List of earthquakes in 1931

Earthquakes in 1931
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest	Two events reached magnitude 7.9.
Deadliest	China, Xinjiang Province (Magnitude 7.9) August 10 10,000 deaths
Total fatalities	15,920
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
	← 1930 1932 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1931. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused deaths, injury or damage. Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from the list as they wouldn't have generated significant media interest. All dates are listed according to UTC time. In a stark contrast to 1930, many large and destructive earthquakes occurred during 1931. The largest and deadliest event was the magnitude 7.9 earthquake which caused major devastation to China in August. New Zealand saw its worst natural disaster in February. Iran and Nicaragua had many deaths from earthquakes in the first half of the year. Other interesting events happened in Texas and the United Kingdom with the largest quakes for these areas hitting this year.

StrongestTwo events reached magnitude 7.9.

Deadliest

China, Xinjiang Province (Magnitude 7.9) August 10 10,000 deaths

Total fatalities15,920

9.0+0

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Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	10,000	7.9	China, Xinjiang Province	XI (Extreme)	10.0	August 10
2	2,890	6.5	Azerbaijan SSR, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic	VIII (Severe)	15.0	April 27
3	2,450	5.6	Nicaragua, Managua City	VI (Strong)	0.0	March 31
4	256	7.4	New Zealand, Hawke's Bay, North Island	IX (Violent)	35.0	February 2
5	114	7.6	Mexico, Oaxaca	X (Extreme)	35.0	January 15
6	90	5.8	Albanian Kingdom, Korçë County	IX (Violent)	33.0	January 28
7	50	7.9	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	October 3
8	16	6.5	Japan, Saitama Prefecture, Honshu	( )	15.0	September 21

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
= 1	7.9	10,000	China, Xinjiang Province	XI (Extreme)	10.0	August 10
= 1	7.9	50	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	October 3
2	7.8	0	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	( )	35.0	March 9
3	7.7	0	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	October 10
= 4	7.6	114	Mexico, Oaxaca	X (Extreme)	35.0	January 15
= 4	7.6	0	British Burma, Kachin State	( )	15.0	January 27
5	7.5	1	Japan, east of Kyushu	( )	35.0	November 2
= 6	7.4	256	New Zealand, Hawke's Bay, North Island	IX (Violent)	35.0	February 2
= 6	7.4	0	Russian SFSR, Primorsky Krai	( )	356.7	February 20
= 6	7.4	0	Dutch East Indies, Enggano Island	VIII (Severe)	35.0	September 25
= 7	7.3	0	New Zealand, Manawatū-Whanganui	( )	45.0	February 13
= 7	7.3	0	Dutch East Indies, Banda Sea	( )	100.0	March 28
= 8	7.2	0	United States, south of Guam	( )	15.0	January 28
= 8	7.2	0	Chile, Valparaíso Region	( )	35.0	March 18
= 8	7.2	0	Pakistan, Baluchistan Province	( )	10.0	August 27
= 9	7.1	0	north Atlantic Ocean	( )	10.0	May 20
= 9	7.1	0	China, Xinjiang Province	( )	10.0	August 18
= 9	7.1	0	United States, Northern Mariana Islands	( )	167.8	September 9
= 10	7.0	0	Dutch East Indies, east of Enggano Island	( )	35.0	February 10
= 10	7.0	0	New Guinea, Sandaun Province	( )	35.0	August 7
= 10	7.0	0	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	October 3
= 10	7.0	0	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	October 3
= 10	7.0	0	British Solomon Islands, south of	( )	15.0	October 3

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
1^[1]	Taiwan, east of	6.4	15.0
2^[2]	Mexico, off the coast of Jalisco	6.7	20.0
9^[3]	Japan, Akita Prefecture, Honshu	6.0	140.0
12^[4]	Russian SFSR, off the east coast of Kamchatka	6.5	35.0
15^[5]^[6]	Mexico, Oaxaca	7.6	35.0	X	The 1931 Oaxaca earthquake killing 114 people causing severe damage.	114
15^[7]	Japan, northwest of the Ryukyu Islands	6.8	200.0
15^[8]	New Guinea, Ninigo Islands	6.5	15.0
16^[9]	Mexico, Oaxaca	6.3	30.0		Aftershock.
17^[10]	Mexico, Gulf of California	6.7	10.0
19^[11]	Dutch East Indies, north of Wetar	6.0	35.0
20^[12]	Afghanistan, Badakhshan Province	6.5	220.0
20^[13]	Dutch East Indies, Strait of Malacca	6.2	190.0
21^[14]	Japan, off the southeast coast of Hokkaido	6.2	120.0
24^[15]	Philippines, Siargao	6.2	35.0
27^[16]	British Burma, Kachin State	7.6	15.0		1931 Myitkyina earthquake.
28^[17]	Albanian Kingdom, Korçë County	5.8	33.0	IX	90 people were killed and some damage was caused.	90
28^[18]	United States, south of Guam	7.2	15.0

