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Lisbon Earthquake, Portugal
The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.0, and the death toll was 20,000 people. Because it occurred on All Saint's Day, people were trapped inside burning and crumbling churches. When the tsunami drained the estuary for Rio Tejo before it hit, shipwrecks filled with treasure were revealed and people rushed to them. -
Krakatoa Eruption, Java/Sumatra
This was a violent explosion that caused the top of the volcano to collapse into the ocean. The death toll was 36,000 people. The eruption affected the climate and caused temperatures to drop all over the world. This explosion was 172 decibels, 52 more than when hearing loss occurs. -
Aleutian Earthquake, Alaska
The earthquake hit at a 8.1 M, with a death toll of 160 people. The tsunami produced a wave that hit locally, and others that hit from California to South America. This specific earthquake triggered an underwater landslide, which then triggered the tsunamis. -
Great Chilean Earthquake, Chile
This earthquake's magnitude was 9.5. That's the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century. The death toll was 61 people. The earthquake in Chile traveled 15 hours to produce an earthquake in Hawaii. -
Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)
It was an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2, with a death toll of 130 people. This earthquake lasted for 4.5 minutes. It was the most powerful recorded earthquake in US history. -
Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)
This earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8. The death toll was 120 people. A total of 558 houses were destroyed. The waves of the tsunami ranged from 5 to 10 meters in height. -
Papua New Guinea Quake (Papua New Guinea)
This earthquake had a 7.1 M and a death toll of 2,100 people. The earthquake triggered a submarine landslide, which produced the tsunami. Three successive waves destroyed almost everything in their paths. -
Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)
The earthquake's magnitude was 9.1, and the death toll was astronomical at 230,000 people. At every spot on the earth, the ground was raised and lowered at least a full centimeter by the seismic waves from Sumatra. This earthquake released an energy amount approximately equivalent to 550 million times the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. -
Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)
This earthquake's magnitude was 8.1, and 200 people died. This caused damage more than 500 meters inland. There were fewer casualties with this tsunami, because people were aware of the threat, and were able to get to high ground in time. -
Chile Earthquake (Chile)
The earthquake in Chile had an 8.8 M, and the death toll was 700 people. This shifted the Earth's axis sufficiently enough to shorten the day by more than a microsecond. It also triggered small earthquakes in Antarctica. -
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)
This earthquake's magnitude was 9.1, and the death toll was 20,000. Debris continues to wash up on North American shores from this tsunami. The tsunami also caused a level-7 nuclear meltdown. -
Sulawesi Earthquake (Indonesia)
The magnitude of this earthquake was a 7.5. The death toll was at least 830 people. The earthquake's impact was magnified because of the thick layers of sediment that the city of Palu sat on. It also triggered mudflows that followed.
