LIBYA EGYPT

SUDAN

GAMBIA

TUNISIA

MOROCCO

MAURITANIA

ALGERIA

MALI

ALGERIA

NIGER

CHAD

NIGERIA

CAMEROON

SAO TOME

AND

PRINCIPE

CAPE VERDE

INDONESIA

SAUDI

ARABIA

IRAQ IRAN

TURKEY

ETHIOPIA

OMAN

SPAIN

YEMEN

SOMALIA

KENYA

TANZANIA

U.A.E.

ANGOLA

BOTSWANA MADAGASCAR

M

O

Z

A

M

B

I Q U E

Z A M B

I

A

ZIMBABWE

UGANDA

BURUNDI

RWANDA

NAMIBIA

SOUTH AFRICA

LESOTHO

SWAZILAND

MALAWI

EQUATORIAL

GUINEA

GABON CONGO

FRENCH

GUYANA

GUYANA

SRI LANKA

GHANA

CÔTE

D'IVOIRE

BENIN

TOGO

LIBERIA

SIERRA

LEONE

GUINEA

SENEGAL

GUINEABISSAU

P O RTUGAL

WES T E R

N

SAHAR

A

BURKINA

FASO

SYRIA

LEBANON

ISRAEL JORDAN

KUWAIT

CYPRUS

GREECE

ROMANIA

GERMANY

POLAND

UNITED

KINGDOM

IRELAND

BELGIUM

NETHERLANDS

DENMARK

FRANCE

MAURITIUS

BANGLADESH

BURMA

(MYANMAR)

THAILAND

S U R I N A M E

ECUADOR

URUGUAY

PANAMA

PARAGUAY

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

BOLIVIA

PERU

BRAZIL

CHILE

ARGENTINA

UNITED STATES

MEXICO

CANADA

NICARAGUA

COSTA

RICA

HONDURAS

BELIZE

GUATEMALA

EL SALVADOR

DOM.

REPUBLIC HAITI

JAMAICA

CUBA

TRINIDAD

AND

TOBAGO

ALASKA (U.S.)

AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND

CHINA

JAPAN

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

INDIA

NORTHERN

MARIANA

ISLANDS (U.S.)

NEPAL

UZBEKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

TURKMENISTAN

GEORGIA

AZERBAIJAN

ARMENIA

KAZAKHSTAN

UKRAINE

BELARUS

BULGARIA

ESTONIA RUSSIA

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

MONGOLIA

NORTH

KOREA

SOUTH

KOREA

SINGAPORE

MALAYSIA

ERITREA

ICELAND

TUVALU

MARSHALL

ISLANDS

FEDERATED STATES

OF MICRONESIA

TIMOR-LESTE

FRENCH POLYNESIA

(FRANCE)

COMOROS

SEYCHELLES

CABINDA

(ANGOLA)

LUX.

MALDIVES

PUERTO RICO

(U.S.)

KIRIBATI

BAHAMAS

CAMBODIA

VIETNAM

LAOS

PHILIPPINES

BRUNEI

BHUTAN

TAIWAN

MALAYSIA

PAPUA

NEW GUINEA SOLOMON

ISLANDS

FIJI

ISLANDS

VANUATU

NORWAY

SWEDEN

FINLAND

HUNGARY

SLOVAKIA

CZECH

REPUBLIC

ITALY SWITZERLAND

ALBANIA

MACEDONIA

MOLDOVA

CROATIA SLOVENIA

SERBIA

HAWAII (U.S.)

AMERICAN

SAMOA

(U.S.)

SAMOA

BOSNIA AND

HERZEGOVINA

AUSTRIA

CENTRAL

AFRICAN

REPUBLIC

DEMOCRATIC

REPUBLIC

OF THE

CONGO

QATAR

BAHRAIN

DJIBOUTI

MONTENEGRO Emperor Seamounts

West

Mariana

Basin

K

y

u s h

u - P

a l a

u

R i d g

e

Northwest

Pacific

Basin

Wharton

Basin

Perth

Basin

Agulhas Basin

Mascarene

Basin

Somali

Basin

Mid-Indian Basin

Arabian Basin

North

Australian

Basin

S o u t h A u s t r a l i a B a s i n

S o u t h e a s t I n d i a n R i d g e

S o u t h w

e s

t

I n

d i a

n

R

i d g

e

M i d - I

n

d

i

a

n

R i d

g

e

E

a

s t I

n

d i a

n

R

i d g e

N i n

e t y

E

a s t R i d

g

e

I

n

v e s t i g

a t o

r

R i d

g

e

C

h

a

g o s - L

a c c a

d i v e P l a t e a u

M a

d a

g

a

s

c

a

r

P l a t e a u

K e r g u e l e n P l a t e a u

Hatteras

Plain

Sohm Plain

Agulhas

Plateau

M a s c a r e n e P l a t e a

u

Crozet

Plateau

Osborn

Plateau

Exmouth

Plateau

Naturaliste

Plateau

Nares

Plain

Cape Verde

Plain

Gambia

Plain

Demerara

Plain

Porcupine Plain

Biscay

Plain

Sierra

Leone

Rise

Bermuda

Rise

Researcher Ridge

R e y k j a n e s R i d

g e

Ceara Plain

Pernambuco

Plain

Angola Plain

Namibia

(Cape)

