WThis is a list of earthquakes in 2019. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for other reasons. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities are indicated on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale and are sourced from United States Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeMap data. This year was not very active with only ten major quakes, and the death toll was the lowest since 2000. However, Albania experienced its strongest tremor in decades, and various deadly events struck Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines. The only 8+ quake occurred in Peru in May, but it did not cause much damage because of its great depth.
WNorthwestern Albania was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake with an epicentre 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west-southwest of Mamurras, at 03:54 CET (UTC+1) on 26 November 2019. The earthquake lasted at least 50 seconds and was felt in Albania's capital Tirana, and in places as far away as Taranto and Belgrade, 370 kilometres (230 mi) northeast of the epicentre. The maximum felt intensity was VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. A total of 51 people were killed in the earthquake, with about 3,000 injured. It was the second earthquake to strike the region in the space of three months. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in more than 40 years, its deadliest earthquake in 99 years and the world's deadliest earthquake in 2019.
WThe 2019 Batanes earthquake was a magnitude 5.9 magnitude earthquake which struck Batanes, Philippines on July 27, 2019. It was preceded by a 5.4 magnitude foreshock. Nine people were killed by the combined effects of the earthquakes.
WAt 14:11 PST on December 15, 2019, the province of Davao del Sur on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.8 Mw. It had a maximum perceived intensity of VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. At least 13 people were killed and another 210 injured.
WThe 2019 Hualien earthquake struck Hualien County, Taiwan with a moment magnitude of 6.1 on 18 April at 13:01 local time.
W2019 Istanbul earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the south-west of Istanbul on 26 September 2019 at 13:59 local time.
WThe 2019 Kashmir earthquake struck regions of Pakistan with an epicentre in Azad Kashmir on 24 September at 16:02 local time. It had a magnitude of 5.6 Mw and a maximum felt intensity of VII on the Modified Mercalli scale. There was severe damage in Mirpur District, causing the deaths of 40 people and injuring a further 850. The epicentre of the shallow quake was near the city of Mirpur, Pakistan. The tremors were felt in the Kashmir region, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab (India), Uttarakhand and northern parts of India including New Delhi.
WOn 17 March 2019, an earthquake measuring Mw 5.6 struck the island of Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a landslide, killing three and injuring more than a hundred.
WOn July 7, 2019, an earthquake occurred in the Molucca Sea, 129 km west southwest of Kota Ternate The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.9 quake was centered 133 kilometers southeast of Kota Ternate at a depth of 36.3 kilometers.
WThe 2019 North Maluku earthquake, a shallow 7.2 magnitude earthquake, struck the island of Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia on 14 July 2019 at 18:10 local time with its epicentre located at South Halmahera. It struck at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 mi) near Labuha, a small port town located in Bacan Island. The earthquake produced a non-destructive 20 cm tsunami, which stuck Labuha just minutes after the shaking started. 14 people were killed by the earthquake while 129 people were injured, and more than 50,000 people were displaced. The earthquake inflicted a total damage of Rp 238 billion.
WAn earthquake measuring Mw 8.0 struck Peru and the surrounding areas on 26 May 2019 at 02:41 local time. It had a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. Two people died and a further 30 were injured. It was the strongest earthquake in 2019 by magnitude.
WThe 2019 Sunda Strait earthquake occurred on the night of 2 August 2019, when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rattled Sunda Strait at a moderate depth of 52.8 kilometres. The epicentre was located 214 km from Bandar Lampung, the capital of Lampung and 147 km west of Sumur, Pandeglang Regency. The earthquake struck with a maximum intensity of V (Moderate). The earthquake prompted a tsunami warning in the area, with authorities urging coastal residents to immediately evacuate to higher grounds.
WA 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the islands of Visayas in the Philippines on April 23, 2019.
WAn earthquake measuring 6.4 Mw struck primarily the Hokuriku region centered on Tsuruoka, Yamagata in Japan, on 18 June 2019 at 10:22 p.m. JST. A tsunami warning was also issued. The event has been officially called the Yamagata-ken Oki jishin .
WStarting on December 28, 2019, and progressing into 2020, the southwestern part of the island of Puerto Rico was struck by an earthquake swarm, including 11 that were of magnitude 5 or greater. The largest and most damaging of this sequence was a magnitude 6.4 Mw, which occurred on January 7 at 04:24 AST (08:24 UTC), with a maximum felt intensity of VII on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. At least one person was killed and several others were injured.
WOn 26 September 2019, a strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Seram Island in Maluku, Indonesia, near the provincial capital of Ambon. The earthquake struck at 07:46:44 Eastern Indonesia Time with a shallow depth of 18 km. The tremor could be felt throughout the island, with an intensity of very strong (VII) reportedly felt in the provincial capital of Ambon.
WOn April 22, 2019, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines, leaving at least 18 dead, 3 missing and injuring at least 256 others. Despite the fact that the epicenter was in Zambales, most of the damage to infrastructure occurred in the neighboring province of Pampanga, which suffered damage to 29 buildings and structures.
WThe 2019 Cotabato earthquakes were an earthquake swarm which struck the province of Cotabato on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines in October 2019. Three of these earthquakes were above 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale with a Mercalli intensity of VIII. More than 40 people have been reported dead or missing and nearly 800 were injured as a result of these events.
WThe 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes of July 4 and 5 occurred north and northeast of the town of Ridgecrest, California and west of Searles Valley. They included three initial main shocks of Mw magnitudes 6.4, 5.4, and 7.1, and many perceptible aftershocks, mainly within the area of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Eleven months later, a Mw 5.5 aftershock took place to the east of Ridgecrest. The first main shock occurred on July 4 at 10:33 a.m. PDT, approximately 18 km (11.2 mi) ENE of Ridgecrest, and 13 km (8.1 mi) WSW of Trona, on a previously unnoticed NE-SW trending fault where it intersects the NW-SE trending Little Lake Fault Zone. This quake was preceded by several smaller earthquakes, and was followed by more than 1,400 detected aftershocks. The M 5.4 and M 7.1 quakes struck on July 5 at 4:08 a.m. and 8:19 p.m. PDT approximately 10 km (6 miles) to the northwest. The latter, now considered the mainshock, was the most powerful earthquake to occur in the state in 20 years. Subsequent aftershocks extended approximately 50 km (~30 miles) along the Little Lake Fault Zone.
WAn earthquake measuring 5.8 Mw struck the province of Sichuan in China at 22:55 local time, 17 June 2019. Changning and Gong counties in Yibin were particularly affected. 13 people died and more than 200 others were injured.