List of earthquakes in 1988

Earthquakes in 1988
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest magnitude	7.8 Mw  United States, Gulf of Alaska
Deadliest	6.8 Mw  Soviet Union, 1988 Armenian earthquake 25,000 dead
Total fatalities	26,759
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
	← 1987 1989 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1988. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury, or damage. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities are indicated on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale and are sourced from United States Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeMap or the National Geophysical Data Center. Earthquake activity in 1988 was relatively low, with only 11 major events and none of magnitude 8.0+ occurring. Nevertheless, extremely destructive events took place in Burma, Nepal, China and Armenia. Burma saw two deadly earthquakes just a few months apart with the latter (on the Chinese border) claiming the lives of nearly a thousand. The Armenia earthquake in December was the deadliest earthquake in this year, with more than 25,000 deaths recorded. Early this year, Australia was also struck by an unusual series of strong earthquakes.

Quick facts Strongest magnitude, Deadliest ...

Rank	Death toll	Magnitude	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
1	25,000 – 50,000	6.8	Soviet Union, Soviet Armenia	X (Extreme)	5.4	December 7
2	938	7.7	China, Burma, Myanmar–China border region	X (Extreme)	17.8	November 6
3	709	6.9	Nepal, Province No. 1	VIII (Severe)	57.4	August 20
4	74	4.3 (explosion)	Papua New Guinea	- ( )	−	September 9
5	33	7.3	Myanmar, Sagaing Region	VI (Strong)	90.5	August 6

Rank	Magnitude	Death toll	Location	MMI	Depth (km)	Date
= 1	7.8	0	United States, Gulf of Alaska	V (Moderate)	10.0	March 6
= 2	7.7	938	China, Burma, Myanmar–China border region	X (Extreme)	17.8	November 6
= 3	7.6	0	Solomon Islands, offshore	VII (Very strong)	34.0	August 10
= 4	7.3	33	Burma, Sagaing Region	VI (Strong)	90.5	August 6
= 4	7.3	0	Philippines, offshore Catanduanes	VII (Very strong)	24.9	February 2
= 5	7.2	0	Chile, Antofagasta	VII (Very strong)	36.9	February 5
= 6	7.1	0	Tonga offshore	- ( )	35.2	October 8
= 6	7.1	0	Peru offshore	- ( )	33.1	April 12
= 7	7.0	0	Indonesia, Maluku Islands	VI (Strong)	27.7	July 25
= 7	7.0	0	Papua New Guinea, New Britain region	- ( )	16.6	July 23
= 7	7.0	0	Chile, Antofagasta	VII (Very strong)	33.0	January 19

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured

2^[1]	Japan, Hokkaido	6.0	117.1	IV		-	-
3^[2]	China, Nei Mongol-Ningxia border region	5.2	14.3	VI	16 livestock killed and more than 10,000 homes collapsed.	-	60
9^[3]^[4]	Albania	5.9	24.0	VII	Damage to properties reported in Tirana and the surrounding villages.	-	-
12^[5]	New Zealand, Kermadec Islands	6.6	14.8	-		-	-
15^[6]	Tonga	6.4	213.7	-		-	-
19^[7]	Chile, Antofagasta	7.0	33.0	V		-	-
21^[8]	Vanuatu	6.2	44.2	-		-	-
22^[9]	Australia, Northern Territory	6.3	5.0	VII	The first in a series of triplet earthquakes known as the 1988 Tennant Creek earthquakes.	-	-
22^[10]	Australia, Northern Territory	6.3	5.0	VIII	Second Tennant Creek earthquake mainshock.	-	-
22^[11]^[12]	Australia, Northern Territory	6.7	5.0	IX	The largest earthquake ever recorded in what is now Australia and the largest of the Tennant Creek earthquake sequence. Damaged pipelines were reported and a hospital was damaged. Total damage amounted to $2.5 million.^[13]
29^[14]	Tonga	6.0	106.2	-		-	-

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured

5^[15]	Chile, Antofagasta	7.2	36.9	VII	Second mainshock, caused some damages in Taltal.^[16] A tsunami of 10 cm was reported.^[17]	-	-
5^[18]	Chile, near the coast of Antofagasta	6.5	30.7	VI	Aftershock of the 7.2 earthquake nearly five hours later.	-	-
6^[19]^[20]	Bangladesh, India-Bangladesh border region	5.9	33.0	VI	Damage reported in Sylhel. Felt throughout the country, and in Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya, India.	2	100
6^[21]	Indonesia, Kepulauan Tanimbar	6.2	38.5	-		-	-
6^[22]	Bolivia, Oruro	6.5	285.2	-		-	-
6^[23]	Tonga	6.2	125.5	-		-	-
7^[24]	United States, 75 km WNW of Ninilchik, Alaska	6.4	134.0	V		-	-
7^[25]	United States, south of the Aleutian Islands	6.4	33.0	-		-	-
13^[26]	Soviet Union, Kazakhstan	6.1	-	-	Nuclear explosion	-	-
16^[27]	United States, Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska	6.0	33.0	-		-	-
20^[28]	Indonesia, Kepulauan Barat Daya	6.5	314.5	IV		-	-
22^[29]	Chile, Tarapaca	6.7	70.3	VII		-	-
24^[30]	Philippines, Catanduanes	7.3	24.9	VII		-	-
26^[31]	Southwest Indian Ridge	6.8	10.0	-		-	-
29^[32]	Soviet Union, Komandorskiye Ostrova	6.9	33.0	-		-	-

Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Casualties
Date	Country and location	M_w	Depth (km)	MMI	Notes	Dead	Injured

6^[33]	United States, Gulf of Alaska	7.8	10.0	V	It is the largest earthquake of the year. Damage to the vessels Exxon North Slope, Exxon Boston and Exxon New Orleans amounted to some US$5,000. A tsunami of 38 cm was recorded.	-	-
6^[34]	United States, Gulf of Alaska	6.2	10.0	-	Aftershock	-	-
10^[35]	Trinidad and Tobago offshore	6.7	56.2	VI		-	-
10^[36]	Fiji	6.6	623.0	-		-	-
11^[37]	Costa Rica, Panama-Costa Rica border region	6.0	22.5	VI		-	-
18^[38]	Bismarck Sea	6.2	33.0	-		-	-
21^[39]	Laptev Sea	6.5	10.0	-		-	-
23^[40]	northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge	6.2	10.0	-		-	-
25^[41]	Canada, Northwest Territories	6.2	10.0	-		-	-
30^[42]	Iran	5.9	32.9	VI	Some damage reported	-	-

List of earthquakes in 1988

Overall

By death toll

By magnitude

Notable events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

References

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