Plain

Rio Grande

Rise

Santos

Plateau

Wa

l

v i s

R i d

g

e

Argentine Basin

Falkland Plateau

Falkland Escarpment

S o u t h G e o r g i a R i d g e

Tufts Plain

N

o

r

t

h

e

a

s

t

P

a

c

i

f

i

c

B

a

s

i

n

Guatemala

Basin

Cocos Ridge

Carnegie Ridge

Nazca Ridge

Sala y Gomez Ridge

C

h

i

l

e

R

i

s e

P

e

r

u

B

a

s

i

n

E

a

s

t

P

a

c

i

f

i

c

R

i

s

e

C

h

i

l e

B

a

s

i n

Southeast

Pacific

Basin

Mornington

(Humboldt)

Plain

P a c i f i c - A n t a r c t i c

R i d g e

Enderby Plain

A m e r i c a - A n t a r c t i c R i d g e

A t l a n t i c - I n d i a n R i d g e

Shatsky Rise

M I D - P A C I F I C M O U N T A I N S

Gakkel Ridge Lomonosov Ridge

Canada

Basin

Canada

Abyssal

Plain

N a n s e n B a s i n

Atlantic - Indian Antarctic Basin

Voring Plateau

Makarov Basin P o l e P l a i n

Wyville

Thomson

Ridge

Agulhas

Bank

Natal

Basin Madagascar Basin

Crozet

Basin

Broken Ridge

South

Tasman

Rise

East

Tasman

Plateau

Campbell

Plateau

Chatham Rise

Bounty Trough

South

Fiji

Basin

North

Fiji

Basin

Emerald

Basin

M a c q u a r i e R i d g e

Wallaby

Plateau

Cuvier

Plateau

L

O

R

D

H O

W E

R I S E

N

o

r f o l k

R i d

g e

N e w

C a l e d o

n i a B a s i n

Celebes

Basin

Bowers Ridge

Aleutian Basin

C a r l s b e r g R i d g e

Conrad Rise

Indian - Antarctic Basin

I n d i a n - A n t a r c t i c

R i d g e

Tasman Plain

Tasman Basin

Coral Sea

Basin

Melanesian

Basin

Kapingamarangi

Rise

Albatross

Plateau

Philippine

Basin

K u r i l B a s i n

Japan

Basin

Northwind Ridge

Chukchi

Plateau

Alpha Ridge

Colombian

Basin

Venezuelan

Basin

Galapagos

Rise

Roggeveen Basin

Southeast Pacific Basin

Amundsen Ridges

Amundsen Plain

Yaghan

Basin

Scotia Ridge

Weddell Plain

Atlantic - Indian Basin

Argentine Rise

Brazil Basin

Cape

Basin

Sierra

Leone

Basin

Guinea Basin

Monaco Basin

M

i

d - A

t

l

a

n

t

i

c

R

i

d

g e

New England Seamounts

Grand Banks

o f

Newfoundland

Flemish

Cap

Iceland Basin

Norwegian

Basin

I r m i n

g e r B a s i n

Cape Verde Basin

M

i

d - A

t

l

a

n

t

i

c

R

i

d

g

e

Central

Pacific

Basin

L o u i s v i l l e R i d g e

Juan Fernandez Ridge

Gulf of Mexico

Golfo de California

Golfo de

Panama

Gulf of Aden

P e r s i a n G u l f G u l f o f O m a n

Gulf

of

Thailand

Hudson Bay

B a f f i n B a y

Gulf of

Alaska

Bay of

Biscay

AMUNDSEN SEA

Gulf of 

Guinea

SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN

INDIAN OCEAN

ARCTIC OCEAN

PHILIPPINE

SEA

SEA OF

OKHOTSK

ARABIAN

SEA

RED SEA

BLACK SEA

IONIAN SEA

EAST SIBERIAN SEA

LAPTEV SEA

KARA SEA

EAST

CHINA

SEA

East

Mariana

Basin

COSMONAUT SEA BELLINGHAUSEN SEA

LIGURIAN 

SEA

YELLOW

SEA

SEA

O F

JAPAN

SOUTH

CHINA

SEA

TASMAN SEA

CORAL SEA

ARAFURA SEA

BANDA SEA

JAVA SEA

ANDAMAN

SEA

BERING SEA

BEAUFORT SEA

C A R I B B E A N S E A

LABRADOR

SEA

CELTIC

SEA

NORTH

SEA

North Greenland 

Sea

BARENTS SEA

West

Caroline

Basin

East

Caroline

Basin

NORWEGIAN SEA

SCOTIA SEA

WEDDELL SEA

CHUKCHI SEA

ROSS SEA

NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN

C A S P I A

N

S

E A

BAY OF

BENGAL

B A L T I C S E A

M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A

K U R I L - K A M C H A T K A

T R E N C H

J A PA N

T R E N C H

M A R I A N A

T R

E

N

C

H

I Z

U

T

R

E

N

C

H

PHILIPPINE

TR

E

N

CH

MARIANA

TR

O

U

GH

MIDDLE AMERICA TRENCH

P E R U - C

H I L

E

T R

E N

C H

NEW HEBRIDES TRENCH

N

OR

TH

NE

W

HEBRIDES

TRENCH

VITYAZ TRENCH

TONGA TRENCH

KERMADEC TRENCH

PALAWAN TROUGH

S O UTH SOLOM O N TRENCH

C AY M A N T R E N C H

SOUTH SANDWICH TRENCH

N E W B R I TA I N T R E N C H

BONIN TRENCH

N A N S E I - S H O T O

( R Y U K Y U )

T R E N C H

S U N D A ( JAVA) TRE N C H

A L E U T I A N T R E N C H

Greenland

Abyssal Plain

Galapagos Islands

(Ecuador)

L e eward Isl ands

Windward Islands

B

a h a m a s

Bermuda

South Georgia (U.K.)

