-
Lisbon Earthquake (Portugal)
The Lisbon Earthquake killed 70,000 people. The quake had a magnitude of 8.5 and was one of the deadliest earthquakes in history! Many people in Lisbon were worshiping in church when the earthquake occurred. The fires that this earthquake caused burned for five consecutive days. Because of this event, modern seismology was developed! -
Krakatoa Eruption (Java/Sumatra)
The Krakatoa Eruption caused 36,000 deaths. With a magnitude of 6, the eruption generated the loudest sound ever reported in history. The ash and pumice that settled into the ground after the eruptions led to the land being turned useless; plants could not grow for several years after the incident. The sun was not visible and was blocked out for several days because of the volcanic fallout in the atmosphere. -
Aleutian Earthquake (Alaska)
The Aleutian Earthquake caused 165 deaths and had a magnitude of 8.6. This earthquake generated a Pacific-wide tsunami. The tsunami struck without any warning nearly five hours after the earthquake occurred. As a result of this disaster, the United States established the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System to provide coastal communities with warnings of approaching tsunamis. -
Great Chilean Earthquake (Chile)
The Great Chilean Earthquake took place in Chile and killed 1,655 people. The quake, which was the largest and most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the 20th century, had a magnitude that ranged between 9.4 and 9.6. The earthquake produced a tsunami with waves that reached heights of two meters. An estimated two million people were left homeless after the event. There was $550 million in damage. -
Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)
The Good Friday Earthquake had a magnitude of 9.2 and caused 131 people to lose their lives. This quake was the second largest earthquake of the 20th century. The quake also triggered a huge submarine slide that caused millions of cubic yards of Earth to slide into the Valdez Bay. The tallest wave height recorded was 219 feet. -
Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)
The Hokkaido Earthquake killed 41 people and had a magnitude of 6.6! The quake shifted Earth onto its axis of rotation by redistributing mass. Because of this, more than 120,000 buildings were destroyed! According to the Japanese government, the direct financial damage from the disaster is estimated to be about $190 billion. This event was the costliest natural disaster in world history! -
Papua New Guinea Earthquake (Papua New Guinea)
The Papua New Guinea Earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 and killed 1,600 people. At 5:49pm, when many families were eating dinner, villagers heard a loud boom. When they investigated the sound, they looked at the sea and saw it "boiling" and "bubbling." -
Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)
The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was located in the Indian Ocean near the West Coast of Sumatra. The rupture was more than 600 miles long, displacing the seafloor by 10 years horizontally and several yards vertically. The quake had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. The event killed 227,898 people. -
Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)
The Samoa Earthquake had a magnitude of 4.7. The earthquake generated tsunami waves of up to 22 meters that engulfed the shores, killing 149 people. The devastation extended beyond human casualties with houses destroyed, cars swept out to sea and some villages being virtually annihilated. The event cost over $200 million in damages -
Chile Earthquake (Chile)
This magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck at 3:34am. The earthquake was caused by the Nazca and South American plates converging. Together, the earthquake and tsunami were responsible for more than 500 deaths. -
Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)
The Tohoku Earthquake began with a powerful earthquake off the northeastern coast of Honshu. This initiated a series of large tsunami waves that devastated many coastal areas of the country. The 9.1 magnitude quake was caused by the rupture of a stretch of the subduction zone associated with the Japan Trench. Waves were estimated to be as high as 38 meters, which is the height of a 12-story building. The event resulted in 18,000 deaths. -
Sulawesi Earthquake (Indonesia)
The Sulawesi Earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5. The combined effects of the earthquake and tsunami led to the deaths of at least 844 people and injured a further 540. Many aftershock quakes followed the big earthquake and tsunami.