Earthquakes in Canada

Canada records earthquakes steadily rather than in isolated bursts, with 25 events in the past 30 days, and 6 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Canada sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the belt of subduction zones responsible for roughly 90% of the world's earthquakes.

464 earthquakes have been recorded in Canada in our catalogue, 25 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 1.9 and the average focal depth 5 km. 36 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 6 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Canada in this period was a magnitude 5.6 event near Port McNeill, Canada on 20 July 2026, at a depth of 10 km. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake radiates roughly 3,788 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Princeton (153), Abbotsford (47), Langford (19), Mission (17), Chilliwack (14).

100% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 0% intermediate (70–300 km) and 0% deep-focus (over 300 km). Almost everything here is crustal. That is characteristic of transform faulting or continental deformation rather than subduction — and it means shaking at the surface is strong for the magnitudes involved.

By band, the catalogue holds 1 in the magnitude -1 range, 54 in the magnitude 0 range, 226 in the magnitude 1 range, 126 in the magnitude 2 range, 21 in the magnitude 3 range, 30 in the magnitude 4 range.

The busiest single day was 01 April 2026, with 4 recorded events.

6 of these events carry a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information. That link flag does not mean a tsunami occurred or that a warning was issued.