Location: Sumatra, Indonesia

This earthquake hit the sea bed of

the Indian Ocean on December
26, 2004 with a magnitude of 9.1
to 9.3 or over 32-Gigatons, and
caused the Boxing Day Tsunami.
The aeffects even reached
Maldives and Thailand, with more
than 5 tsunamis hitting the
coastlines of the Indian Sea. It had
a death toll of 100,100 to 225,000
with over $7 billion worth of rescue
and damage costs during the first
8.3 to 10 minutes alone.




Location: Valdivia, Chile
When it comes to the earthquake’s
magnitude, the May 22, 1960
Valdivia earthquake is the
strongest at 9.5, comparable to
1,000 atomic bombs going off at
the same time. The earthquake
was not only felt in Valdivia but
also reached Hawaii, at a distance
of 435 miles. While only 6,000
people died in the catastrophe, it
incurred more than $1 billion worth
of damages.

Location: Aleppo, Syria
This disaster happened near the
town of Aleppo in Syria on October
11, 1138. The earthquake, which
had a magnitude of 8.5, was
labeled as the fourth worst
earthquake disaster in the world.
Catastrophes included a nearby
church that fell on itself causing
the death of 600 guards and
citizens, and total death toll of
230,000. A number of towns near
the tremor were completely
destroyed.


 Location: Ningxia, China
Also called ‘the 1920 Gansu
Earthquake,’ this disaster
happened in Haiyuan County,
Ningxia. It brought catastrophic
effects that were felt for over
125 miles and aftershocks that
lasted over 3 years. The
December 16, 1920 quake has
conflicting magnitudes of 7.8
and death totaling to more than
of 200,000.

Location: Kathmandu
Pokhara, Nepal
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake
struck Nepal in an area between
the capital, Kathmandu, and the
city of Pokhara on Saturday April
25, 2015 with what has been
described as a force equaling that
of 20 thermonuclear weapons. The
devastation claimed the lives of at
least 5,000 people while injuring
10,000 more with authorities
warning that casualty numbers
could rise.




Location: Nankaido, Japan
This 8.6 magnitude earthquake
that occurred on September 20,
1498, off the coast of Nankia,
Japan triggered a large tsunami,
which cost the lives of between
26,000 and 31,000 people. It
caused severe shaking that
reached the Boso Peninsula
and also caused a tsunami in
the Suruga Bay, which
destroyed the building that
housed the statue of the Great
Buddha at Kotuku-in.

 Location: Izmit, Turkey
This was a 7.9-magnitude
earthquake that struck northern
Turkey on August 17, 1990, which
lasted for only 3.7 seconds. The
city of Izmit was very badly
damaged and had a death toll of
17,127 and 43, 959 injured.
Another report from September
1999 showed that the earthquake
had destroyed 120,000 poorly-
engineered houses and made
more than 300,000 people
homeless.


Location: Rudbar, Iran
This disastrous event happened
on June 21, 1990 and caused
widespread damage within 100
kilometers of the epicenter’s radius
near the city of Rashi, and about
200 kilometer northwest of Tehran.
It destroyed 700 villages across
the cities of Rudbar, Manjiil, and
Lushan and cost $200,000,000 in
damages, including 40,000
deaths, 60,000 injured and
500,000 people homeless.

Location: Tohoku, Japan
On March 11, 2011, the east coast
of Tohoku in Japan was struck by a
9.03 magnitude earthquake, which
was the strongest to ever hit Japan.
Considered one of the top five
largest earthquakes in the world, it
caused destruction that caused
15,878 deaths, left 6,126 injured
and 2,173 people missing across 20
prefectures. It also caused the
collapsed of 129,225 buildings,
while the tsunami brought about by
the quake also caused severe
structural damages.

 Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
The Haiti earthquake was a
magnitude 7.0 on the Richter
scale, with an epicenter near
Leogane, 25 km west of its capital,
Port-au-Prince. It struck on
January 12, 2010 where at least
52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or
greater could still be felt even 12
days later. The earthquake left a
devastating wake of 316,000
deaths, 300,000 injured and
1,000,000 people homeless.




Location: Kanto, Japan
The Great Kanto earthquake was
a magnitude 7.9 disaster that hit
the Kanto plain, a main island of
Honshu in Japan on September 1,
1923. This was once considered
the deadliest earthquake in the
history of Japan as it caused ‘the
Great Tokyo Fire’. The fire alone
claimed the lives of 140,000
people and destroyed 447,000
houses. This does not include
those who died from landslides,
tsunamis, and 57 aftershocks.




Location: Messina, Italy
This was a 7.1-magnitude earthquake
and tsunami that claimed the lives of
some 100,000 to 200,000 lives in
Messina and Reggio in Sicily and
Calabria in southern Italy. The
earthquake, which took place on
December 28, 1908, caused the
ground to shake for 30 to 40 seconds
and was felt in a 186-mile radius. A
12-meter tsunami also hit the nearby
coasts causing more destruction
including the death of 70,000
residents with 91% of the structures
in Messina destroyed.


 Location: Sichuan, China
The Great Sichuan Earthquake
occurred on May 8, 2008 with a
magnitude that measured 8.0 and
7.9. It was so great that it was felt in
nearby countries and as far away as
Beijing and Shanghai where
buildings swayed with tremors.
Official figures for the damages
include 69,197 deaths with 68,636
in Sichuan province, 374,176 injured
and 18,222 missing. This was
considered as the deadliest
earthquake to hit China after the
1976 Tangshan earthquake.



Location: Kashmir, Pakistan
The October 8, 2005 Kashmir,
Pakistan was visited by an
earthquake with a moment
magnitude of 7.6.The disaster had
a death toll of 85,000 and more
than 69,000 were injured.
Considered to be smaller in size
than the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake, it affected countries in
surrounding regions with 14,000
deaths in Jammu and tremors felt
in Taijikistan and western China. It
also cost a staggering $5.4 billion
in aids from all around the world.


