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Earthquakes Near Me / Alabama

Alabama Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

Alabama averages 2.4 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year (2016 to 2025), and the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M5.1 of October 18, 1916, near Irondale, Alabama.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Huntsville in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Huntsville, Alabama’s largest city, newest first. For your own address, enter a ZIP code.

Within
Magnitude
Reading the USGS earthquake catalog for magnitude 2.5 and up within 155 miles of Huntsville.

Live from the USGS earthquake catalog. Times are Central time; felt reports and the shaking level come from Did You Feel It? A new quake can take a few minutes to appear and its magnitude can be revised.

Alabama by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
2.4
Quakes of M2.5+ a year
the average, 2016 to 2025
25th
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M5.1
Largest since 1900
October 18, 1916
0
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

Alabama averages 2.4 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year, counting 24 from 2016 to 2025, which ranks it 25th of the fifty states.

Since 1990

Alabama earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists 43 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in Alabama from 1990 to 2025, the most in 1997 (4). 2016 to 2025: 5; 2006 to 2015: 11.

Magnitude 3 and up in Alabama, 1990 to 2025; the tallest bar is 4. From the USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026.
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Since 1900

The 10 largest earthquakes in Alabama

The largest earthquake in Alabama in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M5.1 of October 18, 1916, near Irondale, Alabama. The most recent of magnitude 4 or more was the M4.3 of November 7, 2004, 4 km W of Forkland, Alabama.

  1. 1M5.1
    Near Irondale, AlabamaOctober 18, 1916, 8.7 mi (14 km) deep
  2. 2M4.8
    15 km NNW of Flomaton, AlabamaOctober 24, 1997, 6.2 mi (10 km) deep
  3. 3M4.6
    8 km S of Valley Head, AlabamaApril 29, 2003, 12 mi (20 km) deep
  4. 4M4.5
    3 km NNW of Fayette, AlabamaJune 24, 1975, 6.2 mi (10 km) deep
  5. 5M4.3
    4 km W of Forkland, AlabamaNovember 7, 2004, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep
  6. 6M4.1
    5 km SSE of Trafford, AlabamaApril 23, 1957, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep
  7. 7M4.0
    0 km S of Clay, AlabamaMay 5, 1931
  8. 8M3.9
    4 km E of East Florence, AlabamaAugust 20, 1989, 4.2 mi (7 km) deep
  9. 9M3.9
    5 km SW of Pleasant Groves, AlabamaDecember 8, 2001, less than 1 km deep
  10. 10M3.8
    6 km NNE of Huntsville, AlabamaAugust 12, 1959, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep

From the USGS ComCat catalog, every magnitude since 1900, read October 10, 2026. Each place links to the quake’s USGS page.

When it shakes

What to do in an earthquake

  1. 1

    Drop

    Drop where you are onto hands and knees.

  2. 2

    Cover

    Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter. If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall (away from windows). Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs.

  3. 3

    Hold On

    Hold until the shaking stops. If under shelter, hold on with one hand and be ready to move with it when the shelter moves. If not under shelter, hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands.

Ready.gov’s words, from Ready.gov: Earthquakes (updated Sep 9, 2026, read October 9, 2026). Practice it with The Great ShakeOut: Earthquake Drills.

A seismograph drum wrapped in paper with rows of ink traces, the pen drawing a new line as the drum turns
A seismogram being recorded by a seismograph at the Weston Observatory in Massachusetts. “Seismogram at Weston Observatory” by Z22, CC BY-SA 3.0
Questions

Alabama earthquake questions

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. Alabama’s counts and largest quakes: the USGS ComCat catalog, read October 10, 2026, counted inside the state’s Census boundary and within 150 km of its coast where USGS names the state. Huntsville: the state’s most populous city in the Census Vintage 2024 estimates. Older years hold fewer small quakes because fewer instruments were listening.

Hero photograph: the San Andreas Fault across the Carrizo Plain. “Kluft-photo-Carrizo-Plain-Nov-2007-Img 0327” by Ikluft, CC BY-SA 4.0