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Earthquakes Near Me / West Virginia

West Virginia Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

West Virginia recorded 6 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025, and the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M4.5 of November 20, 1969, 8 km ENE of Athens, West Virginia.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Charleston in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Charleston, West 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 Charleston.

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.

West Virginia by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
6
Quakes of M2.5+, 2016 to 2025
in ten years of the USGS catalog
34th
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M4.5
Largest since 1900
November 20, 1969
0
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

West Virginia recorded 6 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025, which ranks it 34th of the fifty states.

Since 1990

West Virginia earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists 7 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more in West Virginia from 1990 to 2025, the most in 1991 (2). 2016 to 2025: 2; 2006 to 2015: 2.

Magnitude 3 and up in West Virginia, 1990 to 2025; the tallest bar is 2. From the USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026.
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Since 1900

The 10 largest earthquakes in West Virginia

The largest earthquake in West Virginia in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M4.5 of November 20, 1969, 8 km ENE of Athens, West Virginia. The most recent of magnitude 4 or more was the M4.5 of November 20, 1969, 8 km ENE of Athens, West Virginia.

  1. 1M4.5
    8 km ENE of Athens, West VirginiaNovember 20, 1969, 1.9 mi (3 km) deep
  2. 2M3.6
    Near Martinsburg, West VirginiaApril 2, 1909
  3. 3M3.5
    14 km ESE of Falling Spring, West VirginiaApril 22, 1991, 9.2 mi (15 km) deep
  4. 4M3.4
    11 km SSW of Mineral Wells, West VirginiaOctober 20, 1974, 6.8 mi (11 km) deep
  5. 5M3.4
    5 km WSW of Gary, West VirginiaJune 19, 1976, 0.6 mi (1 km) deep
  6. 6M3.4
    14 km SW of Gassaway, West VirginiaApril 4, 2010, less than 1 km deep
  7. 7M3.4
    West VirginiaMarch 31, 2013, 5.0 mi (8 km) deep
  8. 8M3.2
    11 km NE of Peterstown, West VirginiaSeptember 13, 2017, 11 mi (18 km) deep
  9. 9M3.1
    9 km W of Alderson, West VirginiaDecember 4, 2001, 5.3 mi (9 km) deep
  10. 10M3.0
    3 km NE of Ranson, West VirginiaJanuary 17, 2016, 2.9 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

West Virginia earthquake questions

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. West 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. Charleston: 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