Location: Shemakha,
Azerbaijan
This was a 6.9 magnitude
earthquake that occurred in
November 1667 with its
epicenter close to the city of
Samaxi, Azerbaijan. It had a
maximum felt intensity of ten
and caused the death of
80,000 people. It had a focal
depth of 12 kilometers with an
estimated damage of over
$25 million.

 Location: Tabriz, Iran
This took place near the city of
Tabriz, Iran on April 26, 1721, and
destroyed prominent mosques and
schools resulting in the death of
80,000 people. Interpreted as an
omen of misfortune or a
demonstration of divine wrath, it
contributed to the success of the
Ottoman take-over of Tabriz in
1722 and on its economic
difficulties, as well as the
destruction of the city’s significant
historical monuments.




Location: Yungay, Peru
This Great Peruvian Earthquake
was an undersea earthquake. It
occurred in May 31, 1970 ad was
recorded as the worst catastrophic
natural disaster that hit Peru,
which affected over 3 million
people. It has a magnitude of 7.9
to 8.0 which lasted for 45 seconds.
This caused the rock, ice, and
snow avalanche. The damages
incurred tallied to 74,194 deaths,
25,600 missing, 143,331 injured,
and more than a million homeless.

Location: Sicily, Italy

On January 11, 1693, a powerful
earthquake with a magnitude of
7.4 had struck the parts of Sicily,
Calabria, and Matta in southern
Italy. Considered the most
powerful in Italian history, it
destroyed at least 70 towns and
cities causing the death of 60,000
people. It was also followed by a
tsunami that hit the Ionian Sea and
the Straits of Messina, wiping out
two-thirds of the entire population
of Catania.

 Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Known as the ‘Great Lisbon
Earthquake,’ this event occurred
on November 1, 1755 in the
Kingdom of Portugal.
Seismologists today estimate the
Lisbon earthquake in the range of
8.5 to 9.0 on the moment
magnitude scale that has a deadly
combination of subsequent fires
and a tsunami. It totally destroyed
Lisbon and its surrounding areas
with an estimated death toll of
100,000 people.



Location: Xining, China
Xining, which lies on the
Huangshui River on the eastern
part of Quinghai Province,
experienced a magnitude 7.9
seismic activity on May 22, 1927. It
killed 40,900 people though there
were other reports that the death
toll could be as high as 200,000.
The earthquake was not only
deadly but it also brought large
fractures, damages to over 500
schools and office buildings
causing many people to lose their
occupations.



Location: Casiguran,
Philippines
Casiguran earthquake occurred on
August 2, 1968 with a 7.3 Richter
scale magnitude. More than 270
people died and 261 were injured.
The epicenter was located in
Casiguran, Quezon (now part of
Aurora province). This was the
most destructive earthquake in the
Philippines during the 20 years
before the 1990 Luzon
earthquake. In addition, the
earthquake generated a tsunami
that reached as far as Japan.


Location: Prince William Sound,
Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska was devastated
by the Prince William Sound
earthquake on March 27, 1964
that caused landslides in
Anchorage and raised parts of
outlying islands by as much as 11
metres. The resulting tsunami
reached heights of 67 metres as it
swept into the shallow Valdez inlet
and was responsible for most of
the 128 deaths and $311m worth
of damage.

Location: Ecudor and

Colombia
The Ecuador–Colombia
earthquake occurred on Jan 31,
1906 in Ecuador, Colombia.
This earthquake had magnitude
of 8.8 and triggered terrible
tsunami that caused over 1500
deaths. The tsunami it caused
was so huge with 16ft high that
it spread along the coast of
Central America even to San
Francisco and Japan.



Location: Central Chile
The Chile Earthquake happened
on Saturday Feb 27, 2010 in
central Chile. This earthquake has
a magnitude of 8.8 that lasted
about three minutes. It triggered a
devastating tsunami and
destroyed many cities.
Tsunami and earthquake caused
525 dead and 25 were missing.
Offshore Maule Earthquake, also
named as 2010 Chile Earthquake
costed the insurance company to
pay around $6 Billion.


Location: Rima, Tibet, China
In August 15, 1950, a massive 8.6
magnitude earthquake hit the
Assam – Tibet region, killing at
least 780 people, injuring
thousands, and destroying many
buildings. Cracks developed in the
ground and large landslides
occurred, and a village slid into a
river and was washed away. The
quake struck between the Indian
continental plate smashes and the
Eurasian plate and dives beneath
it. The slow-motion crash helped
create the massive Himalayas.



Location: Jiji, Taiwan
The Jiji earthquake, also known
locally as the 921 earthquake was
a 7.6 magnitude earthquake which
occurred in Jiji, Nantou County,
Taiwan on 21 September 1999.
2,415 people were killed, 11,305
injured, and NT$300 billion
(US$10 billion) worth of damage
was done. It was the second-
deadliest quake in recorded
history in Taiwan, after the 1935
Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake.

Location: Ercis and Van, Turkey
Erciş-Van earthquake of 2011,
also called Erciş earthquake or
Van earthquake, severe
earthquake that struck near the
cities of Erciş and Van in eastern
Turkey on October 23, 2011. More
than 570 people were killed, and
thousands of structures in Erciş,
Van, and other nearby towns were
destroyed. The earthquake was
felt as far away as Jordan and
southern Russia.

 Location: Kaikoura, New
Zealand
The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake
was a 7.8 magnitude
earthquake in the South Island
of New Zealand that occurred
two minutes after midnight on
14 November 2016. Though
only two people are reported to
have died during the quake, it
caused massive damage
throughout the country.