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Earthquakes Near Me / Virginia

Virginia Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

Virginia averages 1.5 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year (2016 to 2025), and the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M5.8 of August 23, 2011, 11 km SSW of Mineral, Virginia.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Virginia Beach in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Virginia Beach, Virginia’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 Virginia Beach.

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.

Virginia by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
1.5
Quakes of M2.5+ a year
the average, 2016 to 2025
32nd
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M5.8
Largest since 1900
August 23, 2011
0
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

Virginia averages 1.5 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more a year, counting 15 from 2016 to 2025, which ranks it 32nd of the fifty states.

Since 1990

Virginia earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists 20 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in Virginia from 1990 to 2025, the most in 2011 (6). 2016 to 2025: 0; 2006 to 2015: 13.

Magnitude 3 and up in Virginia, 1990 to 2025; the tallest bar is 6. From the USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026.
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Since 1900

The 10 largest earthquakes in Virginia

The largest earthquake in Virginia in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M5.8 of August 23, 2011, 11 km SSW of Mineral, Virginia. The most recent of magnitude 4 or more was the M4.5 of August 25, 2011, 8 km SW of Mineral, Virginia.

  1. 1M5.8
    11 km SSW of Mineral, VirginiaAugust 23, 2011, 3.7 mi (6 km) deep
  2. 2M4.6
    6 km NE of Luray, VirginiaApril 10, 1918
  3. 3M4.5
    5 km ENE of Columbia, VirginiaDecember 9, 2003, 6.2 mi (10 km) deep
  4. 4M4.5
    8 km SW of Mineral, VirginiaAugust 25, 2011, 4.2 mi (7 km) deep
  5. 5M4.3
    11 km SSE of Vansant, VirginiaApril 10, 1989, less than 1 km deep
  6. 6M4.3
    13 km NNW of Raven, VirginiaNovember 2, 2006, 0.6 mi (1 km) deep
  7. 7M4.3
    13 km NW of Raven, VirginiaNovember 23, 2006, less than 1 km deep
  8. 8M4.2
    5 km WNW of Palmyra, VirginiaAugust 17, 1984, 5.3 mi (9 km) deep
  9. 9M4.2
    11 km SSW of Mineral, VirginiaAugust 24, 2011, less than 1 km deep
  10. 10M4.1
    9 km E of Vansant, VirginiaApril 14, 1988, less than 1 km deep

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

The faults

Fault zones in Virginia

  • Central Virginia seismic zone
  • Giles County seismic zone
  • Eastern Tennessee seismic zone
“Virginia's past seismic activity is concentrated in three primary areas: the Central Virginia seismic zone (CVSZ), the Giles County seismic zone (GCSZ), and the Eastern Tennessee seismic zone (ETSZ).”

Named by the Virginia Department of Energy, Geology and Mineral Resources Program, read October 9, 2026.

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

Virginia earthquake questions

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Other states

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Earthquakes near any ZIP code

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. Virginia’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. Virginia Beach: 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