Falkland Is.

(U.K.)

Marshall Islands

Gilbert Islands

Hawaiian Islands

Marquesas

Ryukyu Islands

Solomon

Islands

Santa

 Cruz

 Islands

New

Caledonia

(France)

Kermadec Is.

Campbell Is. (N.Z.)

Auckland Is. (N.Z.)

Antipode I. (N.Z.)

Macquarie Island

(Aus.)

Cocos Is.

(Australia)

Thurston Island

Chatham Island (N.Z.)

Tonga Islands

Samoa Islands

Isla Pascua

(Chile)

Sala y Gomez (Chile)

Socotra (Yemen) Andaman Is.

(India)

Nicobar Is.

(India)

Kerguelen Is. (France)

Crozet Is.

(France) Prince Edward Is.

(South Africa)

Heard Island

(Australia)

Reunion

(France)

Rodrigues

(Mauritius)

South Sandwich Is. (U.K.)

Peter I Island

Christmas Island

Line Islands

Mauritius Mascarene Is.

Île St. Paul

(France)

Île Amsterdam

(France)

Amirante Isles CHAGOS ARCH.

(U.K.)

M a l d i v e I s .

Bouvet

(Norway)

Corsica

(Fr.)

Sardinia

(It.)

Sicily

South Shetland Islands

South Orkney

Islands

Berkner Island

Alexander Island

Juan Fernandez

Islands (Chile)

San Ambrosio (Chile) San Felix

(Chile)

Trindade

Martin Vaz Is.

Tristan da Cunha

Group (U.K.)

St. Helena (U.K.)

Ascension

St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks

(Brazil)

Faeroe Is.

(Denmark)

Orkney Is.

Shetland

Is.

Jan Mayen

(Norway)

Nordauslandet Spitsbergen

Austral Islands

Society Islands

Tahiti

Queen

Elizabeth

Islands

Victoria

Island

B a f f i n I s l a n d

Cook Islands (N.Z.)

Hebrides

Balleny Islands

(Australia)

Guam (U.S.)

Bonin Is. (Japan)

Volcano Is. (Japan)

Kermadec Islands

Greenland

(Denmark)

Azores (Port.)

Cape Verde Is.

Canary

Islands

(Spain)

Madeira

Islands

(Port.)

NEW GUINEA

BORNEO

SUMATRA

JAVA

LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS

GREATER SUNDA ISLANDS

A L E U T I A N

Kuril Islands

I S L A N D S

T U A M O T U A R C H I P E L A G O

CAROLINE ISLANDS

SOUTH

ISLAND

NORTH

ISLAND

TASMANIA (Aus.)

Arch. de Fernando Noronha

(Brazil)

SVALBARD

NEW SIBERIAN ISLANDS NOVAYA ZEMLYA

SEVERNAYA

 ZEMLYA

FRANZ JOSEF LAND

M E N D O C I N O F R A C T U R E Z O N E

P I O N E E R F R A C T U R E Z O N E

M U R R A Y F R A C T U R E Z O N E

M O L O K A I F R A C T U R E Z O N E

C L A R I O N F R A C T U R E Z O N E

C L I P P E R T O N F R A C T U R E Z O N E

G A L A P A G O S R I F T

A U S T R A L

F R A C T U R E Z O N E

G A L A P A G O S F R A C T U R E Z O N E

M A R Q U E S A S F R A C T U R E Z O N E

C H A L L E N G E R F R A C T U R E Z O N E

VA L D I V I A F R A C T U R E Z O N E

M E N A R D F R A C T U R E Z O N E

E LT A N I N F R A C T U R E Z O N E

U D I N T S E V F R A C T U R E Z O N E

M

O

Z

A

M

B I Q

U

E

E

S

C

A

R

P

M

E

N

T

P

R I N

C

E

E

D

W

A

R

D

F

R

A

C

T

U

R

E

Z

O

N

E

CHARLIE-GIBBS FRACTURE ZONE

OCEANOGRAPHER

ATLANTIS FRACTURE ZONE

KANE FRACTURE ZONE

VEMA FRACTURE ZONE

DOLDRUMS FRACTURE ZONE

ROMANCHE FRACTURE ZONE

CHAIN FRACTURE ZONE

ASCENSION FRACT URE ZONE

RODRIGUES F.Z.

