List of earthquakes in 1977

Earthquakes in 1977
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest	Indonesia, south of Sumbawa (Magnitude 8.3) August 19
Deadliest	Romania, Vrancea County (Magnitude 7.5) March 4 1,641 deaths
Total fatalities	3,107
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	10
6.0–6.9	75
5.0–5.9	1,693
4.0–4.9	2,395
	← 1976 1978 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1977. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. Events in remote areas will not be listed but included in statistics and maps. Countries are entered on the lists in order of their status in this particular year. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities are indicated on the Mercalli intensity scale and are sourced from United States Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeMap data. Not a particularly busy year as far as the number of magnitude 7.0+ events with 11 being recorded. The largest event struck Indonesia in August and measured magnitude 8.3. The Solomon Islands were affected by a series of magnitude 7.5 events in April. Several events caused significant numbers of fatalities especially in Iran which had 3 earthquakes throughout the year with a combined death toll of around 1,120 people. The deadliest earthquake occurred in Romania in March and was the worst in the country's history. 1,641 people were killed in this event.

Strongest

Indonesia, south of Sumbawa (Magnitude 8.3) August 19

Deadliest

Romania, Vrancea County (Magnitude 7.5) March 4 1,641 deaths

Total fatalities3,107

9.0+0

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Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	1,641	7.5	Romania, Vrancea County	VIII (Severe)	94.0	March 4
2	584	5.8	Iran, Kerman Province	VIII (Severe)	31.0	December 19
3	366	5.9	Iran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province	IX (Violent)	41.0	April 6
4	189	8.3	Indonesia, south of Sumbawa	VI (Strong)	25.0	August 19
5	167	6.9	Iran, Hormozgan Province	IX (Violent)	29.0	March 21
6	70	7.4	Argentina, San Juan Province, Argentina	X (Extreme)	13.0	November 23
7	34	6.7	British Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal	VII (Very strong)	33.0	April 20
8	30	5.2	Turkey, Elazığ Province	V (Moderate)	21.0	March 25
9	18	7.5	British Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal	VII (Very strong)	33.0	April 21

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	8.3	189	Indonesia, south of Sumbawa	VI (Strong)	25.0	August 19
2	7.6	0	Western Samoa	VI (Strong)	33.0	April 2
= 3	7.5	1,641	Romania, Vrancea County	VIII (Severe)	94.0	March 4
= 3	7.5	0	British Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal	VII (Very strong)	19.0	April 20
= 3	7.5	0	British Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal	VII (Very strong)	33.0	April 20
= 3	7.5	18	British Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal	VII (Very strong)	33.0	April 21
4	7.4	70	Argentina, San Juan Province, Argentina	X (Extreme)	13.0	November 23
= 5	7.2	0	British Solomon Islands	VI (Strong)	33.0	July 29
= 5	7.2	0	Tonga, south of	III (Weak)	33.0	October 10
6	7.1	0	Falkland Islands Dependencies, east of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	( )	33.0	August 26
7	7.0	1	Philippines, Luzon	VIII (Severe)	37.0	March 18

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]^[2]	China, Qinghai Province	6.3	27.0	VII
2^[3]^[4]	Indonesia, south of Sumbawa	6.3	19.0	V
6^[5]^[6]	Papua New Guinea, off the north coast of East Sepik Province	6.6	33.0	VII
17^[7]^[8]	Chile, Antofagasta Region	6.3	33.0	VI
18^[9]^[10]	New Zealand, Cook Strait	6.0	50.0	VI
26^[11]^[12]^[13]	Indonesia, Bali	5.2	33.0	VI	Some damage was caused.
31^[14]^[15]^[16]	Soviet Union, Batken Region, Kyrgyzstan	6.1	20.0	VII	Some damage was caused.

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
4^[17]	Argentina, Salta Province	6.0	549.0
19^[18]	United States, Near Islands, Alaska	6.7	33.0

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]	Philippines, Moro Gulf, Mindanao	6.1	52.0	VI
4^[21]^[22]^[23]	Romania, Vrancea County	7.5	94.0	VIII	Deadliest event of 1977. The 1977 Vrancea earthquake caused major destruction despite being fairly deep. 1,641 people were killed and 10,500 were injured. This was the deadliest earthquake in Romanian history. Bucharest suffered major property damage with costs reaching $2 billion (1977 rate).	1,641	10,500
8^[24]^[25]^[26]	Indonesia, northern Sumatra	6.0	22.0	VIII	Some damage was caused.
18^[27]^[28]^[29]	Philippines, Luzon	7.0	37.0	VIII	1 person was killed and another 9 were injured. 14 homes were destroyed and 22 more were damaged. Costs were $100,000 (1977 rate).	1	9
21^[30]^[31]^[32]	Iran, Hormozgan Province	6.9	29.0	VIII	During the 1977 Khurgu earthquake, 167 people were killed and another 556 were injured. Major damage was reported.	167	556
23^[33]^[34]	Fiji	6.3	33.0	VI
23^[35]	Fiji	6.0	2.0		Aftershock of previous event.
25^[36]^[37]^[38]	Turkey, Elazığ Province	5.2	21.0	V	30 people were killed and major damage was caused.	30
26^[39]^[40]	United States, Fox Islands (Alaska)	6.0	38.0	IV

List of earthquakes in 1977

By death toll

By magnitude

By month

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

References

Related Articles

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.6 M_w Papua New Guinea
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	131
4.0–4.9	184

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.7 M_w United States
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	96
4.0–4.9	152

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.5 M_w Romania
Deadliest	7.5 M_w Romania 1,641 deaths
Total fatalities	1,839
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	132
4.0–4.9	229

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.6 M_w Western Samoa
Deadliest	5.9 M_w Iran 366 deaths
Total fatalities	418
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	4
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	156
4.0–4.9	234

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.0 M_w United States
Deadliest	5.4 M_w Iran 3 deaths
Total fatalities	3
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	1
5.0–5.9	128
4.0–4.9	211

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w Tonga
Deadliest	6.8 M_w Tonga 1 death
Total fatalities	1
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	4
5.0–5.9	115
4.0–4.9	224

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.2 M_w United Kingdom, Solomon Islands
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	5
5.0–5.9	116
4.0–4.9	184

Number by magnitude
Strongest	8.3 M_w Indonesia
Deadliest	8.3 M_w Indonesia 189 deaths
Total fatalities	192
8.0–8.9	1
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	11
5.0–5.9	180
4.0–4.9	212

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.6 M_w United States
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	9
5.0–5.9	141
4.0–4.9	192

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.2 M_w Tonga
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	4
5.0–5.9	184
4.0–4.9	208

Number by magnitude
Strongest	7.4 M_w Argentina
Deadliest	7.4 M_w Argentina 70 deaths
Total fatalities	70
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	160
4.0–4.9	186

Number by magnitude
Strongest	6.8 M_w Japan
Deadliest	5.8 M_w Iran 584 deaths
Total fatalities	584
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	6
5.0–5.9	154
4.0–4.9	179