The List: California’s Most Powerful Earthquakes

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake which rattled southern California on July 5, 2019, is one of the most powerful earthquakes in state history.

But where does the Ridgecrest 7.1 magnitude quake rank on California’s all-time quake list?

Let’s take a look.

The list: most powerful earthquakes in California history

The mag 7.1 magnitude earthquake ties for the 11th most powerful earthquake in California history. Let’s work down the California biggest earthquake list. 

1.   7.9 magnitude, Jan. 9, 1857.  Fort Tejon, California. 2 killed, 220-mile long earthquake “scar” visible on the surface. 
2.   7.9 magnitude, April 18, 1906. San Francisco. 3,000 killed, $524 million in property damage, including major fire damage at a time when most structures were made from wood.
3.   7.8 magnitude, March 26, 1872. Owens Valley, California. 27 killed, 3 aftershocks of magnitude 6+
4.   7.5 magnitude, July 21, 1952. Kern County, California. 12 killed, 3 aftershocks of 6+
5.   7.3 magnitude, January 31, 1922. West of Eureka, California. This quake occurred 37 miles offshore and caused more than $2 million in damage. Not all offshore quakes of this size create a tsunami and I cannot find a record of one following this quake.
6.   7.3 magnitude, November 4, 1927. SW of Lompoc, California. Another offshore earthquake. No major injuries, slight damage.
7.   7.3 magnitude, June 28, 1992. Landers, California. 1 killed, 400 injured, 6.5 aftershock. I remember this one myself and felt it big time on Catalina Island where we were having a family reunion.
8.   7.2 magnitude, January 22, 1923. Mendocino, California quake. Damaged homes in several towns with losses of at least $50 million.
9.   7.2 magnitude, November 8, 1980.  West of Eureka, California. This offshore earthquake injured 6 and caused $1.75 million in damage.
10.   7.2 magnitude, April 25, 1992. Offshore from Cape Mendocino, California with 6.5 and 6.6 aftershocks recorded.
11.   7.1 magnitude, July 5, 2019. Ridgecrest, California earthquake. Nearby Naval Air Weapons Station declared “Not Mission Capable” due to damage.
12.   7.1 magnitude, October 16, 1999.  Ludlow, California, known as the Hector Mine Quake. Quite remote, minimal damage.
13.   7.1 magnitude, May 18, 1940. El Centro, California. 9 killed, $6 million in damage.

That’s a look at the list or California’s largest earthquakes, magnitude 7.1 and above, according to the California Department of Conservation. 

The department notes that there are a number of 7.0 quakes it did not put onto its list. Instead, it skipped to some of the most damaging earthquakes in Southern California that many people still remember going through. That includes the following significant California quakes.

The Bay Area’s most memorable quake of the recent past

The 6.9 magnitude, Loma Prieta earthquake. The October 17, 1989 quake killed 63 people. This bay area quake collapsed part of the San Francisco Bay bridge, caused fires as gas lines ruptured and delayed the World Series for a time, which was being played in San Francisco that night. Here’s a video worth watching:

Los Angeles: most memorable earthquake of the recent past

Those in Los Angeles are most likely to have a strong connection to the Northridge earthquake. The 6.7 magnitude quake hit January 17, 1994. The Northridge quake killed 61 people and devastated buildings all over the place, causing some $15 billion in damage. I was working for a TV station in Spokane, Washington at the time and rode down to LA with the Red Cross volunteers. A collapsed overpass had us taking a crazy detour to get there so they could start helping people who were sleeping in parks.

The other “recent quake” I remember riding through while at La Mirada High School was the Whittier-Narrows quake on October 1, 1987. We were just 4 miles from the quake’s epicenter. The ground suddenly dropped near the end of my zero-period class and then it was rolling like crazy. I’ll never forget the look on my teacher’s face after we climbed out from under our desks. He was white as a ghost!

There are many, many more notable quakes in California history, including the 6.6 magnitude 1971 San Fernando, which killed 65 people and did $50 million in damage.

If I didn’t mention the California earthquake you are curious about, check out this extra long list on Wikipedia. 

We know this much: California really is the land of shake and bake, as they like to say in the hot and earthquake-prone sections of Southern California.