Georgia earthquakes

M7.0 earthquake 22 km WNW of Java, Georgia

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 22 km WNW of Java, Georgia on Mon, Apr 29, 1991, 1:12 PM GMT+4 (09:12 UTC), 17 km (11 mi) below the surface.

Ts’khinvali forecast More in Georgia

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude: 7.0 (mw), major
Local time: Mon, Apr 29, 1991, 1:12 PM GMT+4
UTC: 1991-04-29 09:12:48 UTC
Depth: 17.2 km (10.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 42.453° N, 43.673° E
Region: Georgia
Strongest shaking: VIII, severe shaking
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 5286), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 270
Damage: $1.7 billion
Houses destroyed: Very many (over 1,000)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: VIII, severe shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 48.2% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.7 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 6.9 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 270°, dip 54°, rake 75°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 115°, dip 38°, rake 109°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 4.0 and up: 60 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

Earthquakes today Georgia earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0004qza (also filed as choy19910429091248, gcmtc042991b, gcmt19910429091247, duputel042991b, atlas19910429091249, iscgem336954). Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 10:22 AM UTC.