Significant Earthquakes of 1979

34 earthquakes

Every significant earthquake NOAA records in 1979. Every quake the USGS located in 1979.

Map

The significant earthquakes of 1979. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

Every earthquake

January 16, 1979, Bonzanabad, IranM6.5 · 129 deaths · 1,700 houses destroyed
February 16, 1979, Arequipa, PeruM6.9 · 18 deaths
February 20, 1979, Iwate, JapanM6.4 · tsunami
February 28, 1979, Alaska, United StatesM7.5 · tsunami
March 14, 1979, Guerrero, MexicoM7.6 · 5 deaths · $30 million · 200 houses destroyed · tsunami
April 9, 1979, Bar Ulcinj, MontenegroM5.3 · tsunami
April 15, 1979, Montenegro, Balkans NWM6.9 · 131 deaths · $2.7 billion · tsunami
May 15, 1979, Crete, GreeceM5.6 · tsunami
May 21, 1979, Bali, IndonesiaM5.4
May 24, 1979, Debar, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North MacedoniaM6.2
May 30, 1979, Sumbawa Island, IndonesiaM5.8 · 22 deaths · $4.2 million
June 2, 1979, Western, AustraliaM6.1 · $1.5 million
June 25, 1979, E, MT Hagen, Papua New GuineaM6.2
July 1, 1979, Puerto Armuelles, Panama-Costa RicaM6.5 · $2 million
July 9, 1979, Liyang, Jiangsu Province, ChinaM5.4 · 41 deaths · 113,909 houses destroyed
July 18, 1979, Dursunbey, Anatolia, TurkeyM4.9 · 200 houses destroyed
August 24, 1979, Wu-Yuan, Nei Mongol, ChinaM5.9 · Deaths: few · 400 houses destroyed
September 12, 1979, Irian Jaya, New Guinea, IndonesiaM7.9 · 115 deaths · 1,000 houses destroyed · tsunami
September 19, 1979, Umbria, Central, ItalyM5.8 · 5 deaths
October 9, 1979, GuatemalaM4.7
October 12, 1979, W of North Island, New ZealandM7.5
October 15, 1979, Mexicali, Imperial Valley, Mexico, California, United StatesM6.9 · $30 million · 2 houses destroyed
October 20, 1979, Sumbawa Island, IndonesiaM6.2 · 2 deaths
October 27, 1979, GuatemalaM6.8 · 4 deaths
November 2, 1979, Java, IndonesiaM6.1 · 30 deaths · $16 million
November 6, 1979, Greece-AlbaniaM5.2 · 1 death
November 14, 1979, Khorasan, IranM6.6 · 171 deaths · 216 houses destroyed
November 16, 1979, Fiji IslandsM6.9 · tsunami
November 23, 1979, Manizales-Armenia, ColombiaM6.4 · 72 deaths · $20 million
November 27, 1979, IranM7.1 · 20 deaths
December 7, 1979, IranM6
December 12, 1979, Off Shore, Pacific Ocean, ColombiaM8.1 · 600 deaths · $8 million · 10,000 houses destroyed · tsunami
December 15, 1979, S Sumatera, IndonesiaM6.6 · 8 deaths · 2,500 houses destroyed
December 17, 1979, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa Island, IndonesiaM6.3 · 27 deaths

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.