List of earthquakes in 1970

Earthquakes in 1970
4.0–5.9 magnitude; 6.0–6.9 magnitude;	7.0–7.9 magnitude; 8.0+ magnitude;
Strongest magnitude	Colombia, Amazonas Department (Magnitude 8.0) July 31
Deadliest	Peru, offshore northern Peru (Magnitude 7.9) May 31 66,794 deaths
Total fatalities	78,365
Number by magnitude
9.0+	0
	← 1969 1971 →

This is a list of earthquakes in 1970. 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. In terms of magnitude 7.0+ events this year produced 17 which is average for any year. The death toll however was much higher than preceding years. Three events in particular contributed to this. Firstly, in January, China suffered from an event which caused 10,000 deaths. Then at the end of March, Turkey had a magnitude 6.9 earthquake resulting in over 1,000 deaths. Finally, Peru had its worst disaster on May 31 when an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 helped to cause nearly 67,000 deaths.