Lists of earthquakes

s are caused by movements within the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They range from events too weak to be detectable except by sensitive instrumentation, to sudden and violent events lasting many minutes which have caused some of the greatest disasters in human history. Below, earthquakes are listed by period, region or country, year, magnitude, cost, fatalities and number of scientific studies.

Lists by period

Largest earthquakes by magnitude

Listed below are all the 35 known earthquakes with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 or higher since 1500. Limited to a timeframe with enough data, this gives a rough estimate of its frequency per century.
Prior to the development and deployment of seismographs – starting around 1900 – magnitudes can only be estimated, based on historical reports of the extent and severity of damage.

Rank	Date	Location	Event	Magnitude
1		Valdivia, Chile	1960 Valdivia earthquake	9.4–9.6
2		Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States	1964 Alaska earthquake	9.2
3		Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	9.1–9.3
4		Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan	2011 Tōhoku earthquake	9.1
5		Valparaiso, Chile	1730 Valparaiso earthquake	9.1–9.3
6		Kamchatka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union	1952 Kamchatka earthquakes	9.0
7		Arica, Chile	1868 Arica earthquake	8.5–9.0
8		Pacific Ocean, US and Canada	1700 Cascadia earthquake	8.7–9.2
9		Chittagong, Bangladesh	1762 Arakan earthquake	8.8
10		Sumatra, Indonesia	1833 Sumatra earthquake	8.8
11		Ecuador – Colombia	1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake	8.8
12		Offshore Maule, Chile	2010 Chile earthquake	8.8
13		Assam, India – Tibet, China	1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake	8.7
14		Pacific Ocean, Shikoku region, Japan	1707 Hōei earthquake	8.7–9.3
15		Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal	1755 Lisbon earthquake	8.5–9.0
16		Rat Islands, Alaska, United States	1965 Rat Islands earthquake	8.7
17		Lima, Peru	1746 Lima–Callao earthquake	8.6
18		Oaxaca, Mexico	1787 Mexico earthquake	8.6
19		Andreanof Islands, Alaska, United States	1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake	8.6
20		Sumatra, Indonesia	2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake	8.6
21		Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	2012 Aceh earthquake	8.6
22		Valdivia, Chile	1575 Valdivia earthquake	8.5
23		Arica, Chile	1604 Arica earthquake	8.5
24		Santiago, Chile	1647 Santiago earthquake	8.5
25		Concepción, Chile	1751 Concepción earthquake	8.5
26		Valparaíso, Chile	1822 Valparaíso earthquake	8.5
27		Concepción, Chile	1835 Concepción earthquake	8.5
28		Sumatra, Indonesia	1861 Sumatra earthquake	8.5
29		Iquique, Chile	1877 Iquique earthquake	8.5
30		Atacama Region, Chile Catamarca Province, Argentina	1922 Vallenar earthquake	8.5
31		Banda Sea, Indonesia	1938 Banda Sea earthquake	8.5
32		Kuril Islands, Russia	1963 Kuril Islands earthquake	8.5
33		Lima, Peru	1687 Peru earthquake	8.5
34		Kamchatka, Russia	1737 Kamchatka earthquakes	8.5
35		Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan	1896 Sanriku earthquake	8.5

Statistics are,

Century	Number with magnitude ≥ 8.5
1501–1600	1
1601–1700	4
1701–1800	8
1801–1900	7
1901–2000	10
2001–2020	5
Total	35

Note that historical records are known to be incomplete. Earthquakes that occurred in remote areas prior to the advent of modern instrumentation in the early to mid 1900s were not well-reported, and exact locations and magnitudes of such events are often unknown. Therefore, the apparent increase in large earthquake frequency over the last few centuries is unlikely to be accurate.

Largest earthquakes by country/territory

This list is a work in progress. Information is likely to be changed.
The list refers to current country boundaries rather than those at the date of the earthquake
Please note, multiple countries could have the same earthquake listed, such as the 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake being listed for both Ecuador and Colombia.
Unless otherwise noted, magnitudes are reported on the Moment magnitude scale.

