North Dakota Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record
North Dakota recorded no earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025; the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M4.4 of July 8, 1968, near Huff, North Dakota.
Earthquakes near Fargo in the last 30 days
Every quake within 155 miles of Fargo, North Dakota’s largest city, newest first. For your own address, enter a ZIP code.
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.
North Dakota by the numbers
USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026North Dakota recorded no earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025; the largest quakes on record there are listed on this page.
North Dakota earthquakes by year
The USGS catalog lists 2 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in North Dakota from 1990 to 2025. 2016 to 2025: 0; 2006 to 2015: 1.
The 6 largest earthquakes in North Dakota
The largest earthquake in North Dakota in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M4.4 of July 8, 1968, near Huff, North Dakota. The most recent of magnitude 4 or more was the M4.4 of July 8, 1968, near Huff, North Dakota.
- 1M4.4
- 2M3.5
- 3M3.3
- 4M3.3
- 5M2.6
- 6M2.6
From the USGS ComCat catalog, every magnitude since 1900, read October 10, 2026. Each place links to the quake’s USGS page.
What to do in an earthquake
- 1
Drop
Drop where you are onto hands and knees.
- 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
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.

North Dakota earthquake questions
More from MyWild
Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. North Dakota’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. Fargo: 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