Southeastern Brazil is subject to the low level of seismic activity typical of intra-plate regions. On large-magnitude earthquake (mb=6.3) and three more with mb magnitude above 5.0 have ocurred in this region during the last 200 years. Just over a dozen earthquake with mb magnitude between 4.0 and 5.0 are known. Instrumental data are available since the 1970's when the South American Array Station was installed in Brasilia. Several other short period vertical stations have now been installed within the region. The frequency/magnitude relation from mb>3.0 is given by Log'(N)=3.9 (±0.12)-1.06(±0.10) mb. The b value with the maximum likelihood method is 1.10(±0.33), in close agreement with the value presented above. Using the extreme value method, it is possible to determine other recurrence curves and to estimate the seismic risk in the region. Recurrence interals agree with observed values of magnitude mb≤5.0. For larger magnitude events, the catalog is too small to make valid comparisons. The recurrence intervals for mb magnitude 5.1, 5.5 and 6.3 events are 200, 600 and 4,000 years resptectively.La región sudeste de Brasil contiene algunas de las ciudades más importantes y los principales centros industriales del país. En los últimos 200 años se produjeron cuatro sismos mayores de mb 6.3. El parámetro b se calcula en 1.10 ± 0.33. Se calculan intervalos de recurrencia de varios siglos para sismos de magnitud superior a 5.Instituto Astronómico y Geofísico - Universidad de San Paulo, San Paulo, Brasil.