DIAMANTIN A FRACTURE ZONE

O W E N

F R A C T U

R

E

Z O

N

E

FRACTURE ZONE

TA S

M

A

N

F

R A CT U

R E

Z ON

E

E A S T E R F R A C T U R E Z O N E

A LT Y N TA G H F A U LT

D E N A L I FA U LT

SUMATRA

FAULT

PHILIPPINE

FAULT

SAN ANDREAS FAULT

ALPINE FAULT

A N A T O L I A N FA U L T

BOLNAY FAULT

TSETSERLEG

FAULT

K U N L U N F A U L T

L. Tanganyika

L. Malawi

L. Turkana

L. Victoria

L. Baikal

Sea of Azov Aral Sea L. Balkash

Vänern

L. Ladoga

L. Onega

L. Chad

Great Bear Lake

Great Slave Lake

L. Athabasca

Reindeer Lake

L. Manitoba

L. Winnipeg

L. Superior

L. Michigan

L. Huron

L. Erie

L. Ontario

L. Titicaca

R O C K Y

M

O

U

N

T

A

I

N

S

ANDES

ANDES

H

I

M

A

L A Y A

U r

a

l

M

o

u

n

t

a

i

n

s

Amazon

Basin

100

200

50

100

300

300

600

50 100

200

200

300

50

100

50

100

600

600

50

50

100

600

100

50 50

200

100

200

20

200

0

300

50

200

100

50

300

200

50

600

100

100

50

300

300

200

300

10 50 0

600

100

300

200

200

50

50

200

100

10

100

0 200

300

600

50

50 100

2 00

15°W

15°W

30°W

30°W

45°W

45°W

60°W

60°W

75°W

75°W

90°W

90°W

105°W

105°W

120°W

120°W

135°W

135°W

150°W

150°W

165°W

165°W

180°

180°

165°E

165°E

150°E

150°E

135°E

135°E

120°E

120°E

105°E

105°E

90°E

90°E

75°E

75°E

60°E

60°E

45°E

45°E

30°E

30°E

15°E

15°E

75°N 75°N

60°N 60°N

45°N 45°N

30°N 30°N

15°N 15°N

0° 0°

15°S 15°S

30°S 30°S

45°S 45°S

60°S 60°S

75°S 75°S

0° 90°N 0° 90°N

0° 90°S 0°

90°S

SCALE 1: 25 000 000 at 38°N and 38°S

Robinson Projection

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 MILES

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 KILOMETERS

 This map illustrates more than one century of global seismicity in the context of global plate 

tectonics and the Earth’s physiography. Primarily designed for use by earth scientists and engineers 

interested in earthquake hazards of the 20th and early 21st centuries, this map provides a comprehensive overview of strong earthquakes since 1900. The map clearly identifies the location of the “great” 

earthquakes (M8.0 and larger) and the rupture area, if known, of the M8.3 or larger earthquakes. The 

earthquake symbols are scaled proportional to the moment magnitude and therefore to the area of 

faulting, thus providing a better understanding of the relative sizes and distribution of earthquakes in 

the magnitude range 5.5 to 9.5. Plotting the known rupture area of the largest earthquakes also 

provides a better appreciation of the extent of some of the most famous and damaging earthquakes in 

modern history. All earthquakes shown on the map were carefully relocated using a standard earth 

reference model and standardized location procedures (Engdahl and others, 1998; Engdahl and 

Villaseñor, 2002), thereby eliminating gross errors and biases in locations of historically important 

earthquakes that are often found in numerous seismicity catalogs.

Global Seismicity and Earthquake Location Procedures: The seismicity catalog used to produce 

the map was derived from numerous sources that contain information on earthquake locations, 

magnitudes, felt area, and damage reports. These reports and investigations span the development of 

modern seismological practices and the advent of plate tectonics; as a result, there was no uniform 

standard for the reporting of magnitudes, locations, and other seismological observations. The 

primary sources of data for pre-1964 earthquake locations and magnitudes are Gutenberg and Richter 

(1954), which covers seismicity from 1904–1954, and Abe and Noguchi (1983a,b), which provide 

critical information on earthquakes from 1900–1904. In addition, Abe (1981,1984), Båth and Duda 

(1979), Geller and Kanamori (1977) and Pacheco and Sykes (1992) contributed earthquake locations, 

macroseismic observations, and magnitudes, while Rothé (1969) and Utsu (1979, 1982a,b) provided 

details on earthquake magnitudes. Earthquake locations and seismic phase data from 1964 to present 

are derived from the bulletins of the International Seismological Centre (ISC) and the United States 

Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). Supplementing these sources, 

Engdahl and Villaseñor (2002) used the International Seismological Summary (ISS) and the Bureau 

Central International de Seismologie (BCIS) bulletins to obtain seismic phase observations for 

pre-1964 earthquakes. The individual catalogs or sources of information could not be combined 

without additional processing to eliminate gross errors due to previous limitations, such as poorly 

known earth structure, limited phase information, phase misidentification, and simplified location 

procedures. 

Extending the work of Engdahl and Villaseñor (2002) to the present, we combined the seismic 

observations from all of the cited sources to produce a global seismicity map that is complete for 

M6.5 or larger from 1900–1963 and M5.5 or larger from 1964 to present. We were able to minimize 

the gross errors in earthquake location by using standardized relocation procedures thus providing a 

consistent framework for understanding all of the earthquakes in the context of plate tectonics and 

physiography. All of the earthquakes were relocated using the well-documented relocation 

procedures of Engdahl and others (1998) and Engdahl and Villaseñor (2002). Key aspects of 

the relocation procedures are the use of a standardized, spherically symmetric, global earthquake model (Kennett and others, 1995), robust phase re-association procedures, and the 

identification and use of secondary phases (S, pP, pwP and sP), and weighting that 

accounts for statistical variability of the observed phases.

Rupture Zones: Rupture zones and focal mechanisms are shown for 25 earthquakes 

with moments of 3.0 × 1028 dyne-cm or larger (M8.3 or larger). A table of these 

earthquakes identifies the location, magnitude, and reference for each of the 

rupture zones shown on the map. The geometry of the rupture zones is determined using a variety of seismological observations that include distribution of 

earthquake aftershocks, areal extent of macroseismic effects, geologic mapping, and finite-fault modeling. 

Most of the pre-1964 (or prior to the deployment and use of the World-Wide Standardized Seismograph 

Network) rupture zones are almost solely determined from the distribution of aftershocks. Because of the 

poorer quality of instrumentation and lack of a global standard for observations, the pre-1964 rupture zones 

have large uncertainties associated with them. Rupture zones for more recent large earthquakes, such as the 

2004 M9.0 Sumatra earthquake, are determined more accurately from modeling slip distribution (finite-fault 

modeling) and highly accurate locating of aftershocks.

