.svg)    Approximate epicenters of the earthquakes in 1981
| |||
| Strongest magnitude |  Western Samoa, (Magnitude 7.7) September 1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadliest |  Iran 2 events each caused 3,000 deaths. | ||
| Total fatalities | 6,762 | ||
| Number by magnitude | |||
| 9.0+ | 0 | ||
| 8.0–8.9 | 0 | ||
| 7.0–7.9 | 10 | ||
| 6.0–6.9 | 76 | ||
| 5.0–5.9 | 1,176 | ||
| 4.0–4.9 | 3,160 | ||
← 1980 1982 → | |||
This is a list of earthquakes in 1981. Earthquakes of less than magnitude 6 are not included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. Events in remote areas will not be listed but included in statistics and maps. Countries are entered on the lists in order of their status in this particular year. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensities are indicated on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale and are sourced from United States Geological Survey (USGS) ShakeMap data. 1981 was another year of below average activity. The number of magnitude 7.0+ events was higher than in 1980, but at 10 was still below normal. The largest event was a magnitude 7.7 which struck Samoa in September. Other areas impacted by large events were Greece, New Zealand, Mexico, and Chile. Out of the 6,700 deaths in 1981, the majority were in Iran. Over the summer there were two large events there, each causing 3,000 deaths. In January, Indonesia and China were struck by events which left a combined 450 deaths.