14 Most Powerful Earthquakes in History

 

Haiti Earthquake, January12, 2010.

The Haiti 2010 earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010, on the West Indian island of Hispaniola, comprising the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but Haiti was the most severely affected by the disaster.  The 7.0 magnitude earthquake was estimate to have claimed more than 316,000 deaths, resulted in over 300,000 injuries and approximately left over 1,000,000 people homeless.

Valdivia, Chile Earthquake, May 22, 1960.

On May 22,1960, the Great Chilean earthquake erupted in Valdivia Chile at around (15:11 local time, 19: 11 GMT) with a massive 9.5 magnitude with an equivalent  178-Gigatons of power rocks Valdivia, claiming  about 6000 lives with massive causality and destroy property worth more than   $1 billion destroyed. The resulting tsunami affected Hawaii, Japan, The Philippines, southern Chile, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia and the Aleutian Islands. The combine power and gravity of the quake amount to about 1,000 atomic bombs combine. The intensity of this quake was felt at a distance more than 435 miles in various location affected by the quake.

Shaanxi, China Earthquake, January 26,1556.

On January26, 1556, it was a horrific winter morning for the people of Shaanxi and neighboring Shanxi province as earth quake estimated at magnitude 8, struck killing an estimated 830,000 people. This massive death toll is thought to have reduced the population of the two provinces by about 60 percent and was recorded among the deadliest earthquake in history spanning over an area of 520 miles and was felt in about 97 countries. The horrific quake was recorded during the Ming Dynasty and major impacts of the quake was felt in locations like Jiangsu, Anhui , Chengdu and Shanghai, Gansu, shandong, Henan, Henri and Hunan. The monetary damage incurred by the earthquake is almost impossible to measure in modern term.

Sumatra, Indonesia, December 26, 2004. 

On December 26, 2004 around 00:58:53 UTC, a massive earthquake erupt underneath the Indian ocean with magnitude 9.1–9.3, equivalent to 32-Gigaton.  The undersea mega thrust earthquake was the second highest seismic wave ever recorded; killing over 230,000 people in 14 countries, the tsunami was recorded in history as one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Indonesia was the country that recorded the greatest number of causalities and damaged properties, followed by Sri-Lanka and India, and destroy properties worth more than  $7 billion.

Aleppo, Syria Earthquake, 11 October 1138.

The Aleppo earthquake of 11 October 1138 with magnitude 8.5 and an equivalent of 2.8-Gigaton was among the deadliest earthquakes in history. And most of the destruction was recorded in northern Syria, after the quake, and was described as the fourth worst disaster other the world and recorded a maximum casualties tolling around 230,000.

Tangshan, China Earthquake, July28, 1976.

On July 28, 1976 at 3:42 am, in Tangshan, and Hubei an earthquake with magnitude 8.2 struck and killed over 250, 000 people. The quake was around as 5 miles wide and 4 miles, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes of the twentieth century. It was recorded to have destroyed a total $1.3 billion worth of properties.

Xining, China Earthquake, 22 May, 1927.

Early hours of 22 May, 1927, around 6:32 am, people of Xining woke up to a horrific scene of a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.9, that had an epicentre near Kansu, Republic of China and Gulang and its labelled one of the most deadliest earthquakes in China. This disaster claims more than 40,900 lives and an approximate of 250,000 livestock was lost to the disaster, as it was felt up to 700 km away. The aftershocks affected the Gulang-wuwei area and also had its impact felt in some town Gulang town, Minqin town and Tianzhu town,  this event left thousands homeless and may educational institution left completely wiped off.

Damghan  Iran, December 22, 856.

On 22 December, 856 AD in Damghan, a 8.0 magnitude earthquake erupted and claim over 200,000 lives and it was on record as the sixth deadliest earthquake, the effect of the quake was felt at about 350 kilometres  in Iran , Tabaristan and Gorgan. It was also considered as one of the earliest record-breaking earthquake with multiple causalities and ruins.

Tohoku, Japan Earthquake March 11, 2011.

Considered one of the top five largest earthquakes in the world, the Great East Japan earthquake that occurred On March 11, 2011, the east coast of Tohoku in Japan was struck by a 9.03 magnitude earthquake, which was the strongest ever recorded in Japan. It has an epicentre of about 70 kilometres felt in Tohoku and the hypocenter at an underwater depth of about 30 km. This disaster claims over 15,878 lives, injured about 6,126 and approximately 2,173 people  were reported missing. However report claims that the quake destroyed over 12,225 buildings and render thousands homeless.

Kanto, Japan Earthquake, September 1 1923

The Great Kanto earthquake was recorded to have occurred on Saturday, September 1, 1923 at 11:58 am. The quake with magnitude 7.9 lasted for about 10 minutes. This disaster destroyed the Kanto plane on the Japanese main island of Honshu.  This quake was recorded to have been the deadliest earthquake in the history of Japan. The quake was accompanied with fire that alone took more than140, 000 lives and destroyed over 447,000 residential houses. This earthquake devastated the port city of Yokohama, and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba , Kanagawa , and Shizuoka , and caused widespread damage throughout the Kanto region and Tokyo.

Messina, Italy Earthquake December 28, 1908

The earthquake, which took place on December 28, 1908,around 5:20 am, was felt within a 300-kilomete with a magnitude 7.1 earthquake and tsunami claimed more than 200,000 lives in Reggio, Calabria and Messina in Italy. The quake with a 12 meter tsunami hit the coastal region of Messina caused over 70,000 deaths, it was recorded that the quake shook the ground for a period of about 40 seconds.

Sichuan, China Earthquake, May 8, 2008.

On May 8, 2008, the great Sichuan earthquake erupted with a magnitude of 8.0, occurred around 02:28 pm in China killed over 69,197 people and left 18,222 missing. The intensity was so powerful that it was felt in nearby countries and as far away as Beijing and Shanghai where building were affected. This was recorded as the deadliest earthquake in the history of China. The monetary costs for rebuild was estimated to be around 1 trillion Yuan or $146.5 billion after the horrific scene the quake left behind, it left over 15,000,000 people homeless.

Nepal Earthquake Saturday April 25, 2015.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday April 25, 2015 with magnitude 7.8, so strong that it was compared in its intensity to have the power of 30 thermonuclear weapons. The April 2015 quake claimed more than 8,000 lives and  injured over 21,000 people, has its  epicentre east of Gorkha, and its hypocenter was at a depth of  8.2 km .It was recorded in Nepal as the most damaging natural disaster after the n1934 Nepal–Bihar quake. Other areas affected were India, China and Bangladesh. The disaster amasses a total monetary damage of about $10 billion and render over 3million people homeless.

Central Italy Earthquake, August 24, 2016. 
On August 24, 2016 at 03:36 am, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Central Italy, about 6.5 miles southeast of the town of Norcia and the event was followed by over 200 aftershocks. the 6.2 magnitude earthquake was estimated to have killed over 300 people, injured 388 and left about 2,900 homeless with properties worth millions destroyed.