Neotectonic Plates, Intraplate Faults, and Volcanoes: The plate boundaries shown on the map 

were modified from the plate boundary model (PB2002) developed by Bird (2003). We 

excluded a number of boundaries that Bird (2003) identified as diffuse or poorly defined 

and also boundaries of many small plates. Finally, we used different geometries for 

a few boundaries when revisions to Bird’s (2003) model seemed justified by 

very recent studies. There are several examples on the map where “great” 

earthquakes (M8.0 or larger) do not occur near or at a plate boundary. 

For these cases, we also show the fault along which the earthquake occurred; examples of these are the Anatolian fault 

(Turkey), Denali fault (Alaska), and the Bolnay and 

Tseterleg faults (central Mongolia). Locations of 

major active land and submarine volcanoes of 

Holocene age are from the “Volcanoes of the 

World” dataset (Siebert and Simkin, 2002).

REFERENCES CITED

Abe, Katsuyuki, 1981, Magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes from 1904 to 1980: 

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 27, p. 72–92.

Abe, Katsuyuki, 1984, Complements to “Magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes 

from 1904 to 1980”: Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 34, p. 

17–23.

Abe, Katsuyuki, and Noguchi, Shin’ichi, 1983a, Determination of magnitude for 

large shallow earthquakes, 1898–1917: Physics of the Earth and Planetary 

Interiors, v. 32, p. 45–59.

Abe, Katsuyuki, and Noguchi, Shin’ichi, 1983b, Revision of magnitudes of large 

shallow earthquakes, 1897–1912: Physics of the Earth and Planetary 

Interiors, v. 33, p. 1–11.

Båth, Markus, and Duda, S.J., 1979, Some aspects of global seismicity: Report 

No. 1–79, Seismological Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.

Beck, S.L., Barrientos, Sergio, Kausel, Edgar, and Reyes, Mauricio, 1998, 

Source characteristics of historic earthquakes along the central Chile 

subduction zone: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 11, no. 2, 

p. 115–129.

Beck, S.L., and Ruff, L.J., 1987, Rupture process of the great 1963 Kurile 

Islands earthquake sequence: Asperity interaction and multiple event 

rupture: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 92, no. B13, p. 14,123-

14,138.

Bird, Peter, 2003, An updated digital model of plate boundaries: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4, no. 3, 52p.

Calais, Eric, Vergnolle, Mathilde, Deverchere, Jacques, San’kov, Vladimir, 

Lukhnev, Andrei, and Amarjargal, S., 2002, Are post-seismic effects of 

the M=8.4 Bolnay earthquake (1905 July 23) still influencing GPS 

velocities in the Mongolia-Baikal area?: Geophysical Journal International, v. 149, no. 1, p. 157–168.

Chen, Wang-Ping, and Molnar, Peter, 1977, Seismic moments of major 

earthquakes and average rate of slip in central Asia: Journal of 

Geophysical Research, v. 82, no. 20, p. 2,945–2,969.

Engdahl, E.R., van der Hilst, Rob, and Buland, Raymond, 1998, Global 

teleseismic earthquake relocation with improved travel times and 

procedures for depth determination: Bulletin Seismological Society 

America, v. 88, no. 3, p. 722–743.

Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseñor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity: 1900–1999, 

in Lee, W.H.K. and others, eds., International Handbook of Earthquake 

and Engineering Seismology: San Diego, Calif., Academic Press, v. 81(A), 

Chap. 41, p. 1–26.

Engdahl, E.R., Villaseñor, Antonio, DeShon, H.R., and Thurber, C.H., 2007, 

Teleseismic relocation and assessment of seismicity (1918–2005) in the 

region of the 2004 Mw 9.0 Sumatra-Andaman and 2005 Mw 8.6 Nias Island 

great earthquakes: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 97, 

no. 1A, p. S43–S61.

Estabrook, C.H., Jacob, K.H., and Sykes, L.R., 1994, Body wave and surface wave 

analysis of large and great earthquakes along the Eastern Aleutian Arc, 

1923–1993: Implications for future events: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 

99, no. B6, p. 11,643–11,662.

Fukao, Yoshio, and Furumoto, Muneyoshi, 1979, Stress drops, wave spectra and 

recurrence intervals of great earthquakes—implications of the Etorofu earthquake 

of 1958 November 6: Geophysical Journal International, v. 57, p. 23–40.

Geller, R.J., and Kanamori, Hiroo, 1977, Magnitude of great shallow earthquakes from 

1904 to 1952: Bulletin Seismological Society America, v. 67, no. 3, p. 587–598.

Gutenberg, Beno, and Richter, C.F., 1954, Seismicity of the Earth and Associated Phenomena: Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 310 p.

International Seismological Centre, Pipers Lane, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 4NS, United 

Kingdom: Database accessed 2009, at http://www.isc.ac.uk.

Johnson, J.M. and Satake, Kenji, 1993, Source parameters of the 1957 Aleutian Earthquake from 

tsunami waveforms: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 20, no. 14, p. 1,487–1,490.

Johnson, J.M., and Satake, Kenji, 1999, Asperity distribution of the 1952 great Kamchatka 

earthquake and its relation to future earthquake potential in Kamchatka: Pure and Applied 

Geophysics, v. 154, no. 3–4, p. 541–553.

Johnson, J.M., Tanioka, Yuichiro, Ruff, L.J., Satake, Kenji, Kanamori, Hiroo, and Sykes, L.R., 1994, The 

1957 great Aleutian earthquake: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 142, no. 1, p. 3–28. 