Country/Territory	Magnitude	Date	More information
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria			1980 El Asnam earthquake
Antarctica
Armenia	M_s		1988 Armenian earthquake
Argentina			1894 San Juan earthquake
Australia
Austria	–6.0		1590 Neulengbach earthquake
Azerbaijan			1667 Shamakhi earthquake
Bangladesh			1762 Arakan earthquake
Belgium			Epicentre: Verviers
Bhutan
Bolivia			1994 Bolivia earthquake
Bosnia and Herzegovina			Banja Luka earthquake
Botswana			2017 Botswana earthquake
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Bulgaria			see List of earthquakes in Bulgaria
Burundi
Canada	–9.2		1700 Cascadia earthquake
Chile	–9.6		1960 Valdivia earthquake
China			1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake
Cocos Islands
Colombia			1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake
Comoros
Costa Rica			1991 Limon earthquake
Croatia	M_L		1880 Zagreb earthquake
Cuba	–7.9 M_s		List of earthquakes in Cuba
Cyprus			1222 Cyprus earthquake
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo			2005 Lake Tanganyika earthquake
Denmark			Jutland
Djibouti
Dominican Republic	M_s		1946 Dominican Republic earthquake
Ecuador			1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake
Egypt			1995 Gulf of Aqaba earthquake
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia	–4.7		1976 Osmussaare earthquake
Ethiopia
Finland			Tornio, 66.2°N, 25.0°E
Fiji
France			1909 Provence earthquake
Gabon
Germany			1756 Düren earthquake
Georgia			1991 Racha earthquake
Ghana
Greece	+		365 Crete earthquake
Guam
Guatemala			1942 Guatemala earthquake
Guyana
Guinea			1983 Guinea earthquake
Haiti	M_s		1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake
Honduras			2018 Swan Islands earthquake
Hungary	M_L		1763 Komárom earthquake
Iceland
India			1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake
Indonesia	–9.3		2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Iran	M_s		856 Damghan earthquake
Iraq			Mosul
Israel			1927 Jericho earthquake
Italy			1693 Sicily earthquake
Japan			2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Jordan			1927 Jericho earthquake
Kazakhstan			1911 Kebin earthquake
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan			1911 Kebin earthquake
Laos
Lebanon			551 Beirut earthquake
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia			1976 Sabah earthquake
Maldives
Malta			1693 Sicily earthquake
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico			1787 Mexico earthquake
Micronesia
Mongolia			1905 Bolnai earthquake
Montenegro			1979 Montenegro earthquake
Morocco			2004 Al Hoceima earthquake
Mozambique			2006 Mozambique earthquake
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal	–8.8		1505 Lo Mustang earthquake
Netherlands			1992 Roermond earthquake
New Zealand			1855 Wairarapa earthquake
Nicaragua			1992 Nicaragua earthquake
North Korea
North Macedonia			1963 Skopje earthquake
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway			2018 Jan Mayen earthquake
Pakistan			1945 Balochistan earthquake
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea			1971 Solomon Islands earthquakes
Paraguay
Peru			1746 Lima–Callao earthquake
Philippines			1918 Celebes Sea earthquake
Poland			near Głogów
Portugal	–9.0		1755 Lisbon earthquake
Puerto Rico			1787 Boricua earthquake
Réunion
Romania			1802 Vrancea earthquake
Rwanda
Russia			1952 Kamchatka earthquake
Samoa			1917 Samoa earthquake
Saudi Arabia			Jizan Region
Serbia			1998 Mionica earthquake
Slovenia			1895 Ljubljana earthquake
Solomon Islands			2007 Solomon Islands earthquake
Somalia
South Africa			1969 Tulbagh earthquake
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Korea			2016 Gyeongju earthquake
South Sudan
Spain
Sweden			Kiruna, Lapland
Switzerland			1356 Basel earthquake
Syria			1202 Syria earthquake
Taiwan
Tajikistan			1949 Khait earthquake
Tanzania
Thailand			2014 Mae Lao earthquake
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey			1939 Erzincan earthquake
Turkmenistan			1948 Ashgabat earthquake
Uganda
Ukraine			1927 Crimean earthquakes
United Kingdom	M_L		1931 Dogger Bank earthquake
United States			1964 Alaska earthquake
Uruguay			1888 Rio de la Plata earthquake
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen			1982 North Yemen earthquake
Zambia

Costliest earthquakes

This is a list of major earthquakes by the dollar value of property losses directly attributable to the earthquake. Rank values are assigned based on inflation-adjusted comparison of property damage in US dollars. Wherever possible, indirect and socioeconomic losses are excluded. Please note that damage estimates for particular earthquakes may vary throughout time as more data becomes available.

