U.S. Earthquake Zones: Where Earthquakes Happen

By Quake Tracker Live Editorial · Published November 9, 2026

Earthquakes can happen in every U.S. state, but they are concentrated in a few regions and for very different reasons. California sits on a plate boundary that slides sideways. Alaska and the Pacific Northwest sit above subduction zones. Hawaii has volcanoes. The central Mississippi Valley lies in the middle of a plate where old faults still release stress. And in Oklahoma, human activity created a seismic zone that barely existed 15 years ago.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) publishes national seismic hazard maps that show the level of shaking expected in each part of the country. The 2023 update of the model found that damaging shaking is possible across a large part of the country, including many states far from the West Coast. This guide summarizes the main zones. You can follow current activity in each region on our state pages, which we link below.

The main zones at a glance

California and the San Andreas system

California has more people exposed to earthquakes than any other state. The Pacific and North American plates move past each other at roughly 5 centimeters (2 inches) per year, about as fast as your fingernails grow. That motion is not smooth: it is absorbed along the San Andreas Fault and dozens of other faults, including the Hayward, San Jacinto, Elsinore and the many hidden thrust faults beneath Los Angeles. Strain builds, and then the fault slips in an earthquake.

The USGS earthquake rupture forecast for California (UCERF3) estimates that the chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake somewhere in California over 30 years is more than 99 percent, and the chance of a magnitude 8 or larger is about 7 percent. Individual faults have much lower odds. Recent examples include the 1989 Loma Prieta, 1994 Northridge and 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes. Check what's shaking in California right now, and see our aftershocks guide for what happens after a big one.

Cascadia: Washington, Oregon and northern California

Off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, the small Juan de Fuca plate slides beneath North America along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It is capable of a magnitude 9 earthquake that would shake the coast for several minutes and generate a tsunami that would arrive on the coast within minutes to an hour or so. The last such event was in 1700. Geologic records show that the zone has produced full-length ruptures roughly every 500 years on average, with smaller ones in between, and the intervals are irregular.

The region also has earthquakes inside the subducting plate, such as the 2001 Nisqually earthquake (M6.8, about 52 km deep) near Olympia, and shallow crustal faults like the Seattle Fault. Washington's page on our site is a good place to see the ongoing small earthquakes: Washington earthquakes.

Alaska: the most active state

Alaska is the most seismically active state in the country. The Aleutian arc and the southern coast sit above one of the most productive subduction zones on Earth. Since 1900, Alaska has averaged about one earthquake of magnitude 7 to 8 per year and one of magnitude 8 or larger about every 13 years, according to the Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission. Most are offshore or in remote areas, which is why damage is usually modest compared with the size. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake (M9.2) is the exception and is covered in our guide to the largest earthquakes in U.S. history. Current activity is on the Alaska page.

New Madrid: earthquakes in the middle of the continent

The most surprising earthquake zone is in the interior of the country. In the winter of 1811 to 1812, a series of earthquakes with estimated magnitudes up to around 7.5 shook the Mississippi Valley near New Madrid, Missouri, and were felt over most of the eastern United States. The cause is thought to be ancient rift faults buried beneath the Mississippi embayment that are being reactivated by stress that builds up across the continent.

The zone still produces small earthquakes every year. Rock in the central and eastern U.S. transmits seismic waves very efficiently, so shaking can reach much farther than in the West, and many buildings there were not designed for earthquakes. A large earthquake would affect Memphis, St. Louis and Little Rock. The USGS and state agencies treat the zone as a serious hazard, although the odds of a repeat of 1811 in any given year are low.

Utah and the Wasatch Fault

The Wasatch Fault runs for about 350 km along the base of the mountains beside Salt Lake City, Provo and Ogden, where the majority of Utah's population lives. It is made of several segments that are each capable of earthquakes of roughly magnitude 6.5 to 7.5, with long intervals of centuries between ruptures on any one segment, and the most recent major rupture on parts of the fault is hundreds of years old. The Magna earthquake of March 18, 2020 (M5.7, about 12 km deep) was a reminder, damaging buildings in the Salt Lake Valley. Watch the Utah page for current activity. Nearby Nevada shares the same stretching crust and had two large earthquakes minutes apart in 1954 (M7.1 Fairview Peak and M6.9 Dixie Valley).

Hawaii: volcano earthquakes and big island flexure

Most earthquakes in Hawaii are linked to the volcanoes on the Big Island: magma moving underground and the slow slide of the island's south flank toward the sea. The flank can generate large earthquakes, such as the 1868 Kaʻū event (about M7.9, estimated from felt reports), the 1975 Kalapana earthquake (M7.7) and the M6.9 earthquake of May 4, 2018, which came with the Kilauea eruption. Large earthquakes under Hawaii can also trigger local tsunamis. Check the Hawaii page for what is happening now.

Oklahoma and induced earthquakes

Before 2009, Oklahoma recorded an average of one or two magnitude 3 or larger earthquakes per year. Then the rate jumped. In 2015, the USGS catalog lists nearly 900 magnitude 3+ earthquakes in Oklahoma and its immediate surroundings. Scientists from the USGS and the Oklahoma Geological Survey concluded that the cause was the deep injection of large volumes of wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas production, which raised fluid pressure on existing faults. The largest, the M5.8 Pawnee earthquake on September 3, 2016, and the M5.7 Prague earthquake of 2011 were felt over many states.

Regulators then required operators to reduce injection volumes in affected areas, and the rate of earthquakes has dropped substantially since the 2015 peak. Induced seismicity also occurs in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and other states. It is a reminder that human activity can change earthquake hazard. See the Oklahoma page for current activity.

Beyond these zones

South Carolina (the 1886 Charleston earthquake), the Wabash Valley, the Northeast and Puerto Rico have also had damaging earthquakes. Look up your own county in the USGS hazard maps, and use our preparedness checklist whatever your hazard level.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

• USGS: National Seismic Hazard Model
• USGS Fact Sheet 2015-3009: UCERF3, the third California earthquake rupture forecast
• Pacific Northwest Seismic Network: Cascadia Subduction Zone
• Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission: Earthquake risk
• USGS: Induced earthquakes
• Utah Geological Survey: Earthquakes

This guide is general information, not professional or emergency advice. Quake Tracker Live is not an official warning system; follow instructions from local authorities.