WThis is a list of earthquakes in 1969. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury or damage. Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from the list as they wouldn't have generated significant media interest. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities are indicated on the Mercalli intensity scale and are sourced from United States Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeMap data. Activity generally was slightly below average with 14 events reaching magnitude 7 or greater. The largest event was off the coast of Portugal in February and measured 7.8. Other parts experiencing large events were Indonesia and Russia. The Americas had no events above magnitude 7 which is an uncommon occurrence. Of the 4,000 deaths from earthquakes two events dominated. Southeastern China had an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 in July which contributed 3,000 of the total. Indonesia had the bulk of the rest of the death toll.
WThe 1969 Sharm El Sheikh earthquake occurred on March 31 off the southern Sinai peninsula in northeastern Egypt. The epicenter was located near Shadwan island, southwest of the city of Sharm El Sheikh, at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez. This normal-slip shock measured 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale, had a maximum reported intensity of VII on the Mercalli intensity scale, and was responsible for several deaths and injuries.
WThe 1969 Tulbagh earthquake occurred at 20:03:33 UTC on 29 September. It had a magnitude of 6.3 Mw and a maximum felt intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. It caused widespread damage in the towns of Ceres, Tulbagh and Wolseley and led to 12 deaths. The earthquake was a result of strike-slip faulting along a NW-SE trending near vertical fault plane, as shown by the focal mechanism and the distribution of aftershocks.
WThe 1969 Bohai earthquake occurred on July 18, 1969, at 13:24 local time. The epicenter was located in the Bohai Sea, off the coast of Shandong Province, China. The magnitude of this earthquake is Ms 7.4. Areas of maximal intensity were mainly distributed around the estuary of the Yellow River. Ground cracks and sand boils were reported. The earthquake could be felt in Liaoning, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shandong, and Jiangsu. Ten people were reported dead. This earthquake caused ground surface subsidences of about 15.1 cm ~ 15.8 cm in the Yellow River Delta region. The mechanism of this earthquake was of dextral strike-slip faulting. Although it was located near the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone (郯庐断裂带), some researchers think that this earthquake was dominated by the seaward extending part of the Huanghekou-Liaocheng seismotectonic zone (黄河口-聊城地震构造带).
WThe 1969 Portugal earthquake struck western Portugal and Morocco on February 28 at 02:40 UTC. Originating west of the Strait of Gibraltar, the earthquake registered a magnitude of 7.8 and the maximum felt intensity was VII on the Mercalli intensity scale. In total, thirteen people died. Far more people sustained minor injuries.
WAt 04:56 and 06:19 UTC on October 2, 1969, a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 5.6 and 5.7, respectively, struck the city of Santa Rosa, California, killing one person and damaging buildings. The maximum felt intensity for the two events was VII and VIII (Severe) respectively on the Mercalli intensity scale. The $8.35 million cost of the earthquakes went mostly to replace buildings damaged beyond repair. There were at least 200 aftershocks after the initial pair of earthquakes. At the time they were the largest earthquakes to affect the northern San Francisco Bay Area since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
WThe 1969 Yangjiang earthquake occurred on 26 July, at 6:49 am, Beijing local time. It had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Moment magnitude scale and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It struck the city of Yangjiang and caused over 10,700 houses to collapse, severely damaging a further 36,000. The earthquake also caused landslides and sandblows were observed along the coast and along some rivers in the area of Yangjiang. The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong. There were an unconfirmed total of 3,000 deaths.