Earthquakes; March-April, 1979

This was a moderately active period, seismically speaking. Three major earthquakes having magnitudes (M) ranging from 7.0 to 7.9 to only one major quake during the first 2 months of the year. Major earthquakes struck in Mexico, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia. The Yugoslavian earthquake caused considerable damage and loss of life.

In the United States, a number of earthquakes were experienced, the most damaging one in southern California on March 15. The aftershocks continued in southeastern Alaska but caused no additional damage.