This is a list of earthquakes in 1954. 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. The year was characterized by a lack of large events. The largest event of magnitude 7.8 occurred in Spain, albeit a rare event for the area, there were no deaths due to its depth. A significant quake struck Nevada in December. With a magnitude of 7.3, this was one of the largest in the state's history. Total lives lost in the year amounted to 1,295. The vast majority of these came from Algeria, which suffered one of its worst disasters in September.

Overall

By death toll

Rank Death toll Magnitude Location MMI Depth (km) Date 1 , Chlef Province, Algeria 2 , Thessaly 3 , southeast Luzon Note: At least 10 casualties

By magnitude

Rank Magnitude Death toll Location MMI Depth (km) Date 1 , Andalusia 2 , Sagaing Region 3 , central Nevada = 4 , Volcano Islands = 4 , Gulf of California 5 Owen fracture zone = 6 , Gansu Province = 6 , Banda Sea = 6 , South Sandwich Islands = 6 Note: At least 7.0 magnitude

Notable events

January

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Flores 6.2 60.0 , south of South Island 6.5 35.0 Beginning of a series of events. , south of South Island 6.8 35.0 , south of South Island 6.7 15.0 , off the coast of Guerrero 6.0 0.0 Unknown depth.

February

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Volcano Islands 7.2 15.0 , New Ireland (island), Papua and New Guinea 6.7 35.0 , Chiapas 6.2 117.5 6 people were killed. Damage costs were around $17 million (1954 rate). 6 , Gansu Province 7.0 25.0 Many homes were destroyed. , off the west coast 6.8 35.0 rowspan="2"| Doublet earthquake. , off the west coast 6.8 35.0 , Kermadec Islands 6.6 25.0 , Michoacan 6.0 85.0 , Banda Sea 7.0 540.5 , South Sandwich Islands 7.0 120.0 , , Arunachal Pradesh 6.2 15.0 Border region between the two countries. , Ryukyu Islands 6.5 20.0 , east of Adelaide 5.4 4.0 Some damage was caused in the 1954 Adelaide earthquake. This was one of the strongest events in the area.

March

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Hela Province, Papua and New Guinea 6.8 15.0 , southern Alaska 6.3 56.0 , south of 6.5 530.6 , Kuril Islands 6.3 27.5 , off the coast of Guerrero 6.0 0.0 Unknown depth , southern California 6.4 6.0 , Sagaing Region 7.4 183.9 Some damage was caused. , Babuyan Islands 6.1 25.0 , Andalusia 7.8 626.2 , Hawaii (island), Hawaii 6.0 9.0 Foreshock. , Hawaii (island), Hawaii 6.5 9.0 Owen fracture zone 7.1 15.0

April

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Chiapas 6.0 100.0 , south of Hokkaido 6.0 56.0 , Solomon Islands 6.2 35.0 , Andreanof Islands, Alaska 6.6 25.0 , eastern Kamchatka 6.3 65.0 , Gulf of California 6.6 10.0 Foreshock. , Gulf of California 7.2 10.0 , Thessaly 6.7 10.0 The 1954 Sofades earthquake 31 people were killed and 717 were injured. 13,356 homes were damaged or destroyed. Costs were $3.15 million (1954 rate). 31 717

May

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Masaya Department 6.0 141.3 , Gulf of California 6.4 10.0 , Kuril Islands 6.0 46.4 , Oaxaca 6.3 62.4 , Oaxaca 6.0 80.0 Aftershock. , Gifu Prefecture, Honshu 6.6 245.1 , southeast of New Britain, Papua and New Guinea 6.2 35.0 , Sumbawa 6.5 150.0

June

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Galapagos Islands 6.3 15.0 , Papua (province) 6.9 10.0 , New Ireland (island), Papua and New Guinea 6.6 448.5 6.5 569.0 , Loreto Region 6.5 119.9 , Anhui Province 5.3 0.0 A few homes were destroyed. Unknown depth. , Antofagasta Region 6.6 113.0 , SNNPR 6.0 15.0

July

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , southeast Luzon 6.6 15.0 13 people were killed and 101 were injured. Some damage was caused. 13 101 , South Kivu, Belgian Congo 6.0 15.0 , off the west coast of Java 6.8 60.0 , Kuril Islands 6.5 19.1 , Nevada 6.8 0.0 A few people were injured. Some damage was reported. This was the start of several large earthquakes in Nevada over the remainder of the year. Depth unknown. 10+ , Nevada 6.2 0.0 Aftershock. Depth unknown. , Bismarck Sea, Papua and New Guinea 6.2 15.0 , off the east coast of Kamchatka 6.0 35.0 , off the east coast of Honshu 6.3 55.0 , Coquimbo Region 6.1 38.3 , Los Lagos Region 6.3 55.0 , Inner Mongolia 6.9 25.0 542 homes were destroyed.

August

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Aegean Sea 6.0 15.0 , Morobe Province, Papua and New Guinea 6.2 25.0 6.7 156.8 , Persian Gulf 5.0 0.0 1 person was killed and some damage was reported. Unknown depth. 1 , Nevada 6.6 0.0 Further damage in the area affected by another large event in early July. Depth unknown. , Kuril Islands 6.0 57.0

September

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Solomon Islands 6.6 135.0 , Papua (province) 6.4 47.9 , southeast of 6.0 35.0 , off the east coast of Kamchatka 6.3 60.0 , Chlef Province, Algeria 6.7 15.0 The 1954 Chlef earthquake caused one of the worst disasters to affect the country. 1,243 people were killed and another 5,000 injured. 20,000 homes were destroyed with damage costs reaching $6 million (1954 rate). 1,243 5,000 , Chlef Province, Algeria 6.2 15.0 Aftershock. 6.5 178.0 , Ryukyu Islands 6.0 35.0 6.7 564.6 7.0 256.6 , Sulawesi 6.0 50.0 , east of the Kuril Islands 6.5 20.0 , southern Hokkaido 6.0 60.1

October

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands 6.5 35.0 Foreshock. , Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands 6.8 35.0 , Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 6.4 61.5 , Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands 6.0 20.0 Aftershock. , Barat Daya Islands 6.3 35.0 , off the west coast of Baja California 6.4 15.0 , Santa Rosa Department, Guatemala 6.1 66.0 , Sichuan Province 5.0 0.0 Some homes were damaged and others were destroyed. Unknown depth.

November

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , northeast of Sumbawa 6.7 20.0 Some homes were damaged. , Baja California 6.1 6.0 , Northern Mariana Islands 6.7 189.0 , off the east coast of Honshu 6.0 35.0 , off the east coast of Kamchatka 6.0 35.0 , off the coast of northern California 6.8 10.0 , south of 6.5 643.5

December

+DateCountry and location Mw Depth (km) MMINotes Casualties Dead Injured , Naryn Region 6.0 15.0 , south of New Ireland (island), Papua and New Guinea 6.3 35.0 , north of Trinidad 6.1 49.0 , central Nevada 7.3 15.0 1954 Nevada earthquake. This was one of the largest events in the state. Some damage was reported. Many aftershocks followed. , central Nevada 6.9 15.0 Large aftershock. , Jujuy Province 6.6 247.3 , northern California 6.5 0.0 1 person was killed and several were injured. Damage was caused with costs being around $2.1 million (1954 rate). Depth unknown. 1 10+ , southeast of New Ireland (island), Papua and New Guinea 6.3 35.0

References