Major Earthquakes around the World, 2009 The following table lists the date, location, and magnitude of major earthquakes around the world during 2009. DateLocationMagnitude1 Jan. 3North Coast of Papua, Indonesia7.6 Jan. 15East of Kuril Islands7.4 Feb. 11Kepulauan Talud, Indonesia7.2 March 19Tonga Region7.6 April 6Central Italy6.3 May 18Greater Los Angeles area, California4.7 May 25North Korea4.7 May 28Offshore Honduras7.3 July 15New Zealand7.6 Aug. 3Gulf of California6.9 Aug. 9Izu Islands, Japan Region7.1 Aug. 10Andaman Islands, India Region7.6 Sept. 2Java, Indonesia7.0 Sept. 21Bhutan6.1 Sept. 29Samoa Islands Region8.0 Sept. 30Southern Sumatra, Indonesia7.6 Source:Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology: Earthquake Events 2009: IRIS NOTE: A major earthquake is defined here as having a magnitude of 6.0 or more. 1. Unless otherwise indicated, magnitudes listed are moment magnitudes, the newest, most uniformly applicable magnitude scale.