List of earthquakes

The following is a list of major earthquakes:

 Date Site Deaths Magnitudein Richter  Comments 464 BC Sparta, Greece ? – Led to a helot uprising and strained relations with Athens, one of the factors that led to the Peloponnesian War 226 BC Rhodes, Greece ? – Destroyed Colossus of Rhodes and city of Kameiros 365 Cyrene, Libya ? – 526 - May 20 Antiochia, Syria 250,000 – 856 Corinth, Greece 45,000 – 1138 Aleppo, Syria 230,000 – 1138 Aleppo earthquake 1268 Cilicia, Asia Minor 60,000 – 1290 - September 27 Chihli, China 100,000 – 1556 - January 23 Shaanxi and Kansu, China 850,000 9.0 The most devastating earthquake in history 1667 - November 25 Caucaso and Shemakha 80,000 – 1692 - June 7 Port Royal, Jamaica 1,000-3,000 – Destroyed and submerged most of Port Royal. 1693 - January 11 Catania, Italy 60,000 – 1700 - January 26 Cascadia, North America ? 9.0 1700 Cascadia earthquake 1730 - December 30 Hokkaido, Japan 137,000 – 1737 - October 11 Calcutta, India 300,000 – 1755 - November 1 Lisbon, Portugal 60,000 8.0 1755 Lisbon earthquake mentioned by Voltaire in Candide 1811-1812 - December 16--February 7 New Madrid, Missouri, United States ? 8.0 U.S. Geological Survey  1811-12 New Madrid Earthquake destroyed half of the city of New Madrid. Damage estimates exceed one billion dollars. Lasted for two to three minutes   1822 - September 5 Echigo, Japan 30,000 – 1855 Wellington, New Zealand 1 8.2 1857 - January 9 Fort Tejon, California, United States 1 7.9 350 kilometers of the San Andreas Fault ruptured  1868 - August 13-15 Ecuador and Peru 40,000 – 1872 - March 26 Lone Pine, California, United States 27 7.6 See: 1872 Lone Pine earthquake 1884 - April 22 Colchester, England 1 5.2 The UK's most destructive earthquake 1887 - February 23 French Riviera 2,000 – 1887 - May 3 Sonora, Mexico 42 7.4 1905 - April 4 Kangra, India 370,000. 1906 - April 18 San Francisco, California, United States 3,000 7.9 Fires broke out in many parts the town. Many buildings were destroyed by the earthquake and fires. Damage estimates top 350 billion dollars. Lasted for about 2 minutes. 1908 - December 27 Messina, Italy 86,926 7.5 1920 - December 16 Gansu, China 100,000 8.6 1923 - September 1 Tokyo/Yokohama, Japan 200,000 8.3 Great Kantō earthquake damage estimates exceeded one billion US dollars. Estimated to have shook for 5 minutes 1925 - June 29 Santa Barbara, California, United States ? 6.3 Santa Barbara earthquakes  1927 - May 22 Nan-Shan, China 200,000 8.3 1931 Managua, Nicaragua ? ? 1931 - February 3 Napier, New Zealand 258 7.9 Napier earthquake  1932 - December 26 Kansu, China 70,000 7.6 1935 - May 31 Quetta, India 50,000 7.5 1948 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 86,926 7.5 1949 - April 13 Olympia, Washington, United States 8 7.1  See Nisqually earthquake 1949 - August 5 Ecuador 6,000 na 1953 - August 12 Kefalonia, [Greece 476 7.3 Destroyed most of the island, major damage on Zante and Lefkas. 1958 - July 10 Alaskan Panhandle, United States 5 7.9 Resulting landslide triggered largest-ever recorded water wave at Lituya Bay, Alaska. 1960 - February 29 Agadir, Morocco 15,000 6.7 Almost completely destroyed Agadir. 1960 - May 22 Chile 1,500 9.5 The Great Chilean Earthquake was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Tsunamis caused deaths as far away as Hawaii and Japan. 1964 Anchorage, Alaska, United States 125 9.2 Most powerful earthquake in U.S. history; the Good Friday earthquake. Damage estimates are about 311 million dollars. Shook for 4–7 minutes. 1965 - April 29 Seattle, Washington, United States 7 6.5 See Nisqually earthquake 1966 Tashkent, Uzbekistan ? - 1968 Sicily, Italy; Gibellina, Belice ? - 1970 - May 31 Ancash, Peru 66,794 7.7 1971 -Feb 9 Sylmar, Los Angeles, California, United States 65 6.6-6.7 $500M property damage  Primary San Fernando Fault; secondary Santa Susana (East)
MFRegan, 2006 1972 - December 23 Managua, Nicaragua 10,000 ? The city was almost completely destroyed; the quake contributed to the Sandinista uprising of the 1970s 1976 - July 28 Tangshan, China 400,000 8.21976 Tangshan earthquake 1977 - March 4 southern and eastern Europe, Romania 1,50 ? 1980 - November 23 southern Italy 4,800 6.8-7.0 1985 - September 19 Mexico City, Mexico ~10,000 8.1 Devastated a significant part of the city. Worst disaster in Mexico City's history. The epicenter was in the coasts of Michoacán. 1985 - September 20 Mexico City, Mexico hundreds 7.6 Second earthquake in two days; caused massive hysteria and more deaths 1986 - October 10 San Salvador, El Salvador ~1,500 7.5 1988 - December 7 Nortwestern Armenia 25,000 6.9 1989 - October 17 Loma Prieta (Santa Cruz) California, United States 63 7.1 The Loma Prieta earthquake caused the collapse of the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland, California, and damage to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Largest quake on the San Andreas Fault since the 1906 San Francisco quake.  