HISTORIC EVENTS
Historic Earthquakes
The most significant earthquakes in recorded history, from the deadliest disasters to events that transformed our understanding of seismic science and building safety.
1960 Valdivia, Chile
Largest earthquake ever recorded
May 22, 1960
1,000-6,000 deaths
1964 Alaska
Second largest ever recorded
March 27, 1964
131 deaths
2004 Indian Ocean
Deadliest tsunami in modern history
December 26, 2004
230,000+ deaths
2011 Tohoku, Japan
Triggered Fukushima nuclear disaster
March 11, 2011
~19,759 deaths
2010 Maule, Chile
One of five strongest ever
February 27, 2010
525 deaths
1755 Lisbon, Portugal
Shaped Enlightenment philosophy
November 1, 1755
30,000-50,000 deaths
1556 Shaanxi, China
Deadliest earthquake in history
January 23, 1556
~830,000 deaths
1985 Mexico City
Lake bed resonance amplification
September 19, 1985
~10,000 deaths
1906 San Francisco
Iconic US earthquake
April 18, 1906
~3,000 deaths
2008 Sichuan, China
School collapse controversy
May 12, 2008
~87,000 deaths
2023 Turkey-Syria
Recent devastating event
February 6, 2023
50,000+ deaths
2015 Nepal
Major international response
April 25, 2015
~9,000 deaths
2005 Kashmir
Mountain catastrophe
October 8, 2005
~86,000 deaths
1999 Izmit, Turkey
Exposed construction corruption
August 17, 1999
~17,000 deaths
1976 Tangshan, China
Deadliest modern earthquake
July 28, 1976
~242,000 deaths
2010 Haiti
Highlighted infrastructure vulnerability
January 12, 2010
~316,000 deaths
2016 Kumamoto, Japan
Double strike event
April 16, 2016
273 deaths
1989 Loma Prieta
World Series earthquake
October 17, 1989
63 deaths
1995 Kobe, Japan
Transformed Japanese building codes
January 17, 1995
6,434 deaths
1994 Northridge
Most costly US earthquake
January 17, 1994
57 deaths
2011 Christchurch, NZ
Small magnitude, devastating impact
February 22, 2011
185 deaths