List of earthquakes in 1978

Earthquakes in 1978
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest magnitude	2 events reached magnitude 7.7.
Deadliest	Iran, Yazd Province (Magnitude 7.4) September 16 20,000 deaths.
Total fatalities	20,220
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	12
6.0–6.9	81
5.0–5.9	1,535
4.0–4.9	2,579
	← 1977 1979 →

Strongest magnitude2 events reached magnitude 7.7.

Deadliest

Iran, Yazd Province (Magnitude 7.4) September 16 20,000 deaths.

Total fatalities20,220

9.0+0

This is a list of earthquakes in 1978. 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. Another fairly quiet year as far as earthquakes above magnitude 7.0. The largest of the 12 events in this threshold were magnitude 7.7 and both Japan and Mexico experienced these. The Kuril Islands in Russia had a robust series of large earthquakes in March. Iran dominated the death toll for the year. One event in September left 20,000 dead. Japan had two destructive events including the joint largest event of the year. October had no events above magnitude 6 which is an unusual quiescence.

Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	20,000	7.4	Iran, Yazd Province	IX (Violent)	33.0	September 16
2	76	6.2	Iran, Khuzestan Province	VII (Very strong)	33.0	December 14
3	50	6.4	Greece, East Macedonia and Thrace	IX (Violent)	3.0	June 20
4	29	6.6	Japan, off the south coast of Honshu	IX (Violent)	14.0	January 14
5	28	7.7	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	VIII (Severe)	44.0	June 12
6	17	4.9	Guatemala, Chimaltenango Department	VI (Strong)	10.0	July 29

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
= 1	7.7	28	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	VIII (Severe)	44.0	June 12
= 1	7.7	9	Mexico, Oaxaca	IX (Violent)	18.0	November 29
2	7.6	0	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	VI (Strong)	33.0	March 24
3	7.5	0	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	VIII (Severe)	33.0	March 23
= 4	7.4	0	Taiwan, off the southeast coast	VI (Strong)	17.0	July 23
= 4	7.4	20,000	Iran, Yazd Province	IX (Violent)	33.0	September 16
5	7.2	0	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	( )	33.0	February 9
= 6	7.1	0	Soviet Union, Issyk-Kul Region, Kyrgyzstan	VIII (Severe)	33.0	March 24
= 6	7.1	0	Solomon Islands	VII (Very strong)	33.0	November 5
= 7	7.0	0	Tonga	( )	33.0	June 17
= 7	7.0	0	Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province	VIII (Severe)	56.0	August 23
= 7	7.0	2	Taiwan, off the east coast	VI (Strong)	33.0	December 23

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
6^[1]	Philippines, north of Luzon	6.1	33.0	VI
13^[2]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands	6.0	33.0
14^[3]^[4]	Japan, off the south coast of Honshu	6.7	14.0	IX	Main article: 1978 Izu Ōshima earthquake	29	129
14^[5]	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	6.3	22.0
15^[6]	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	6.2	20.0
17^[7]	Argentina, San Juan	6.0	19.5	VI
24^[8]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands	6.0	39.2
24^[9]	Papua New Guinea, West New Britain Province	6.1	79.5	V
25^[10]	Papua New Guinea, East New Britain Province	6.6	44.0	VI
28^[11]	Fiji, offshore	6.4	106.3
29^[12]	Papua New Guinea, New Ireland	6.0	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
9^[13]	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	7.2	33.0
11^[14]	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	6.6	33.0		Aftershock.
15^[15]^[16]^[17]	Turkey, Erzincan Province	4.8	33.0	IV	20 people were injured and 525 homes were destroyed.		20
20^[18]^[19]^[20]	Japan, off the east coast of Honshu	6.1	60.0	VIII	30 people were hurt and some damage was caused.		30

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured
3^[21]	Tonga	6.2	33.0
4^[22]	Tonga	6.3	33.0
4^[23]^[24]	Papua New Guinea, off the east coast of New Ireland (island)	6.2	78.0	V
7^[25]	Japan, Izu Islands	6.9	439.0		A magnitude 6.0 foreshock occurred seconds earlier.
11^[26]^[27]^[28]	Italy, Calabria	5.6	33.0	V	2 people died and at least 51 were injured. Some damage was reported.	2	51
16^[29]^[30]^[31]	Afghanistan, Kandahar Province	5.9	33.0	VII	1 person was killed and some damage was caused.	1
19^[32]^[33]^[34]	Mexico, Guerrero	6.4	36.0	VII	1 person died and 25 people were injured. Some damage was caused.	1	25
22^[35]^[36]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	6.7	33.0	IV	Beginning of a series of large events.
22^[37]^[38]^[39]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	6.6	33.0	V
23^[40]^[41]^[42]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	6.8	46.0	V
23^[43]^[44]^[45]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	7.5	33.0	VIII	A small tsunami was observed.
23^[46]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	6.8	33.0
24^[47]^[48]^[49]	Soviet Union, Kuril Islands, Russia	7.6	33.0	VI	A small tsunami was observed.
24^[50]^[51]^[52]	Soviet Union, Issyk-Kul Region, Kyrgyzstan	7.1	33.0	VIII	Major damage was reported.

List of earthquakes in 1978

By magnitude

By month

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

References

External links

Related Articles

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	6.6 M_w Japan
Deadliest	6.6 M_w Japan 29 deaths
Total fatalities	29
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	142
4.0–4.9	182

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.2 M_w New Zealand
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	6
5.0–5.9	139
4.0–4.9	171

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.6 M_w Soviet Union
Deadliest	5.6 M_w Italy 2 deaths
Total fatalities	4
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	3
6.0–6.9	15
5.0–5.9	210
4.0–4.9	311

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	6.7 M_w Indonesia
Deadliest	5.7 M_w Italy 5 deaths
Total fatalities	5
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	105
4.0–4.9	230

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	6.8 M_w Japan
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	5
5.0–5.9	133
4.0–4.9	243

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.7 M_w Japan
Deadliest	6.4 M_w Greece 50 deaths
Total fatalities	78
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	9
5.0–5.9	98
4.0–4.9	229

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.4 M_w Taiwan
Deadliest	4.9 M_w Guatemala 17 deaths
Total fatalities	17
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	4
5.0–5.9	112
4.0–4.9	206

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.0 M_w Costa Rica
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	6
5.0–5.9	118
4.0–4.9	166

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.4 M_w Iran
Deadliest	7.4 M_w Iran 20,000 deaths
Total fatalities	20,000
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	7
5.0–5.9	121
4.0–4.9	210

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	5.9 M_w 2 events
Total fatalities	0
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	0
6.0–6.9	0
5.0–5.9	120
4.0–4.9	136

v t e ← Earthquakes in 1978 →
Izu Ōshima (7.0, January 14) Miyagi (7.7, June 12) Thessaloniki (6.2, June 20)† Santa Barbara (5.6, August 13) Tabas (7.8, Sep 16)†‡ Oaxaca (7.8, Nov 29)
† indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths ‡ indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.7 M_w Mexico
Deadliest	7.7 M_w Mexico 9 deaths
Total fatalities	9
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	2
6.0–6.9	6
5.0–5.9	125
4.0–4.9	221

Number by magnitude
Strongest magnitude	7.0 M_w Taiwan
Deadliest	6.2 M_w Iran 76 deaths
Total fatalities	78
8.0–8.9	0
7.0–7.9	1
6.0–6.9	9
5.0–5.9	112
4.0–4.9	274

v t e Earthquakes by year
19th century	1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Historical earthquakes Lists of earthquakes