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Earthquakes Near Me / Wisconsin

Wisconsin Earthquakes: Recent Quakes and the Largest on Record

Wisconsin recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025, and the largest in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M3.8 of May 6, 1947, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Live from the USGS

Earthquakes near Milwaukee in the last 30 days

Every quake within 155 miles of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’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 Milwaukee.

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.

Wisconsin by the numbers

USGS catalog, read October 10, 2026
2
Quakes of M2.5+, 2016 to 2025
in ten years of the USGS catalog
42nd
Rank of 50 states
by quakes of M2.5+ a year
M3.8
Largest since 1900
May 6, 1947
0
M3+ in 2026
through October 10, 2026

Wisconsin recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more from 2016 to 2025, which ranks it 42nd of the fifty states.

Since 1990

Wisconsin earthquakes by year

The USGS catalog lists no earthquake of magnitude 3 or more in Wisconsin from 1990 to 2025. It lists 2 of magnitude 2.5 and up from 2016 to 2025.

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Since 1900

The 9 largest earthquakes in Wisconsin

The largest earthquake in Wisconsin in the USGS catalog since 1900 is the M3.8 of May 6, 1947, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

  1. 1M3.8
    Near Milwaukee, WisconsinMay 6, 1947
  2. 2M3.4
    Near Marinette, WisconsinMarch 14, 1905
  3. 3M2.9
    38 km ESE of Sturgeon Bay, WisconsinAugust 2, 2024, 7.1 mi (12 km) deep
  4. 4M2.5
    3 km NE of Mole Lake, WisconsinJanuary 7, 2024, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep
  5. 5M1.5
    1 km NE of Clintonville, WisconsinMarch 20, 2012, 3.2 mi (5 km) deep
  6. 6M1.5
    10 km W of Big Falls, WisconsinJuly 15, 2018, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep
  7. 7M1.5
    10 km NNW of Iola, WisconsinSeptember 11, 2018, 3.4 mi (6 km) deep
  8. 8M1.3
    11 km W of Big Falls, WisconsinJuly 7, 2018, 3.1 mi (5 km) deep
  9. 9M1.3
    8 km NNW of Iola, WisconsinAugust 10, 2018, 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

Wisconsin earthquake questions

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Other states

Earthquakes in every state

Earthquakes near any ZIP code

More for Wisconsin

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Sources. The live list: the USGS FDSN event service. Wisconsin’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. Milwaukee: 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