When was the last major earthquake in california?

A predawn earthquake near Tehachapi, California, on July 21, 1952, killed 12 people and injured dozens more. The largest temblor in the lower 48 United States since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, this quake caused property damage estimated at $60 million and claimed 12 lives. read more

This offshore quake caused by the Mendocino fault off the coast of northern California was felt from Eugene, Oregon, to San Francisco. In 1992, a series of earthquakes greater than magnitude 6.5 struck over an 18-hour period in the same region. read more

The few damaging earthquakes that occurred in the American Midwest and the East Coast were well known (1755 Cape Ann, 1811–12 New Madrid, 1886 Charleston), and it became apparent to settlers that the earthquake hazard situation was much different in the West. read more

This was a major earthquake which caused severe damage as far as 70 miles away; most notably in San Francisco, Oakland, the San Francisco Peninsula, and in areas closer to the epicenter in the communities of Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay, Watsonville, and Los Gatos. read more