Major · M7.0–7.9
Major earthquakes cause serious damage over large areas and can devastate cities. Offshore, they are capable of generating destructive tsunamis.
Class
Major
Per year (global)
~15
Last 12 months
12
Since 1900
1,510
Largest recorded
M8.0
Major earthquakes cause serious damage over large areas and can devastate cities. Offshore, they are capable of generating destructive tsunamis.
Typical effects. Severe damage across wide regions, collapse of many buildings, ground rupture, and — when offshore and shallow — ocean-crossing tsunamis.
Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step is about 32× more energy, so a magnitude 7 releases far more energy than the band below it. But felt shaking and damage also depend on depth, distance and local geology.
The most recent events recorded in the M7.0–7.9 range, worldwide.
June 7, 2026 · 55 km deep
April 20, 2026 · 25 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
April 1, 2026 · 35 km deep
March 30, 2026 · 121 km deep
March 24, 2026 · 234 km deep
February 22, 2026 · 629 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
December 8, 2025 · 41 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
December 6, 2025 · 10 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
October 10, 2025 · 6 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
October 10, 2025 · 59 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
September 18, 2025 · 27 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
September 13, 2025 · 58 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
August 22, 2025 · 10 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
July 28, 2025 · 31 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
July 20, 2025 · 34 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
July 16, 2025 · 38 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
May 2, 2025 · 10 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
March 30, 2025 · 29 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
March 28, 2025 · 10 km deep
February 8, 2025 · 14 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
January 7, 2025 · 10 km deep
December 17, 2024 · 54 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
December 5, 2024 · 10 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
August 17, 2024 · 29 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
August 8, 2024 · 24 km deep
July 19, 2024 · 127 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
July 11, 2024 · 640 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
June 28, 2024 · 24 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
April 2, 2024 · 40 km deep · 🌊 tsunami
January 22, 2024 · 13 km deep
FAQ
Major earthquakes cause serious damage over large areas and can devastate cities. Offshore, they are capable of generating destructive tsunamis. On the moment-magnitude scale, magnitude 7 covers M7.0–7.9. Severe damage across wide regions, collapse of many buildings, ground rupture, and — when offshore and shallow — ocean-crossing tsunamis.
About ~15 earthquakes in the M7.0–7.9 range occur worldwide each year. Our catalog recorded 12 in the last 12 months and 1,510 since 1900.
Severe damage across wide regions, collapse of many buildings, ground rupture, and — when offshore and shallow — ocean-crossing tsunamis. Impact depends far more on depth, distance to people and building quality than on magnitude alone — a shallow magnitude 7 under a city is far more dangerous than a deep one far offshore.