Most Damaging Tsunamis

Libson Earthquake (Portugal)

Nov 1, 1755

The Libson earthquake had a magnitude of 9.0. The death toll was approximately 20,000. It occurred on the holy day of All Saint's Day. Also, the flames raged on for five days afterward.

Krakatoa Eruption (Java/Sumatra)

Aug 26, 1883

This eruption had a death toll of over 36,000. Over 70% of the land around it collapsed. Additionally, seismic activity was carried into the next year (1884).

Aleutian Earthquake (Alaska)

Apr 1, 1946

This earthquake had a magnitude of 8.1. Also, the death toll was around 160 people. There were no warnings for the tsunamis as the warning posts were all destroyed. The effects of this strong tsunami even reached the West coast of the US mainland.

Great Chilean Earthquake (Chile)

May 23, 1960

The Great Chilean Earthquake had a magnitude of 9.5. The death toll reached to 61 people. The waves of this tsunami got all the way up to 82 feet. Over 150,000 square miles were affected by this natural disaster.

Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska)

Mar 27, 1964

This earthquake had a magnitude of 9.2. Around 130 people died because of this natural disaster. Some areas of land raised over 30 feet. The tsunami was so large that waves were noted by over 20 other countries.

Hokkaido Earthquake (Japan)

Jul 12, 1993

The Hokkaido Earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 and a death toll of 230 people. The warning for the earthquake was only five minutes before it happened, which did not give people enough time to evacuate. The landslide moved around 150,000 m^3 of rock.

Papua New Guinea Quake (Papua New Guinea)

Jul 17, 1998

This quake had a magnitude of 7.1. The death toll reached over 2,100 people.

Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia)

Dec 26, 2004

The magnitude of this earthquake was around 9.2. The death toll reached over a massive number of 230,000 people. The Indian plate got subducted by the Burma plate. There were waves up to 100 feet high with this tsunami.

Samoa Earthquake (Samoan Islands)

Sep 29, 2009

This earthquake had a magnitude of 8.1. The death toll reached 189 people. There was a 3 inch rise in sea levels during this tsunami. It occurred on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Chile Earthquake (Chile)

Feb 27, 2010

The Chile Earthquake had a magnitude of 8.8 and a death toll of around 700 people. The intense shaking lasted for 3 minutes. It also affected around 80% of the population in some way or another.

Tohoku Earthquake (Japan)

Mar 11, 2011

The Tohoku Earhquake had a 9.0 magnitude and a death toll of 15,894 people. This was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. So strong, that it shifted the Earth on it's axis by estimates of 4-10 inches.