10 Deadliest Earthquakes in Human History: In Pics

A powerful earthquake that jolted the Shaanxi Province in China in 1556 is considered to be one of the deadliest earthquakes ever experienced anywhere in the world. It struck the northern interior of China not far from the city of Xi’an. It damaged parts of ten neighbouring provinces in addition to Shaanxi, and was so strong that half of China felt its impact.

The Great Kanto Earthquake, also sometimes called the Great Tokyo Earthquake, rocked Japan on Sept. 1, 1923. Although both were devastated, the city of Yokohama was hit even worse than Tokyo. The quake's magnitude is estimated at 7.9 to 8.2 on the Richter scale, and its epicenter was in the shallow waters of Sagami Bay, about 25 miles south of Tokyo.

The earthquake that struck near Valdivia, Chile, in 1960 was the most powerful temblor in recorded history. The quake left about 2 million people homeless. It injured at least 3,000 and killed approximately 1,655.

On June 20, 1990, an earthquake with a 7.3 magnitude hit the Rudbar-Manjil region in the Alborz mountains of Iran. The focal depth of this event was about 19 km. The earthquake killed about 15,800 people, injured 60,000, left more than 500,000 homeless, destroyed three cities (Rudbar, Manjil, and Lowshan).

It was on July 16, 1990, when a 7.8 magnitude strong earthquake struck the Philippines, specifically the central and northern parts of Luzon, at 4:26 p.m. Properties were destroyed and thousands of lives were lost because of the tremor - one of the strongest to hit the country.

On December 26, 2004, an extremely powerful earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean generated a devastating tsunami. This tragic event raised awareness about the threat posed by tsunamis to coastal communities around the world and led to significant advances in tsunami detection, forecasting, warning, and preparedness. The magnitude 9.1 earthquake was one for the record books and stands today as the third largest in the world since 1900.

On October 8, 2005, Kashmir was struck by an earthquake that was measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was the Azad Kashmir region in Pakistan. Other countries like India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China were also affected due to the tremors. Approximately, 86,000 people were killed, 69,000 people were injured and about 2.8 million people were displaced.

On January 12, 2010, at 4:53 PM, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. It was the strongest quake to hit the region in over 200 years and its epicenter was just 10 miles outside Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. The impact of the earthquake was staggering: According to various sources, 220,000-300,000 lost their lives. Many more were injured. Millions were suddenly homeless. The island nation’s infrastructure was decimated.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude (Mw) 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Honshu on the Japan Trench. A tsunami that was generated by the earthquake arrived at the coast within 30 minutes, overtopping seawalls and disabling three nuclear reactors within days. The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami event, often referred to as the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, resulted in over 18,000 dead, including several thousand victims who were never recovered.

A 7.8 magnitude powerful earthquake rocked central turkey on Monday (February 6, 2023) killing thousands of people in the country and bordering Syria and toppling hundreds of buildings across a wide region. The quake hit at depth of 11 miles (18 kilometers) and was centered in southern Turkey, near the northern border of Syria, according to the US Geological Survey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a 7-day national mourning in the country following a powerful pre-dawn earthquake in the country's southern region which claimed the lives of over 2,000 people. 656 people were reported dead in government-held areas of Syria. The first earthquake that hit on Monday morning is believed to be the largest ever to hit Turkey in at least 100 years.