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Lisbon Earthquake (Portugal)
The magnitude of the earthquake was an 8.5-9.0 with a death toll of 12,000 people. With this tragedy around a quarter of Lisbon's population died in the earthquake. In addition this earthquake caused damage as far away as Ireland. -
Krakatoa Eruption (Java/Sumatra)
The magnitude of this was that it had a VEI of 6 that killed 36,000 people. The eruption caused 120 ft high waves onto coastal villages. In addition this eruption destroyed 2/3rds of the island. -
Aleutian Earthquake (Alaska)
The magnitude of the earthquake was an 8.6 which killed 165 people. This disaster led to the establishment of the Pacific Tsunami warning center. Another fun fact is that the earthquake killed one person in California due to its magnitude. -
Great Chilean Earthquake (Chile)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 9.5 and had a death toll of 6,000 people. It was caused by a sudden breaking in the rocks on the Nazca plate. The earthquake lasted a total of 10 minutes -
Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)
The magnitude of the earthquake was a 9.25 with a death toll of 131 people. Only 9 people died directly from the earthquake. The earthquake lasted four whole minutes -
Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 with a death toll of 230 people. This caused $1.2 billion in damages. On top of the earthquake, it triggered a tsunami, strong shocks, fires, and mudslides. -
Papua New Guinea Earthquake (Papua New Guinea)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 and a death toll of about 2,200 people. There were 3 catastrophic tsunamis that followed after the earthquake. One of the tsunamis waves reached up to 49ft. -
Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 9.2-9.3 and a death toll of 230,000 people. The tsunami that hit traveled at a speed of 500mph. The total material losses from this tsunami were over $10 million. -
Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 8.0-8.1 and a death toll of 192 people. This tsunami was triggered by 2 earthquakes which were both within 2-3 minutes of each other and the earthquakes lasted 3 minutes. -
Chile Earthquake (Chile)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 8.8 with a death toll of about 521 people. There 56 people missing in the initial search after the event. In addition it caused more than 1,000 landslides. -
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 9.1 which killed 18,000 people. There were over 1,000 after shocks. In addition two more earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.0 occurred within 24 hours of the initial earthquake. -
Sulawesi Earthquake (Indonesia)
The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 and a death toll of 3,879 people. The tsunami reached heights up to 20 feet. Soil liquefication occurred in many areas making buildings sink or tilt.