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Portugal
Magnitude 8.7
The near-total destruction of Lisbon and the deaths of a quarter of the city's population were caused by an earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fire, that was felt in north Africa, France and northern Italy. In the age of enlightenment, the cultural impact of the quake spread even further afield as the horrors of Lisbon provided inspiration for sensationalist artworks and philosophical tracts. -
Peru
Magnitude 9
Near Arica, then part of Peru, now part of Chile. The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. The earthquake caused the almost complete destruction of Arica, Tacna, Moquegua, Mollendo, Ilo, Iquique, Torata and Arequipa, giving rise to an estimated 25,000 casualties. -
India
Magnitude 8.1
The earthquake caused great destruction to many towns in Assam and Meghalaya. 1500 people were killed and hundreds more hurt. Landslides were reported all across the Garo Hills. The towns of Dhubri, Goalpara, Guwahati and Kuch Bihar in Assam and West Bengal was heavily damaged. Earthquake fountains, some 4 feet high, were reported from Dhubri. -
Ecuador
Magnitude 8.8
Triggered a destructive tsunami that caused at least 500 casualties on the coast of Colombia. The greatest damage from the tsunami occurred on the coast between Río Verde, Ecuador and Micay, Colombia. Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the tsunami vary between 500 and 1,500. -
Assam-Tibet
Magnitude 8.6Seventy villages simply disappeared in the string of disasters generated by an earthquake with an epicentre in Tibetan Rima but which wrought most destruction in India's Assam state. Across the region, landslides claimed the lives of 1,526 people and rendered parts of the landscape unrecognisable from the air. The quake was followed by severe flooding, and eight days after the first tremors a natural dam on the Subansiri river burst, releasing a seven-metre wall of water. -
Chile
Mgnitude 9.5
Is to date the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Earth's history. Sources reported that 2,231, 3,000, or 5,700 were killed and another source uses an estimate of 6000 dead. It occurred in the afternoon and its resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. -
Alaska
Magnitude 9.2
The Gulf of Alaska was devastated by the Prince William Sound earthquake 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. The massive water displacement was felt as far away as the Louisiana Gulf coast and registered on tidal gauges in Puerto Rico. -
Alaska
Magnitude 8.7
The worst of the damage attributed to this earthquake was caused by a tsunami, reported to be about 10 m high on Shemya Island. The wave caused flooding on Amchitka Island, causing US$10,000 in property damage. No deaths or injuries were reported. -
Mexico
Magnitude 8
Caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the Greater Mexico City Area.The complete seismic event consisted of four quakes. The earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán, a distance of more than 350 km from the city, in the Cocos Plate subduction zone, specifically in a section of the fault line known as the Michoacán seismic gap[2] at coordinates 18.190 N 102.533 W.[3] The Cocos Plate pushes against and slides. -
California
Magnitude 6.7
Lasted about 10-20 seconds. The death toll came to a total of 57 people, and there were over 8,700 injured. In addition, the earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. The exact epicenter of the earthquake was near the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Strathern Street. It took several days to pinpoint the epicenter in detail. -
Afghanistan
Magnitude 6.1
It lasted approximately 8 minutes and 7 seconds. Aftershocks continued for the next seven days. The earthquake was also felt at Tashkent and Dushanbe. The epicenter of the earthquake was located at Rostaq in the Takhar Province near Afghan-Tajikistan border. They removed more than 3,500 bodies, 3,230 people died in the earthquake médecins Sans Frontières later put the death toll at 4,000. -
Turkey
Magnitude 7.6
The event lasted for 37 seconds,[1] killing around 17,000 people[4] and leaving approximately half a million people homeless. The earthquake was heavily felt in this industrialized and densely populated urban area of the country, including oil refineries, several automotive plants, and the Turkish navy headquarters and arsenal in Gölcük, increasing the severity of the loss of life and property. The earthquake also caused considerable damage in Istanbul, about 70 kilometres. -
Indonesia
Magnitude 9.1
It was an undersea megathrust earthquake with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high.It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. -
Pakistan
Magnitude 7.6
Kashmir, the site of a prolonged and violent border dispute between India and Pakistan, is beleaguered enough; a massive earthquake on Oct. 8, 2005 only added to the province's woes. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, the quake killed 79,000 and left millions more homeless. The remote, mountainous terrain compounded problems for rescue and recovery efforts, as crews struggled to reach the injured. -
Indonesia
Magnitud 8.4
It was 105 kilometres southwest of Sumatra island at a depth of 30 kilometres. This triggered a, relatively small, 10 foot-high tsunami which slammed into at least one fishing village, Padang, on Sumatra. Around a dozen houses were swept to sea. Latest reports advise 10 people were killed in the initial earthquake and 49 injured. -
China
Magnitude 7.9
Over 87,00 people died in China's deadly 2008 earthquake, and an estimated 10 million were left homeless. The 7.9-magnitude disaster struck the mountainous Sichuan Province in western China, destroying millions of buildings and causing an estimated $86 billion worth of damage. Nearly 10,000 children died in schools. -
Italy
Magnitude 6.3
The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy; 297 people are known to have died,[4] making this the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.There have been several thousand foreshocks and aftershocks since December 2008. -
Haiti
Magnitude 7
More than 200,000 people were killed, and another 1.5 million were left homeless. The tremor struck 15km (10 miles) southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, and was the most powerful to hit the impoverished country in more than 200 years. It was quickly followed by a series of strong aftershocks of up to 5.9 magnitude. -
Chile
Magnitude 8.8
The region around Concepción has been recorded as a centre for seismic shocks since the 16th century, but few have been as devastating as the early morning quake that generated a Pacific-wide tsunami and cost the lives of 521 people. With a further 12,000 injured and more than 800,000 left homeless, Chile was left reeling at the scale of a disaster that would cost the nation $30bn by the end of 2010. -
Japan
Magnitude 9.0
In terms of damage and loss of life, the scale of the disaster caused by the resulting Boxing Day Tsunami was enormous. In total, 227,900 people were killed or presumed dead, with around 1.7 million displaced over 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa. The epicentre was 250 km south-east of Band Aceh, Indonesia, at a depth of 30 km. Several days later on 28 December, a mud volcano began erupting near Baratang, Andamar Islands.
