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Lisbon Earthquake (Portugal)
Magnitude: ~9.0
Death Toll: 20,000 people
Interesting Facts:
- tsunami crossed Atlantic Ocean and amplified to heights of ~23ft
- struck on All Saints Day
- worshippers packed churches that weren't structured well enough to handle earthquakes
- churches collapsed on worshippers
- caused people to lose faith/ religious beliefs -
Krakatoa Eruption (Java/Sumatra)
Magnitude/ VEI: 7
Death Toll: 165 villages destroyed, 36,000 people
Interesting Facts:
- violent eplosion of Krakatoa volcano in the Sandra Strait between Java and Sumatra caused the top of the volcano to collapse into the ocean
- global temperature were an average of 5 degrees cooler
- only eruption in history to rate a VEI of 7 -
Aleutian earthquake (Alaska)
Magnitude: 8.1
Death Toll: 160 people
Interesting Facts:
- produced a tsunami in the Hawaii Islands
- over $26 million in damages
- obliterated all 5 lighthouses and keepers inside -
Great Chilean Earthquake (Chile)
Magnitude: 9.5
Death Toll: 61 people
Interesting Facts:
- tsunami traveled for 15 hours across the Pacific Ocean
- two days later, the Cordón Caulle volcano erupted after nearly 40 years of inactivity -
Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)
Magnitude: 9.2
Death Toll: 130 people
Interesting Facts:
- ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis obliterated the coast
- earthquake force was even able to wobble Seattle's Space Needle some 1,200 miles away -
Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)
Magnitude: 7.8
Death Toll: 120 people
Interesting Facts:
- Hokkaido Electric Power Company, coal-fired power plant in Atsuma, was heavily damages by fires that broke out during the earthquake
- waves ranged from 5-10 meters in height -
Papua New Guinea Quake (Papua New Guinea)
Magnitude: 7.1
Death Toll: 2,100 people
Interesting Facts:
- earthquake triggered a large undersea landslide that led to the formation of a major tsunami
- maximum height of tsunami was estimated to be about 15 meters or 49ft high -
Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)
Magnitude: 9.1
Death Toll: 230,000 people
Interesting Facts:
- epicenter was Sumatra
- tsunami arrived 15-30 minutes after earthquake struck -
Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)
Magnitude: 8.1
Death Toll: 200 people
Interesting Facts:
- waves reached 46 feet
- countries hit/ affected by tsunami were American Samoa, Samoa, and Tonga -
Chile Earthquake (Chile)
Magnitude: 8.8
Death Toll: 700 people
Interesting Facts:
- considered to be the most powerful earthquake ever recorded
- reached the coasts of California, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Japan -
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)
Magnitude: 9.1
Death Toll: 20,000 people
Interesting Facts:
- 39 meter high tsunami
- caused a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant -
Sulawesi Earthquake (Indonesia)
Magnitude: 5.0
Death Toll: 832 people
Interesting Facts:
- vibrations from the earthquake caused soil liquefaction that destroyed hundreds of homes
- 10 foot high tsunami
