March 3, 1901 Earthquake: San Diego, California, United States
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck San Diego, California, United States on March 3, 1901 at 07:45 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- March 3, 1901
- Time
- 07:45 UTC
- Place
- San Diego, California, United States
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (ML)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 36.000° N, 120.500° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Chimneys were toppled at Bradley, Echo Valley, Parkfield, Slacks Canyon, Stone Canyon, and Warthan Canyon. At Parkfield, three houses were twisted out of shape and one was almost wrecked. Slight loss to property also was incurred at Adelaida, El Monte, Estrella, Monterey, Paso Robles, and San Miguel. Ground cracks as much as several meters in length and 15-30 cm in width and vertical displacement of about 30 cm were observed in Stone Canyon. Felt from San Francisco on the north to San Luis Obispo on the south and Porterville (Tulare County) on the east. (Reference #542)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 18, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, United States
- June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- January 9, 1857, San Luis Obispo, California, United States
- December 22, 2003, Paso Robles,templeton,atascadero, California, United States
- August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- September 28, 2004, Parkfield, San Miguel, Central, California, United States
- May 2, 1983, Central, Coalinga, California, United States
- February 1, 1853, San Simeon, California, United States
- November 4, 1927, Off Coast, S, California, United States
- July 28, 1902, Southern, California, United States
- April 24, 1984, Morgan Hill, Central, California, United States
- October 8, 1865, Santa Cruz, California, United States
- March 25, 1806, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- May 31, 1854, Southern, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1901The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1901Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 7018.