List of earthquakes in 1939

Earthquakes in 1939
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest	Chile, Biobío Region (Magnitude 8.3) January 24
Deadliest	Turkey, Erzincan Province (Magnitude 7.8) December 26 32,700 deaths
Total fatalities	62,860
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
	← 1938 1940 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1939. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, 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. 1939 was one of the deadliest years for earthquakes with over 60,000 deaths. Two major events resulted in this being the case. In January, a quake struck Chile causing 30,000 deaths, and in December Turkey was shaken by a quake which left 32,700 dead. Several other events occurred in Japan, Peru, Turkey and Ghana which left some fatalities.

Strongest

Chile, Biobío Region (Magnitude 8.3) January 24

Deadliest

Turkey, Erzincan Province (Magnitude 7.8) December 26 32,700 deaths

Total fatalities62,860

9.0+0

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Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	32,700	7.8	Turkey, Erzincan Province	XII (Extreme)	20.0	December 26
2	30,000	8.3	Chile, Biobío Region	X (Extreme)	35.0	January 25
3	41	6.3	Turkey, İzmir Province	IX (Violent)	35.0	September 21
4	37	0.0	Peru, Madre de Dios Region	( )	0.0	June 24
5	27	7.0	Japan, off the coast of Akita Prefecture, Honshu	( )	10.0	May 1
6	22	6.4	Gold Coast, Central Region (Gold Coast)	IX (Violent)	15.0	June 22
7	13	5.9	Turkey, Erzincan Province	VII (Very strong)	80.0	November 21
8	12	7.8	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	April 30

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	8.3	30,000	Chile, Biobío Region	X (Extreme)	35.0	January 25
2	8.1	0	Dutch East Indies, Gulf of Tomini	( )	35.0	December 21
= 3	7.8	5	New Guinea, south of Bougainville Island	( )	35.0	January 30
= 3	7.8	12	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	April 30
= 3	7.8	32,700	Turkey, Erzincan Province	XII (Extreme)	20.0	December 26
4	7.5	0	southern Indian Ocean	( )	15.0	March 21
= 5	7.4	0	Chile, Atacama Region	( )	35.0	April 18
= 5	7.4	0	New Hebrides	( )	135.0	October 17
6	7.3	0	Costa Rica, Alajuela Province	( )	25.0	December 21
= 7	7.2	0	Tonga	( )	100.0	June 8
= 7	7.2	0	New Hebrides	( )	180.0	August 12
8	7.1	0	United States, Near Islands, Alaska	( )	15.0	September 8
= 9	7.0	0	British Solomon Islands	( )	15.0	February 3
= 9	7.0	0	New Hebrides	( )	30.0	April 5
= 9	7.0	0	Russian SFSR, off the coast of Primorski Krai	( )	530.0	April 21
= 9	7.0	27	Japan, off the coast of Akita Prefecture, Honshu	( )	10.0	May 1
= 9	7.0	0	Mexico, Gulf of California	( )	10.0	May 2
= 9	7.0	0	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	( )	20.0	October 10

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
2^[1]	Turkey, south of	5.3	0.0		Major damage was reported. Depth unknown.
18^[2]	Chile, Coquimbo Region	6.2	70.0
20^[3]	Guatemala, off the south coast of	6.5	70.0
22^[4]	New Guinea, off the east coast of	6.2	35.0
24^[5]	Argentina, Santiago del Estero Province	6.0	580.0
25^[6]^[7]	Chile, Biobío Region	8.3	35.0	X	The 1939 Chillán earthquake was one of the worst in Chilean history. 30,000 people were killed. Many homes were destroyed and damage costs were around $920 million (1939 rate).	30,000+
30^[8]^[9]	New Guinea, south of Bougainville Island	7.8	35.0		5 people were killed and at least 101 were injured. Many homes were destroyed.	5	101+
30^[10]	New Guinea, off the east coast of	6.5	200.0

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
3^[11]	British Solomon Islands	7.0	15.0
4^[12]	Philippines, east of Mindanao	6.0	100.0
16^[13]	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	6.6	35.0
24^[14]^[15]	United States, south of Alaska Peninsula	6.3	79.0	V

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
2^[16]	New Guinea, East Sepik Province	6.0	35.0
8^[17]	New Guinea, off the west coast of Bougainville Island	6.3	35.0
20^[18]^[19]	Japan, eastern Kyushu	6.7	25.0		A tsunami was generated. 1 person died and a home was destroyed.	1
21^[20]	south Indian Ocean	7.5	15.0

List of earthquakes in 1939

Overall

By death toll

By magnitude

Notable events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.3 M_w Chile
Deadliest	8.3 M_w Chile 30,000 deaths
Total fatalities	30,005
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	5
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.0 M_w British Solomon Islands
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	3

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.5 M_w south Indian Ocean
Deadliest	6.7 M_w Japan 1 death
Total fatalities	1
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	3

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.8 M_w British Solomon Islands
Deadliest	7.8 M_w British Solomon Islands 12 deaths
Total fatalities	12
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	2

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.0 M_w 2 events
Deadliest	7.0 M_w Japan 27 deaths
Total fatalities	27
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	9

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.2 M_w Tonga
Deadliest	0.0 M_w Peru 37 deaths
Total fatalities	59
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	7

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w Fiji
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	5

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.2 M_w New Hebrides
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	5

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.1 M_w United States
Deadliest	6.3 M_w Turkey 41 deaths
Total fatalities	43
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	4
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.4 M_w New Hebrides
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	6

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.7 M_w Afghanistan
Deadliest	5.9 M_w Turkey 13 deaths
Total fatalities	13
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	5
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.1 M_w Dutch East Indies
Deadliest	7.8 M_w Turkey 32,700 deaths
Total fatalities	32,700
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	7