1 Radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating is the most widely used method for dating Holocene and latest Pleistocene earthquakes. The half-life of radioactive 14C (5730 years) limits the application of radiocarbon dating to organic matter formed from carbon fixed within the last 50 000–60 000 years (Trumbore, 2000).

What is the upper limit for accurate radiocarbon dating?

about 50,000 years The practical upper limit is about 50,000 years, because so little C-14 remains after almost 9 half-lives that it may be hard to detect and obtain an accurate reading, regardless of the size of the sample.