Rank	Event	Location	Magnitude	Property damage
1	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami	Japan	9.1	$235 billion
2	1995 Great Hanshin earthquake	Japan	6.9	$200 billion
3	2008 Sichuan earthquake	Sichuan, China	8.0	$86 billion
4	2004 Chūetsu earthquake	Japan	6.8	$28 billion
5	1999 İzmit earthquake	Turkey	7.6	$20 billion
6	2012 Emilia earthquakes	Italy	6.1	$15.8 billion
7	2011 Christchurch earthquake	South Island, New Zealand	6.3	$15–40 billion
8	2010 Chile earthquake	Chile	8.8	$15–30 billion
9	1980 Irpinia earthquake	Italy	6.9	$15 billion
10	1994 Northridge earthquake	Los Angeles, United States	6.7	$13–44 billion
11	1976 Tangshan earthquake	Hebei, China	7.8	$10 billion
12	1999 Jiji earthquake	Taiwan	7.6	$10 billion
13	April 2015 Nepal earthquake	Nepal	7.8	$10 billion
14	1989 Loma Prieta earthquake	California, United States	6.9	$5.6–6 billion
15	1923 Great Kantō earthquake	Tokyo, Japan	7.9	$600 million
16	1906 San Francisco earthquake	San Francisco, United States	7.7 to 7.9	$400 million

Deadliest earthquakes

The following is a summary list of earthquakes with over approximately 100,000 deaths:

Rank	Event	Date	Location	Fatalities	Magnitude	Notes
1	1556 Shaanxi earthquake		Shaanxi, China	820,000–830,000	8.0	Estimated death toll in Shaanxi, China
2	1976 Tangshan earthquake		Hebei, China	242,769–700,000+	7.8
3	1920 Haiyuan earthquake		Ningxia–Gansu, China	273,400	7.8	Major fractures, landslides.
4	526 Antioch earthquake		Antioch, Byzantine Empire	250,000	7.0	Procopius, sources based on John of Ephesus.
5	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami		Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia	227,898	9.1–9.3	Deaths from earthquake and resulting tsunami.
6	1138 Aleppo earthquake		Aleppo, Syria	130,000–230,000	7.1	The figure of 230,000 dead is based on a historical conflation of this earthquake with earthquakes in November 1137 on the Jazira plain and on September 30, 1139 in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja. The first mention of a 230,000 death toll was by Ibn Taghribirdi in the fifteenth century.
7	2010 Haiti earthquake		Haiti	46,000–316,000	7.0	Estimates vary from 316,000 to 222,570 to 158,000 to between 85,000 and 46,000.
8	1303 Hongdong earthquake		Shanxi, China	200,000	8.0	Taiyuan and Pingyang were leveled.
9	856 Damghan earthquake		Damghan, Iran	200,000	7.9 M_s
10	893 Ardabil earthquake		Ardabil, Iran	150,000	Unknown	Reports probably relate to the 893 Dvin earthquake, due to misreading of the Arabic word for Dvin, 'Dabil' as 'Ardabil'. This is regarded as a 'fake earthquake'.
11	533 Aleppo earthquake		Syria	130,000	Unknown	-
12	1908 Messina earthquake		Messina, Italy	123,000	7.1	The ground shook for 30 to 40 seconds around 5:20 am, and destruction occurred within a 300 km radius. 91% of structures in Messina were destroyed and ~70,000 residents died. Rescuers searched for weeks, and whole families were pulled out alive days later. A 40-foot tsunami struck nearby coasts. Reggio Calabria on the Italian mainland also suffered heavy damage.
13	1948 Ashgabat earthquake		Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR	10,000–110,000	7.3
14	1923 Great Kantō earthquake		Kantō region, Japan	105,385	7.9	This earthquake with an epicenter beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay, shook the Kantō plain on the Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58 am. Shaking duration reported between 4 and 10 minutes, devastating Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. Shaking slid the 93-ton Great Buddha statue at Kamakura almost two feet forward. Casualty estimates range from 100,000 to 142,800, the latter figure including ~40,000 missing later presumed dead.
15	1290 Chihli earthquake		Ningcheng, China	100,000	6.8 M_s

Most studied earthquakes

The 50 most studied earthquakes according to the International Seismological Centre, based on a count of scientific papers that discuss that earthquake. The "Event #" is linked to the ISC Event Bibliography for that event.