1990 - June 20 North-Western Iran 50,000 7.7 1990 - July 16 Philippines 1600 7.7 1992 - March 13 Eastern Turkey ~540 6.8 1992 Cape Mendocino, California, United States 18  Damage estimates top 66 billion dollars. Shaking lasted for about 12 seconds. 1993 - September 29 Maharashtra, India 9,748 6.4 1994 - January 17 Northridge, Los Angeles, California, United States 57 6.7 The 1994 Northridge earthquake was the most financially damaging quake in US history. See:  1995 - January 17 Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto, Japan 5,477 7.2 called the Great Hanshin earthquake. The quake lasted 20 seconds and left 275,000 people homeless. Damage estimates are approximately ten trillion yen or $200 billion US dollars.  1995 - May 28 Neftegorsk, Russia ~2,000 7.6 Killed 2/3rd of the town's population 1997 - May 10-11 Northern Iran 4,000 7.5 1998 - February 4-8 Takhar, Afghanistan 2,323 6.1 1998 - May 30 Afghanistan 4,700 6.9 1999 - August 17 Turkey 15,000 7.8 1999 - September 20 Taiwan 2,474 7.6 2000 - February 13 El Salvador 400 6.6 2001 - January 13 El Salvador 5,000 7.7 2001 - January 26 Gujarat, India 20,103 7.7 2001 - February 28 Olympia, Washington, United States 6.8 Some damage to older buildings, masonry, and roads, but no deaths. See Nisqually Earthquake 2001 - June 23 Southern Peru 10s; many old buildings 7.9 2002 - November 3 Central Alaska 7.9 Sparsely populated area; damage to structures/roads but no serious injuries 2003 - May 21 Algeria 2,000 6.8 2003 - September 25 Hokkaido, Japan 1 8.0 The person killed was a pedestrian hit by a car while sweeping broken glass. 300+ injured 2003 - December 22 Paso Robles, California, United States 2 6.5 Historical buildings destroyed.   2003 - December 26 Bam, southwestern Iran 40,000 or more 6.6 Nearly 75% of city levelled to the ground, 40,000 lives lost and 15,000 injured. 2004 - February 24 295 kilometres east-North-east of Rabat, Morocco near the city of Al-Hoceima 564 6.5 300+ injured and 30,000 homeless. Most killed are women and children as many local men work overseas 2004 - April 6 Hindu Kush mountains, northeast Afghanistan At least 1 6.8 Death toll may be higher 2004 - May 3 515 kilometres south-southeast of Santiago, Chile 6.6 Measured 6 on Mercalli scale at the epicentre 2004 - May 28 70 kilometres north of Tehran 45+ 6.2 400+ injured. 80 villages damaged. Most damage near Alamout. 2004 - December 26 Indian Ocean 150.000 (by February 2, 2005) 9.3 About 150.000 killed by 2005-01-02 in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake 2005 - October 8 Pakistan 74.500 (by Aug. 16, 2007) 7.6 More at 2005 Kashmir earthquake 2006 - December 26 Taiwan 2 7.0-7.2 More at 2006 Hengchun earthquake2007 - August 15 Peru 48 7.9 350+ injured 2007 Peru earthquake2008 - May 12 Sichuan, China 87,419 8.0 69,197 dead, 18,222 missing and 374,176 injured in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake2010 - January 12 Haiti 320,000 7.0 Fourth deadliest earthquake in history 2010 Haiti earthquake2010 - February 27 Maule Region, Chile 214+ 8.8 214 +2010 - March 11 Pichilemu, Chile 1 6.9 The 2010 Pichilemu earthquake caused a small tsunami provoking minor damage in the Pichilemu area.2010 - September 4 Canterbury, New Zealand 0 7.1 2+ injured, widespread structural damage to buildings and infrastructure.2011 - February 22 Canterbury, New Zealand 185 6.3 Considered an aftershock from the 2010 Canterbury earthquake the earthquake registered a lower magnitude but was much more damaging. the intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be VIII on the MMI and among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area due to the shallowness and proximity of the epicentre. The vertical shaking is estimated to be three times greater than would be expected in a 1 in 500 year earthquake.  More at 2011 Canterbury earthquake2011 - March 11 Honshu, Japan 15,867 9.0 Produced Tsunami waves which devastated shores in Northern Japan and caused damage as far away as the Pacific Coast of the United States.The most economically expensive earthquake in history.

The Richter scale was adopted in 1935, and was used in the above table also about earlier earthquakes at a merely indicative title. Earthquakes' effects were once measured after the Mercalli scale, which regards the practical damages that a seismic event causes to infrastructures and houses, and a sort of comparison between the two scale is now in use, especially for ancient events.

 Other websites 
USGS list of current earthquakes 
Earthquakes Canada 
Recent New Zealand earthquakes 

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