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Earthquakes Near Me / Rhode Island

Rhode Island Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

Rhode Island recorded no earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025; the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M3.5 of March 11, 1976, 5 km SE of Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Providence in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Providence, Rhode Island’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 Providence.

Live from the USGS earthquake catalog. Times are Eastern 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.

Rhode Island by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
0
Quakes of M2.5+, 2016 to 2025
in ten years of the USGS catalog
49th
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M3.5
Largest since 1900
March 11, 1976
0
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

Rhode Island recorded no earthquake of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025; the largest quakes on record there are listed on this page.

Since 1990

Rhode Island earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists 1 earthquake of magnitude 3 or more in Rhode Island from 1990 to 2025. 2016 to 2025: 0; 2006 to 2015: 0.

Magnitude 3 and up in Rhode Island, 1990 to 2025; the tallest bar is 1. From the USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026.
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Since 1900

The 10 largest earthquakes in Rhode Island

The largest earthquake in Rhode Island in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M3.5 of March 11, 1976, 5 km SE of Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

  1. 1M3.5
    5 km SE of Portsmouth, Rhode IslandMarch 11, 1976, less than 1 km deep
  2. 2M3.5
    87 km SSE of New Shoreham, Rhode IslandAugust 10, 1978, 18 mi (29 km) deep
  3. 3M3.1
    2 km NE of Bristol, Rhode IslandMarch 22, 1996, 7.4 mi (12 km) deep
  4. 4M2.8
    93 km SSE of New Shoreham, Rhode IslandJuly 26, 1978, less than 1 km deep
  5. 5M2.8
    10 km SE of Narragansett Pier, Rhode IslandSeptember 3, 1978, less than 1 km deep
  6. 6M2.7
    2 km ESE of Portsmouth, Rhode IslandApril 3, 1981, 0.6 mi (1 km) deep
  7. 7M2.5
    1 km E of West Warwick, Rhode IslandOctober 1, 1974
  8. 8M2.3
    0 km WNW of East Providence, Rhode IslandJuly 22, 2015, 12 mi (19 km) deep
  9. 9M2.3
    8 km WNW of New Shoreham, Rhode IslandMarch 1, 2019, 4.5 mi (7 km) deep
  10. 10M2.3
    43 km SSE of New Shoreham, Rhode IslandSeptember 19, 2021, 6.2 mi (10 km) deep

From the USGS ComCat catalog, every magnitude since 1900, read October 10, 2026. Offshore quakes count when USGS names Rhode Island in the place and the quake is within 150 km of its coast. 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

Rhode Island earthquake questions

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Earthquakes near any ZIP code

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. Rhode Island’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. Providence: 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