of Chimbote, Peru · 58 km deepPeru
  3. 7.414 km ENE of Suklayin, Philippines · 31 km deepPhilippines
  4. 7.3Sea of Okhotsk · 648 km deep
  5. 7.3288 km S of Prince Rupert, Canada · 20 km deepCanada
  6. 7.3Macquarie Island region · 15 km deep
  7. 7.334 km SW of Puerto Madero, Mexico · 35 km deepMexico
  8. 7.3south of the Fiji Islands · 50 km deepFiji
  9. 7.333 km SE of Lukatan, Philippines · 58 km deepPhilippines
  10. 7.222 km NE of Gediz, Turkey · 22 km deepTurkey
  11. 7.29 km ENE of Papayal, Peru · 19 km deepPeru
  12. 7.1Bonin Islands, Japan region · 390 km deepJapan
  13. 7.158 km WNW of Atka, Alaska · 164 km deepAlaska
  14. 7.122 km SSW of Yuxi, China · 15 km deepChina
  15. 7.017 km N of Karligan, Philippines · 15 km deepPhilippines
  16. 7.061 km ESE of Tuensang, India · 71 km deepIndia
  17. 7.021 km SE of Tsunō, Japan · 43 km deepJapan
  18. 7.0181 km ESE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands · 30 km deepSolomon Islands
  19. 6.949 km WNW of Madang, Papua New Guinea · 60 km deepPapua New Guinea
  20. 6.997 km WSW of Sola, Vanuatu · 20 km deepVanuatu
  21. 6.9116 km WSW of Puerto Natales, Chile · 15 km deepChile
  22. 6.8191 km E of Tolhuin, Argentina · 10 km deepArgentina
  23. 6.826 km SE of Bobon, Philippines · 54 km deepPhilippines
  24. 6.8south of the Kermadec Islands · 199 km deep
  25. 6.79 km W of Calatrava, Philippines · 9 km deepPhilippines

Month by month

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

MonthQuakesLargestWhere
January 19701057.3south of the Fiji Islands
February 19701137.158 km WNW of Atka, Alaska
March 19701297.222 km NE of Gediz, Turkey
April 19701377.414 km ENE of Suklayin, Philippines
May 19701237.934 km SW of Chimbote, Peru
June 19701197.3288 km S of Prince Rupert, Canada
July 19701078.095 km N of San Antonio del Estrecho, Peru
August 19701057.3Sea of Okhotsk
September 19701246.6Mariana Islands region
October 19701056.949 km WNW of Madang, Papua New Guinea
November 19701056.712 km ESE of Nabire, Indonesia
December 19701387.29 km ENE of Papayal, Peru

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.