Significant earthquakes of 1938

March 22, 1938 Earthquake: British Columbia, Canada

March 22, 1938 · M6.3

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck British Columbia, Canada on March 22, 1938 at 15:22:14 UTC, 16 km below the surface. 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 22, 1938
Time
15:22:14 UTC
Place
British Columbia, Canada
Magnitude
6.3 (Ms)
Focal depth
16 km (10 mi)
Epicenter
52.200° N, 131.900° W
Country
Canada
Region
North America and Hawaii

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1938, March 22, 7:22 local time (15:22:14 UTC) Canada, BC, Queen Charlotte Islands. There was a strong earthquake, felt on the Queen Charlotte Islands and on the southeastern prominence of Alaska Territory. Dishes were broken at Prince Rupert. About 3 hours after the earthquake, a light tsunami was apparently registered by the tide gauge at Santa Monica (USA). Iida et al., (1967) express doubt as to the existence of a link between the earthquake and the oscillations registered by the tide gauge. There is no information about this tsunami in Gusiakov et al. Probably, this earthquake had too small magnitude (Reference #415 and #4153).

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

  1. #415 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1975). A catalogue of tsunamis on the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 1513-1968]. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 204 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5078, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 293 p.]
  2. #4153 Stephenson, F., A.B. Rabinovich, O.N. Solovieva, E.A. Kulikov, O.I. Yakovenko (2007). Catalogue of Tsunamis, British Columbia, Canada: 1700-2007, Moscow, 133 p.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1938The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1938Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 10022. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem902410, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.