Kanamori, Hiroo, 1970a, Synthesis of long-period surface waves and its application to earthquake source 

studies—Kurile-Islands earthquake of October 13, 1963: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 75, no. 26, 

p. 5,011–5,027.

Kanamori, Hiroo, 1970b, The Alaska Earthquake of 1964: Radiation of long-period surface waves and source 

mechanism: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 75, no. 26, p. 5,029–5,040.

Kanamori, Hiroo, 1971, Focal mechanism of Tokachi-Oki earthquake of May 16, 1968: Contortion of the lithosphere at 

a junction of two trenches: Tectonophysics, v. 12, no. 1, p. 1–13.

Kanamori, Hiroo, 1976, Re-examination of Earth’s free oscillations excited by the Kamchatka earthquake of November 4, 

1952: Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 11, no. 3, p. 216–226.

Kanamori, Hiroo, 1977, The energy release in great earthquakes: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 82, no. 20, p. 2,981–2,988.

Kanamori, Hiroo, and Cipar, J.J., 1974, Focal process of the great Chilean earthquake May 22, 1960: Physics of the Earth and 

Planetary Interiors, v. 9, no. 2, p. 128–136.

Kanamori, Hiroo, and Given, J.W., 1981, Use of long-period surface waves for rapid determination of earthquake-source parameters: 

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 27, p. 8–31.

Kanamori, Hiroo, and McNally, K.C., 1982, Variable rupture mode of the subduction zone along the Ecuador-Colombia coast: Bulletin of the 

Seismological Society of America, v. 72, no. 4, p. 1,241–1,253.

Kawakatsu, Hitoshi, and Seno, Tetsuzo, 1983, Triple seismic zone and the regional variation of seismicity along the northern Honshu arc: Journal of 

Geophysical Research, v. 88, no. B5, p. 4,215–4,230.

Kelleher, John, 1972, Rupture zones of large South American earthquakes and some predictions: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 77, no. 11, p. 

2,087–2,101.

Kennett, B.L.N., Engdahl, E.R., and Buland, R.P., 1995, Constraints on seismic velocities in the Earth from traveltimes: Geophysical Journal International, v. 122, 

p. 108–124.

Kikuchi, Matsayuki, and Kanamori, Hiroo, 1995, The Shikotan earthquake of October 4, 1994: Lithospheric earthquake: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 22, no. 9, 

p. 1,025–1,028.

Kumar, Senthil, Wesnousky, S.G., Rockwell, T.K., Briggs, R.W., Thakur, V.C., and Jayangondaperumal, R., 2006, Paleoseismic evidence of great surface rupture 

earthquakes along the Indian Himalaya: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 111, no. B3, p. 1–19.

Lopez, A.M., and Okal, E.A., 2006, A seismological reassessment of the source of the 1946 Aleutian ‘tsunami’ earthquake: Geophysical Journal International, v. 

165, no. 3, p. 835–849. 

Miyazaki, Shin’ichi, Segall, Paul, Fukuda, Jun’ichi, and Kato, Teruyuki, 2004, Space time distribution of afterslip following the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake: 

Implications for variations in fault zone frictional properties: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 31, no. L06623, p. 1–4.

National Earthquake Information Center: U.S. Geological Survey database accessed 2009 at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/neic/. 

Okal, E.A., 1992, Use of the mantle magnitude Mm for the reassessment of the moment of historical earthquakes: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 139, no.1, p. 

17–57.

Okal, E.A., 2005, A re-evaluation of the great Aleutian and Chilean earthquakes of 1906 August 17: Geophysical Journal International, v. 161, no. 2, p. 268–282.

Okal, E.A., and Reymond, Dominique, 2003, The mechanism of great Banda Sea earthquake of 1 February 1938: Applying the method of preliminary determination of focal mechanism to a historical event: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 216, p. 1–15.

Pacheco, J.F., and Sykes, L.R., 1992, Seismic moment catalog of large shallow earthquakes, 1900 to 1989: Bulletin Seismological Society America, v. 82, no. 3, p. 

1,306–1,349.

Park, J., Song, T.-R. A., Tromp, Jeroen, Okal, Emile, Stein, Seth, Roult, Genevieve, Clevede, Eric, Laske, Gabi, Kanamori, Hiroo, Davis, Peter, Berger, Jon, 

Braitenberg, Carla, Van Camp, Michel, Lei, Xiang’e, Sun, Heping, Xu, Houze, and Rossat, Severine, 2005, Earth's free oscillations excited by the 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake: Science, 308, p. 1139–1144.

Robinson, D.P., Das, Shamita, and Watts, A.B., 2006, Earthquake rupture stalled by a subducting fracture zone: Science, v. 312, no. 5,777, p. 1,203–1,205.

Rothé, J.P., 1969, The Seismicity of the Earth, 1953–1965: Paris, UNESCO.

Schlupp, Antoine, and Cisternas, Armando, 2007, Source history of the 1905 great Mongolian earthquakes (Tsetserleg, Bolnay): Geophysical Journal International, 

v. 169, no. 3, p. 1,115–1,131.

Siebert, Lee, and Simkin, Thomas, 2002, Volcanoes of the World: an illustrated catalog of Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions: Smithsonian Institution, Global 

Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-3, (http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/).

Spence, William, 1986, The 1977 Sumba earthquake series: Evidence for slab pull force acting at a subduction zone: Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth, 

v. 91, no. B7, p. 7,225–7,239.

Swenson, J.L., and Beck, S.L., 1999, Source characteristics of the 12 November 1996 Mw 7.7 Peru subduction zone earthquake, Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 

154, p. 731–751.

