List of earthquakes in 1946

Earthquakes in 1946
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest	United States, south of Unimak Island, Alaska (Magnitude 8.6) April 1
Deadliest	Dominican Republic, Samaná Bay (Magnitude 7.5) August 4 1,790 deaths
Total fatalities	6,373
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
	← 1945 1947 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1946. 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. Several great shocks affected the planet in 1946. The largest was one of the most significant in human terms. The quake itself was a magnitude 8.6 striking on April 1 in Alaska resulting in a tsunami mainly affecting Hawaii. The consequence of this apart from many deaths was the foundation of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. This organisation has helped to substantially reduce the death toll of tsunamis in the Pacific, although there have been a few exceptions, including the 2011 Japan event. Japan itself was heavily affected in 1946 by a large quake hitting in December, causing 1,362 deaths. The Dominican Republic was another nation that suffered great destruction in August. Turkey, Peru, and Turkmenistan all saw earthquakes causing many deaths. There were 21 events measuring above 7.0 and three exceeding a magnitude of 8.0.

Strongest

United States, south of Unimak Island, Alaska (Magnitude 8.6) April 1

Deadliest

Dominican Republic, Samaná Bay (Magnitude 7.5) August 4 1,790 deaths

Total fatalities6,373

9.0+0

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Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	1,790	7.5	Dominican Republic, Samaná Bay	VII (Very strong)	15.0	August 4
2	1,400	6.8	Peru, Ancash Region	XI (Extreme)	15.0	November 10
3	1,362	8.3	Japan, off the south coast of Honshu	VII (Very strong)	15.0	December 20
4	840	6.0	Turkey, Erzurum Province	VIII (Severe)	35.0	May 31
5	400	6.9	USSR, Balkan Region, Turkmenistan	VII (Very strong)	37.9	November 4
6	264	6.0	France, Bordj Bou Arréridj Province, Algeria	IX (Violent)	35.0	February 12
7	167	8.6	United States, south of Unimak Island, Alaska	VII (Very strong)	15.0	April 1
8	75	7.0	Dominican Republic, off the northern coast	VII (Very strong)	15.0	August 8
9	58	6.6	Taiwan, north of Taiwan	IX (Violent)	25.0	December 4
10	12	5.6	Turkey, Konya Province	VIII (Severe)	60.0	February 21

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	8.6	167	United States, south of Unimak Island, Alaska	VII (Very strong)	15.0	April 1
2	8.3	1,362	Japan, off the south coast of Honshu	VII (Very strong)	15.0	December 20
3	8.0	0	Burma, Sagaing Region	VII (Very strong)	15.0	September 12
= 4	7.8	0	Burma, Sagaing Region	( )	15.0	September 12
= 4	7.8	0	Australia, southeast of New Ireland (island), New Guinea	VI (Strong)	50.0	September 29
= 5	7.5	1,790	Dominican Republic, Samaná Bay	VII (Very strong)	15.0	August 4
= 5	7.5	0	USSR, Jalal-Abad Region, Kyrgyzstan	X (Extreme)	25.0	November 2
= 6	7.3	0	Indonesia, Mentawai Islands	VII (Very strong)	35.0	May 8
= 6	7.3	0	Canada, Vancouver Island	VII (Very strong)	30.0	June 23
= 7	7.2	0	Australia, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea	( )	95.0	January 17
= 7	7.2	0	Argentina, Santiago del Estero Province	( )	573.6	August 28
= 7	7.2	0	Australia, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea	( )	110.0	September 23
= 8	7.1	0	Mexico, Oaxaca	( )	109.9	June 7
= 8	7.1	0	Mexico, Veracruz	( )	117.8	July 11
= 9	7.0	0	New Hebrides, Vanuatu	( )	35.0	January 20
= 9	7.0	0	New Hebrides, Vanuatu	( )	175.4	July 9
= 9	7.0	75	Dominican Republic, off the northern coast	VII (Very strong)	15.0	August 8
= 9	7.0	0	Fiji, south of	( )	84.1	August 21
= 9	7.0	0	Fiji, south of	( )	588.4	September 26
= 9	7.0	0	Dominican Republic, La Altagracia Province	( )	50.0	October 4
= 9	7.0	0	United States, Andreanof Islands, Alaska	VI (Strong)	25.0	November 1

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
5^[1]	Guatemala, Quiche Department	6.0	210.0
5^[2]^[3]	New Hebrides, Vanuatu	6.9	35.0	VI
11^[4]^[5]	Republic of China (1912-1949), Heilongjiang Province	6.8	581.2	II
12^[6]^[7]	United States, Gulf of Alaska	6.6	20.0	IV
17^[8]	Australia, Morobe Province, New Guinea	7.2	95.0
20^[9]	New Hebrides, Vanuatu	7.0	35.0
25^[10]	Switzerland, Canton of Bern	6.0	35.0	VIII	The 1946 Valais earthquake killed three people in Switzerland, and one in France.^[11]	4

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
4^[12]	United States, Andreanof Islands, Alaska	6.8	160.0
10^[13]^[14]	Iran, South Khorasan Province	0.0	0.0	VIII	3 people were killed and some damage was caused. Magnitude and depth unknown.	3
12^[15]^[16]	France, Bordj Bou Arreridj Province, Algeria	6.0	35.0	IX	264 deaths were reported as well as major damage.	264
21^[17]^[18]	Turkey, Konya Province	5.6	60.0	VIII	12 people were killed.	12
22^[19]	Mexico, Chiapas	6.0	170.0
27^[20]	Argentina, Jujuy Province	6.0	270.0

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
15^[21]^[22]	United States, central California	6.3	6.0	VIII
25^[23]	Cuba, southeast of	6.0	35.0
26^[24]^[25]	Indonesia, off the west coast of southern Sumatra	6.8	45.0	VI

List of earthquakes in 1946

Overall

By death toll

By magnitude

Notable events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

References

Related Articles

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.2 M_w Australia
Deadliest	6.0 M_w Switzerland 4 deaths
Total fatalities	4
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	5

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w United States
Deadliest	6.0 M_w France 264 deaths
Total fatalities	279
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	4
5.0–5.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w Indonesia
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	3

Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.6 M_w United States
Deadliest	8.6 M_w United States 167 deaths
Total fatalities	167
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.3 M_w Indonesia
Deadliest	6.0 M_w Turkey 840 deaths
Total fatalities	840
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	3

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.3 M_w Canada
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	7

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.1 M_w Mexico
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	2

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.5 M_w Dominican Republic
Deadliest	7.5 M_w Dominican Republic 1,790 deaths
Total fatalities	1,867
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	2

Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.0 M_w Burma
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	1

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.0 M_w Dominican Republic
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	7

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.5 M_w USSR
Deadliest	6.8 M_w Peru 1,400 deaths
Total fatalities	1,800
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	7

Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.3 M_w Japan
Deadliest	8.3 M_w Japan 1,362 deaths
Total fatalities	1,420
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	5