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
2^[19]^[20]^[21]	New Zealand, Hawke's Bay, North Island	7.4	35.0	IX	The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake caused 256 deaths. 2 people were missing. Thousands of people were injured. Property damage costs were estimated at $900 million (2010 rates). This is currently the deadliest natural disaster to strike New Zealand as of 2019. Many aftershocks followed.	256	1,000+
8^[22]	New Zealand, off the east coast of North Island	6.4	15.0		Aftershock.
10^[23]	Dutch East Indies, east of Enggano Island	7.0	35.0
12^[24]	Dutch East Indies, east of Enggano Island	6.4	35.0		Aftershock.
13^[25]	Taiwan, north of	6.0	35.0
13^[26]	New Zealand, Manawatū-Whanganui, North Island	7.3	45.0		Doublet earthquake with previous event on February 2.
14^[27]	Dutch East Indies, southern Sumatra	6.6	15.0		Aftershock.
16^[28]	Japan, southern Hokkaido	6.3	25.0
19^[29]	Dutch East Indies, northeast of Enggano Island	6.5	35.0		Aftershock.
20^[30]	Russian SFSR, Primorsky Krai	7.4	365.0
22^[31]	Dutch East Indies, Flores Sea	6.0	100.0
27^[32]	Dutch East Indies, Molucca Sea	6.5	35.0

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
1^[33]	Russian SFSR, south of Sakhalin	6.5	330.0
2^[34]	France, southeast of the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia	6.7	70.0
5^[35]	Dutch East Indies, north of Simeulue	6.0	35.0
7^[36]	Greece, Central Macedonia	6.0	35.0
7^[37]	Nicaragua, Lake Nicaragua	6.0	80.0
8^[38]^[39]	Yugoslavia, Southeastern Statistical Region	6.6	10.0	X
9^[40]	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	7.8	35.0
11^[41]	Dutch East Indies, Banda Sea	6.0	35.0
11^[42]	Japan, Volcano Islands	6.7	35.0
18^[43]	Chile, Valparaíso Region	7.2	35.0
18^[44]	Philippines, south of Mindanao	6.7	35.0
19^[45]^[46]	Philippines, off the west coast of Luzon	6.7	15.0	IX	Some damage was reported.
28^[47]	Dutch East Indies, Banda Sea	7.3	100.0
29^[48]	Japan, Hokkaido	6.8	80.0
31^[49]	Nicaragua, Jinotega Department	5.6	0.0		The 1931 Nicaragua earthquake caused major destruction in the area. 2,450 deaths were reported. Property damage costs were $15 million (1931 rate).	2,450

List of earthquakes in 1931

Overall

By death toll

By magnitude

Notable events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

References

Related Articles

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.6 M_w 2 events
Deadliest	7.6 M_w Mexico 114 deaths
Total fatalities	204
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	3
6.0–6.9	13
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.4 M_w 2 events
Deadliest	7.4 M_w New Zealand 256 deaths
Total fatalities	256
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	8

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.8 M_w Japan
Deadliest	5.6 M_w Nicaragua 2,450 deaths
Total fatalities	2,450
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	3
6.0–6.9	11
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w Fiji
Deadliest	6.5 M_w Azerbaijan SSR 2,890 deaths
Total fatalities	2,890
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	9

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.1 M_w north Atlantic Ocean
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	6

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.5 M_w 4 events
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	11

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w 2 events
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	9

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.9 M_w China
Deadliest	7.9 M_w China 10,000 deaths
Total fatalities	10,000
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	5

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.4 M_w Dutch East Indies
Deadliest	6.5 M_w Japan 16 deaths
Total fatalities	16
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	10

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.9 M_w British Solomon Islands
Deadliest	7.9 M_w British Solomon Islands 50 deaths
Total fatalities	50
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	5
6.0–6.9	10

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.5 M_w Japan
Deadliest	7.5 M_w Japan 1 death
Total fatalities	1
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	6