NOAA > NESDIS > NGDC > Natural Hazards
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The Significant Earthquake Database contains information on destructive earthquakes from 2150 B.C. to the present that meet at least one of the following criteria: Moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), 10 or more deaths, Magnitude 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity X or greater, or the earthquake generated a tsunami. The Introduction provides more information on the contents of this database.
  • To display a subset of the Significant Earthquake Database enter the information for one or more of the following search options and then click the Search Database button.
    • Click the Clear Form button for each additional search.
    • To retreive the entire database, click the Clear Form button and the Search Database button at the bottom of this page. The file contains over 6500 events and is approximately 5.8 MB.
    • NOTE: Do not use commas when entering numbers into the form.
  • To Import the resulting search into an MS Excel spreadsheet:
    • In the Browser, select Edit--Select All then Edit--Copy
    • In Excel, select Edit--Paste Special--as HTML
  • The database can also be displayed and extracted with the ArcIMS Interactive Map

Enter or Select information for one or more of the following search options.

Earthquake Parameters:

Enter Date as a Year (-2150 to 2007): Beginning: Ending:

Select Region Name:

Select Country:

Select State:

Enter Location Name: includes or starts with matches or does not match

Enter range of Coordinates in decimal degrees:

Latitude: 0 to 90 (Northern Hemisphere) -90 to 0 (Southern Hemisphere)
Longitude: 0 to 180 (Eastern Hemisphere) -180 to 0 (Western Hemisphere)
Northernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):
Westernmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
 Easternmost Longitude
(enter one number from -180 to 180):
Southernmost Latitude
(enter one number from -90 to 90):

Enter Magnitude (0.0 to 9.9): Minimum Maximum

Enter Intensity(0 to 12): Minimum Maximum

Enter Focal Depth (0 to 700 km): Minimum Maximum

Earthquake Effects

Enter Number of Deaths: (0 to 1100000): Minimum Maximum

Death Description: Minimum Maximum

Enter Damage in Millions of Dollars (0.04 to 131500.00): Minimum Maximum

Damage Description: Minimum Maximum

Tsunami or Seiche was associated with the earthquake:

Volcanic Eruption was associated with the earthquake:

Data Display Options:

Return All Selected Events

Sort by Date
Sort by Country, Date
Sort by $Millions Dollars Damage, Date
Sort by Number of Deaths, Date

Return Events with:

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