On 29 July 2025, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck near the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. It was the largest earthquake of the year by a wide margin; the next largest was magnitude 7.8. Yet in the U.S. Geological Survey's own catalogue it ranks only 4th for significance, and just 125 people reported feeling it through USGS's online system.
That is not a contradiction. USGS measures earthquakes in several ways, and each answers a different question.
| Ranking (2025) | Top earthquake | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Largest magnitude | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, 29 July | M8.8 |
| Highest significance score | Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), 28 March (M7.7) | 2,910 |
| Most felt reports | Near Greenback, Tennessee, 10 May (M4.1) | 45,935 |
Magnitude: the size of the earthquake
Magnitude describes how big an earthquake is at its source. USGS explains that it is logarithmic: at the same distance, a magnitude 5 earthquake produces seismic waves about 10 times larger in amplitude than a magnitude 4. By that measure 2025 was dominated by Kamchatka, which produced 4 of the year's 16 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or more, including a magnitude 7.8 in September.
Sixteen magnitude 7+ earthquakes is slightly above the recent average. Counting USGS's catalogue from 2000, there have been 387 such earthquakes in 26 years, an average of 14.9 a year, ranging from 7 in 2017 to 24 in 2010. And because the catalogue lists aftershocks separately, one active region can raise a month's count: July had 28 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more, 10 of them in the Kamchatka region.
Significance: size plus impact
USGS also gives every event a significance score. Its documentation says the number is based on factors including magnitude, maximum intensity, felt reports and estimated impact. By that measure the top earthquake of 2025 was the magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) on 28 March, followed by the magnitude 7.1 Southern Tibetan Plateau earthquake on 7 January. Both received a red alert from USGS's PAGER system, which estimates fatalities and economic losses after significant earthquakes. PAGER's FAQ says red alerts have historically occurred only one or two times a year; 7 earthquakes of 2025 carried one.
The clearest example of the difference is Afghanistan. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake there on 31 August scored 2,149, higher than the magnitude 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake's 2,114. A second Afghan earthquake, of magnitude 5.6, followed on 4 September and scored 2,066.
Felt reports: how many people told USGS
The third ranking comes from "Did You Feel It?", which USGS says collects information from people who felt an earthquake to map what they experienced. Here the leader was a modest magnitude 4.1 earthquake near Greenback, Tennessee, on 10 May, with 45,935 reports. It was followed by a magnitude 5.2 near Julian, CA (42,638) and a magnitude 3.8 near York Harbor, Maine (42,440).
14 of the 15 most-reported earthquakes were in the United States. The number of reports shows how many people chose to tell USGS about an earthquake, which makes it a measure of public response rather than of strength or damage.
What these rankings leave out
Casualties and damage. None of these figures is a death toll or a damage estimate. The significance score and PAGER alerts reflect estimated impact, but the catalogue does not publish counts of losses.
History. A magnitude 8.8 is very large, but it is not a record; see the largest earthquakes in recorded history.
Revisions. Magnitudes, scores and report counts can change as USGS updates its catalogue. The figures here were retrieved in September 2026.
Primary sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat) search and event terms documentation
- USGS, PAGER and PAGER FAQ
- USGS, Did You Feel It?