Utsu, Tokuji, 1979, Seismicity of Japan from 1885 through 1925—A new catalog of earthquakes of M>6 felt in Japan and smaller earthquakes which caused 

damage in Japan (in Japanese with English abstract): Bulletin Earthquake Research Institute, v. 54, p. 253–308.

Utsu, Tokuji, 1982a, Seismicity of Japan from 1885 through 1925 (Correction and supplement) (in Japanese with English abstract): Bulletin Earthquake Research 

Institute, v. 7, p. 111–117.

Utsu, Tokuji, 1982b, Catalog of large earthquakes in the region of Japan from 1885 through 1980 (in Japanese with English abstract): Bulletin Earthquake Research 

Institute, v. 57, p. 401–463.

Wu, F.T., and Kanamori, Hiroo, 1973, Source mechanism of February 4, 1965, Rat Island earthquake: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 78, no. 26, p. 6,082-

6,092.

Wyss, Max, and Wiemer, Stefan, 1999, How can one test the seismic gap hypothesis? The case of repeated ruptures in the Aleutians: Pure and Applied Geophysics, 

v. 155, p. 259–278.

1960

1922

2001

1906

1950

1905

2005

2004

2007

1977

1938

1933

1958

1994

2003

1963

2006

1952

1923

1965

1906 1957

1946

1938

1964

PACIFIC

EURASIA

NORTH

AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

ANTARCTICA

INDIA

AUSTRALIA

NAZCA

COCOS

CARIBBEAN

EURASIA

AFRICA

AFRICA

ARABIA PHILIPPINE

SEA

JUAN DE FUCA

SCOTIA SEA

EASTER

JUAN FERNANDEZ

Neotectonic Plates and Total

Relative Plate Motion

0°

0°

30°W

30°W

60°W

60°W

90°W

90°W

120°W

120°W

150°W

150°W

180°

180°

150°E

150°E

120°E

120°E

90°E

90°E

60°E

60°E

30°E

0° 30°E

45°N 45°N

15°N 15°N

15°S 15°S

45°S 45°S

75°S 75°S

EXPLANATION

 Total relative plate motion (mm/yr)

0–30

31–60

61–90

91–120

121–145

Major plate boundaries

Convergent Boundary Divergent Boundary

EXPLANATION

Moment Magnitude (Mw)

5.5–5.9

6.0–6.4

6.5–6.9

7.0–7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.0

8.1

8.2

Rupture Zones (M≥8.3)

Nucleation Points

Hypocenter Depth

0–69 km

70–299 km

300–700 km

Plate Boundaries Major Faults

Mean Slab Depth

50 km

100 km

200 km

300 km

600 km

Active Volcanoes

Strike-Slip

Normal

Reverse

Oblique-Reverse

 Fault plane

 projection

Auxiliary

 plane

Focal sphere

Surface of 

 Earth

T

P

Fault

plane

Depth

P T

a)

b)

 View from side View from above

Fault 

plane

Auxiliary

plane

"Beach Ball"

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF A FOCAL MECHANISM

Seismologists refer to the direction of slip in an 

earthquake and the orientation of the fault on which it 

occurs as the focal mechanism. They use information 

from seismograms to calculate the focal mechanism and 

typically display it on maps as a “beach ball” symbol, 

as shown in part a). This symbol is the projection on a 

horizontal plane of the lower half of an imaginary, 

spherical shell (focal sphere) surrounding the earthquake source. A line is scribed where the fault plane 

intersects the shell. The stress field orientation at the 

time of rupture governs the direction of slip on the fault 

plane; the beach ball depicts this stress orientation 

through shading. The black quadrants contain the 

tension axis (T), which reflects the minimum stress 

direction, and the white quadrants contain the pressure 

axis (P), which reflects the maximum stress direction.

 

For mechanisms calculated from the first-motion 

direction of seismograms, there is an ambiguity in 

identifying the fault plane on which slip occurred from 

the orthogonal, mathematically equivalent, auxiliary

plane. In part b) we illustrate this ambiguity with four 

examples. The block diagrams adjacent to each focal 

mechanism illustrate the two possible types of fault 

motion that the focal mechanism could represent. Note 

that the view angle is 30° to the left of and above each 

diagram. The ambiguity may be resolved by comparing 

the two fault plane orientations to the alignment of 

small earthquakes and aftershocks shown in map and 

cross-section views. The first three examples describe 

fault motion that is purely horizontal (strike-slip) or 

vertical (normal or reverse). The oblique-reverse 

mechanism illustrates that slip may also have 

components of horizontal and vertical motion.

Seafloor and hillshade data from: General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans 

(GEBCO), 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120, http://www.gebco.net/, last 

accessed January 8, 2010.

Land data from: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), 

20001101, World WorldSat Color Shaded Relief Image—ESRI Data & Maps 2000: 

Redlands, Calif., USA

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007

by Arthur C. Tarr,1 Antonio Villaseñor,2 Kevin P. Furlong,3 Susan Rhea,4 and Harley M. Benz5

1

U.S. Geological Survey, Emeritus, Box 25046, MS 966, DFC, Denver, CO 80225 USA 2

Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Lluis Solé i Sabarîs s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain, antonio@ija.csic.es 3

Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 USA, kpf1@psu.edu 4

U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 966, DFC, Denver, CO 80225 USA 5

U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 966, DFC, Denver, CO 80225 USA, benz@usgs.gov

Suggested citation: 

Tarr, A.C., Villaseñor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., 2010, Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007:

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3064, 1 sheet, scale 1:25,000,000. 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP 3064

Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only 

and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey Information Services, 

Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225

1-888-ASK-USGS

A PDF file for this map is available online at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3064 Printed on recycled paper

