This is a list of earthquakes in 2018. 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
Mercalli intensity scale
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
and are sourced from
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
ShakeMap
In seismology, strong ground motion is the strong earthquake shaking that occurs close to (less than about 50 km from) a causative fault. The strength of the shaking involved in strong ground motion usually overwhelms a seismometer, forci ...
data. In a busy year with 17 major quakes,
Indonesia was hit particularly hard. More than 500 people died in
Lombok in August and a
major earthquake struck the Palu region in September, with more than 4,000 casualties caused mainly by
liquefaction
In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics.
It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of the ...
and a tsunami. Other deadly events took place in
Papua New Guinea,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
,
Taiwan and
Mexico. The strongest quake with a
magnitude of 8.2 occurred in Fiji, at a great depth of .
Compared to other years
An increase in detected earthquake numbers does not necessarily represent an increase in earthquakes ''per se''. Population increase, habitation spread, and advances in earthquake detection technology all contribute to higher earthquake numbers being recorded over time.
By death toll
Listed are earthquakes with at least 10 dead.
By magnitude
Listed are earthquakes with at least 7.0 magnitude.
By month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
References
External links
ShakeMap Background– United States Geological Survey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earthquakes in 2018
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
2018-related lists