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Lisbon Earthquake (Portugal)
Magnitude: 8.5-9.0
Death Toll: 70,000
Interesting Facts:
1. Occurred on All Saints Day when about 250,000 people were celebrating at churches.
2. The fires that sparked from the event lasted for 6 days. -
Krakatoa Eruption (Java/Sumatra)
Magnitude: 6 (VEI)
Death Toll: 36,417
Interesting Facts:
1. Eruption was heard in 50 different locations around the world.
2. The sound wave traveled around the globe 7 times. -
Aleutian Earthquake (Alaska)
Magnitude: 8.1
Death Toll: 165
Interesting Facts:
1. The earthquake generated a Pacific-wide tsunami.
2. Led to the establishment of the Seismic SeaWave Warning System two years after the event. -
Great Chilean Earthquake (Chile)
Magnitude: 9.5
Death Toll: 1,655
Interesting Facts:
1. The largest recorded earthquake in history.
2. It caused $675.5 million in damage around the world, and left 2 million people homeless. -
Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)
Magnitude: 8.4-8.6 (Richter Scale)
9.2 (Moment Magnitude)
Death Toll: 131
Interesting Facts:
1. Most powerful recorded earthquake in US history.
2. The tallest tsunami wave reached 219 feet high. -
Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)
Magnitude: 7.7
Death Toll: 185
Interesting Facts:
1. The tsunami accounted for 65% of the total deaths.
2. The tsunami waves struck the island of Okushiri and Hokkaido within 2-5 minutes after the earthquake. -
Papua New Guinea Earthquake (Papua New Guinea)
Magnitude: 7.0
Death Toll: 2,200
Interesting Facts:
1. The tsunami destroyed entire generations of villages.
2. The tsunami accounted for all 2,200 deaths, and left thousands injured and displaced. -
Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)
Magnitude: 9.1
Death Toll: 227,898
Interesting Facts:
1. It was deadliest tsunami in world history.
2. The earthquake released an energy that was equivalent to 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs exploding. -
Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)
Magnitude: 8.1
Death Toll: 192
Interesting Facts:
1. The tsunami waves reached as high as 72 feet.
2. There was a flaw in the warning systems to alert the residents to evacuate. -
Chile Earthquake (Chile)
Magnitude: 8.8
Death Toll: 500
Interesting Facts:
1. It caused more than $30 billion in damages.
2. Most of the damaged came from the tsunami, instead of the earthquake, because of the building codes that were in place following the 1960 Great Chilean Quake. -
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)
Magnitude: 9.1
Death Toll: 18,000
Interesting Facts:
1. The tsunami waves reached 132 feet high.
2. It left 450,000 people homeless. -
Sulawesi Earthquake (Indonesia)
Magnitude: 7.5
Death Toll: 4,340
Interesting Facts:
1. Significant loss in environmental life due to liquefaction in the ground.
2. Amassed $1.3 billion in damage.