SCALE 1:50 000 000 at 90°S 

Lambert Equal-Area Polar Projection

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 MILES

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 KILOMETERS

0°

15°W 15°E

30°W 30°E

45°E

135°W

150°W 150°E

165°W 165°E

180°

45°W

60°W 60°E

75°W 75°E

90°W 90°E

105°E 105°W

120°W 120°E

135°E

2001

1922

1960

1938

1977

2007

180°

165°W 165°E

150°W 150°E

135°W

45°W 45°E

30°W 30°E

15°W 15°E

0°

135°E

120°W 120°E

105°W 105°E

75°E

90°E

75°W

90°W

60°W 60°E

SCALE 1:50 000 000 at 90°N

Lambert Equal-Area Polar Projection

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 MILES

1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 KILOMETERS

1906

1964

1938

1946

1957

1965

1906

1923

1952

2006

1963

1958

1994

2003

1933

1905

1950

2004

2005

9

3

15°E 30°E 45°E 60°E

75°S

0° 90°S

GREAT EARTHQUAKES (MW≥8.3) 1900–2007

Date Earthquake name Moment Mw Reference for moment Mechanism Reference for mechanism Reference for rupture area

yyyy/mm/dd 1.00 × 1028 strike/dip/rake

dyne-cm

1905/07/23 Bolnay, Mongolia 7 8.5 Schlupp and Cisternas (2007) 088/86/004 Schlupp and Cisternas (2007) Calais and others (2002)

1906/01/31 Colombia-Ecuador 6 8.5 Okal (1992) 030/20/120 * Kanamori and McNally (1982)

1906/08/17 Rat Islands, Aleutians, Alaska 3.8 8.3 Okal (2005) 196/80/-056 Okal (2005) ***

1922/11/11 Atacama, Chile 6.9 8.5 Kanamori (1977) 000/20/090 Beck and others (1998) Kelleher (1972)

1923/02/03 Kamchatka, Russia 5.5 8.4 Okal (1992) 214/30/110 ** Johnson and Satake (1999)

1933/03/02 Sanriku-oki, Japan 8.5 8.6 Okal (1992) 180/45/-090 Kanamori (1971) Kawakatsu and Seno (1983)

1938/02/01 Banda Sea, Indonesia 8.4 8.5 Okal and Reymond (2003) 276/63/070 Okal and Reymond (2003) ***

1938/11/10 Aleutians, Alaska 3.7 8.3 Estabrook and others (1994) 218/16/069 Estabrook and others (1994) Wyss and Wiemer (1999)

1946/04/01 Unimak Island, Aleutians, Alaska 8.5 8.6 Lopez and Okal (2006) 250/06/90 Lopez and Okal (2006)  

1950/08/15 Assam, India 10 8.6 Kanamori (1977) 260/12/090 Chen and Molnar (1977) Kumar and others (2006)

1952/11/04 Kamchatka, Russia 35 9 Kanamori (1976) 214/30/110 Kanamori (1976) Johnson and Satake (1999)

1957/03/09 Central Aleutians, Alaska 8.8 8.6 Johnson and others (1994) 257/11/116 Johnson and Satake (1993) Wyss and Wiemer (1999)

1958/11/06 Kuril Islands, Russia 4.4 8.4 Fukao and Furumoto (1979) 225/30/090 Fukao and Furumoto (1979) ** **

1960/05/22 Great Chilean earthquake 200 9.5 Kanamori (1977) 010/10/080 Kanamori and Cipar (1974) Kelleher (1972)

1963/10/13 Kuril Islands, Russia 6.7 8.5 Kanamori (1977) 223/22/090 Kanamori (1970a) Beck and Ruff (1987)

1964/03/28 Prince William Sound, Alaska 82 9.2 Kanamori (1977) 246/20/090 Kanamori (1970b) Wyss and Wiemer (1999)

1965/02/04 Rat Islands, Aleutians, Alaska 12.5 8.7 Kanamori (1977) 290/10/139 Wu and Kanamori (1973) Wyss and Wiemer (1999)

1977/08/19 Sumbawa, Indonesia 3.59 8.3 Global CMT 260/24/-073 Global CMT Spence (1986)

1994/10/04 Shikotan, Kuril Islands, Russia 3 8.3 Global CMT 158/41/024 Global CMT Kikuchi and Kanamori (1995)

2001/06/23 Arequipa, Peru 4.67 8.4 Global CMT 310/18/063 Global CMT Robinson and others (2006)

2003/09/25 Hokkaido, Japan 3.05 8.3 Global CMT 250/11/132 Global CMT Miyazaki and others (2004)

2004/12/26 Sumatra-Andaman Islands 65 9.1 Park and others, 2005 329/08/110 Global CMT Engdahl and others (2007)

2005/03/28 Nias Island, Indonesia 10.5 8.6 Global CMT 333/08/118 Global CMT Engdahl and others (2007)

2006/11/15 Kuril Islands, Russia 3.51 8.3 Global CMT 215/15/092 Global CMT  

2007/09/12 Sumatra, Indonesia 6.7 8.5 Global CMT 328/09/114 Global CMT ** **

Mw: Moment magnitude CMT: Centroid moment tensor

* Assumes same mechanism as the 1942 (Swenson and Beck, 1999) and 1979 (Kanamori and Given, 1981) earthquakes in the same region

** Assumes same mechanism as the 1952 Kamchatka earthquake (Kanamori, 1976)

*** Area of the circle is determined from the moment magnitude

**** Area is determined from the aftershock distribution