Earthquake Information

Last updated July 2014

Largest Earthquakes by Richter Scale Magnitude

Date	Earthquake Name	Place	Richter Scale Magnitude	Note
May 22, 1960	1960 Valdivia earthquake	Valdivia, Chile	9.5
March 27, 1964	1964 Alaska earthquake	Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA	9.2
December 26, 2004	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	9.1 – 9.3
November 4, 1952	1952 Kamchatka earthquakes	Kamchatka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union	9.0
March 11, 2011	2011 Tōhoku earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan	9.0
December 2, 1611	1611 Sanriku earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Hokkaido, Japan	8.9	estimated
November 25, 1833	1833 Sumatra earthquake	Sumatra, Indonesia (formerly part of the Dutch East Indies)	8.8 – 9.2	estimated
September 16, 1615	1615 Arica earthquake	Arica, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.8	estimated
April 2, 1762	1762 Arakan earthquake	Chittagong, Bangladesh (formerly Kingdom of Mrauk U)	8.8	estimated
January 31, 1906	1906 Ecuador - Colombia earthquake	Ecuador – Colombia	8.8
February 27, 2010	2010 Chile earthquake	Bio-Bio, Chile	8.8
January 26, 1700	1700 Cascadia earthquake	Pacific Ocean, USA and Canada (formerly part of the British Empire)	8.7 – 9.2	estimated
October 28, 1707	1707 Hōei earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Shikoku region, Japan	8.7 - 9.3	estimated
July 8, 1730	1730 Valparaiso earthquake	Valparaiso, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.7	estimated
November 1, 1755	1755 Lisbon earthquake	Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal	8.7	estimated
February 4, 1965	1965 Rat Islands earthquake	Rat Islands, Alaska, USA	8.7
July 9, 869	869 Sanriku earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan	8.6 - 9.0	estimated
October 28, 1746	1746 Lima - Callao earthquake	Lima, Peru (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.6 - 8.8	estimated
March 28, 1787	1787 Mexico earthquake	Oaxaca, Mexico (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.6 - 8.7	estimated
April 1, 1946	1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake	Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA	8.6
August 15, 1950	1950 Assam - Tibet earthquake	Assam, India – Tibet, China	8.6
March 9, 1957	1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake	Andreanof Islands, Alaska, USA	8.6
March 28, 2005	2005 Sumatra earthquake	Sumatra, Indonesia	8.6
April 11, 2012	2012 Aceh earthquake	Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	8.6
August 13, 1868	1868 Arica earthquake	Arica, Chile (formerly Peru)	8.5 – 9.0	estimated
May 9, 1877	1877 Iquique earthquake	Iquique, Chile (formerly Peru)	8.5 - 9.0	estimated
December 16, 1575	1575 Valdivia earthquake	Valdivia, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.5	estimated
November 24, 1604	1604 Arica earthquake	Arica, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.5	estimated
May 13, 1647	1647 Santiago earthquake	Santiago, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.5	estimated
May 24, 1751	1751 Concepción earthquake	Concepción, Chile (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.5	estimated
November 19, 1822	1822 Valparaíso earthquake	Valparaíso, Chile	8.5	estimated
February 20, 1835	1835 Concepción earthquake	Concepción, Chile	8.5	estimated
February 16, 1861	1861 Sumatra earthquake	Sumatra, Indonesia	8.5
November 10, 1922	1922 Vallenar earthquake	Atacama Region, Chile	8.5
February 1, 1938	1938 Banda Sea earthquake	Banda Sea, Indonesia (formerly part of the Dutch East Indies)	8.5
October 13, 1963	1963 Kuril Islands earthquake	Kuril Islands, Russia (USSR)	8.5
September 12, 2007	2007 Sumatra earthquakes	Sumatra, Indonesia	8.5
October 20, 1687	1687 Peru earthquake	Lima, Peru (formerly part of the Spanish Empire)	8.4 - 8.7	estimated
May 18, 1841	1841 Kamchatka earthquakes	Kamchatka, Russia	8.4 - 8.6	estimated
October 17, 1737	1737 Kamchatka earthquakes	Kamchatka, Russia	8.3 - 9.0	estimated
February 3, 1923	1923 Kamchatka earthquakes	Kamchatka, Russia (USSR)	8.3 - 8.5
August 3, 1361	1361 Shōhei earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Shikoku region, Japan	8.2 - 8.5	estimated
September 20, 1498	1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Tōkai region, Japan	8.2 - 8.5	estimated
June 15, 1896	1896 Sanriku earthquake	Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan	8.2 - 8.5	estimated
July 23, 1905	1905 Bulnay earthquake	Uvs Province, Mongolia	8.2 - 8.5

Earthquakes with the Largest Death Tolls

Rank	Earthquake Name	Date	Place	Deaths	Notes
1	Shaanxi	January 23, 1556	Shaanxi, China	820,000 – 830,000	estimated
2	Haiyuan	December 16, 1920	Ningxia–Gansu, China	273,400	Major fractures and landslides.
3	Tangshan	July 28, 1976	Hebei, China	242,769
4	Antioch	May 21, 526	Antioch, Turkey (formerly Byzantine Empire)	240,000
5	Indian Ocean	December 26, 2004	Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	230,210	Fatalities from earthquake and the tsunami that followed.
6	Aleppo	October 11, 1138	Aleppo, Syria	230,000
7	Haiti	January 12, 2010	Haiti	100,000 – 316,000
8	Damghan	December 22, 856	Damghan, Iran	200,000	estimated
9	Ardabil	March 22, 893	Ardabil, Iran	150,000	estimated
10	Aleppo	November 29, 533	Syria	130,000
11	Messina	December 28, 1908	Messina, Italy	123,000	93% of the structures in Messina were destroyed
12	Ashgabat	October 6, 1948	Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR (modern-day Turkmenistan)	110,000
13	Great Kantō	September 1, 1923	Kantō region, Japan	105,385	Earthquake lasted between 4 and 10 minutes. Widespread damage in Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Shizuoka.
14	Chihli	September 27, 1290	Ningcheng, China	100,000
14	Kashmir	October 8, 2005	Muzaffarabad, Pakistan	100,000

Largest Modern Day Earthquakes by Property Damage Value

Rank	Earthquake Name	Location	Property Damage Value
1	2011 Tōhoku earthquake	Japan	$235 billion
2	1995 Great Hanshin earthquake	Japan	$100 billion
3	2008 Sichuan earthquake	China	$75 billion
4	2011 Christchurch earthquake	New Zealand	$40 billion
5	1994 Northridge earthquake	United States	$20 billion
6	2010 Chile earthquake	Chile	$15–30 billion
7	2012 Emilia earthquakes	Italy	$13.2 billion
8	1989 Loma Prieta earthquake	United States	$11 billion
9	1999 Taiwan earthquake	Taiwan	$10 billion

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