Rank	Event origin time	ISC Event #	Papers	ISC code	Wikipedia article
1	2011-03-11 05:46:23		1519	TOHOKU2011	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2	2008-05-12 06:27:59		1217	WENCHUAN2008	2008 Sichuan earthquake
3	2004-12-26 00:58:52		836	SUMATRA2004	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
4	1999-09-20 17:47:16		640	CHI-CHI1999	1999 Jiji earthquake
5	1994-01-17 12:30:54		466	NORTHRIDGE1994	1994 Northridge earthquake
6	1995-01-16 20:46:51		451	SHYOGO1995	Great Hanshin earthquake
7	1989-10-18 00:04:14		424	LOMAPRIETA1989	1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
8	2009-04-06 01:32:42		420	LAQUILA2009	2009 L'Aquila earthquake
9	2010-02-27 06:34:13		392	MAULE2010	2010 Chile earthquake
10	1992-06-28 11:57:35		383	LANDERS1992	1992 Landers earthquake
11	1999-08-17 00:01:38		361	IZMIT1999	1999 İzmit earthquake
12	2015-04-25 06:11:26		298	GORKHA2015	April 2015 Nepal earthquake
13	1964-03-28 03:36:13		249	ALASKA1964	1964 Alaska earthquake
14	1985-09-19 13:17:50		236	MEXICOCITY1985	1985 Mexico City earthquake
15	1960-05-22 19:11:20		236	CHILE1960	1960 Valdivia earthquake
16	1971-02-09 14:00:40		227	SANFERNANDO1971	1971 San Fernando earthquake
17	2001-01-26 03:16:40		221	BHUJ2001	2001 Gujarat earthquake
18	2010-09-03 16:35:46		216	DARFIELD2010	2010 Canterbury earthquake
19	1976-07-27 19:42:53		195	TANGSHAN1976	1976 Tangshan earthquake
20	1976-05-06 20:00:12		187	FRIULI1976	1976 Friuli earthquake
21	1980-11-23 18:34:52		178	IRPINIA1980	1980 Irpinia earthquake
22	2003-09-25 19:50:07		177	TOKACHI-0KI2003	2003 Hokkaidō earthquake
23	2013-04-20 00:02:47		172	LUSHAN2013	2013 Lushan earthquake
24	2011-02-21 23:51:42		170	CHRISTCHURCH2011A	2011 Christchurch earthquake
25	2016-04-15 16:25:06		170	KUMAMOTO2016	2016 Kumamoto earthquakes
26	2004-09-28 17:15:24		166	PARKFIELD2004	Parkfield earthquake
27	2005-03-28 16:09:35		165	NIAS2005	2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake
28	2004-10-23 08:55:58		162	MID-NIIGATA2004	2004 Chūetsu earthquake
29	2012-05-20 02:03:53		153	EMILIA2012A	2012 Northern Italy earthquakes
30	1999-10-16 09:46:45		150	HECTOR-MINE1999	1999 Hector Mine earthquake
31	2001-11-14 09:26:10		148	KUNLUN2001	2001 Kunlun earthquake
32	2005-10-08 03:50:35		144	KASHMIR2005	2005 Kashmir earthquake
33	2002-11-03 22:12:41		141	DENALI2002	2002 Denali earthquake
34	1988-12-07 07:41:24		139	ARMENIA1988	1988 Armenian earthquake
35	1999-11-12 16:57:19		137	DUZCE1999	1999 Düzce earthquake
36	1979-10-15 23:16:57		132	IMPERIAL1979	1979 Imperial Valley earthquake
37	2003-12-26 01:56:53		128	BAM2003	2003 Bam earthquake
38	1923-09-01 02:58:35		127	KANTO1923	1923 Great Kantō earthquake
39	2010-01-12 21:53:10		125	HAITI2010	2010 Haiti earthquake
40	1983-05-26 02:59:58		114	SEAOFJAPAN1983	1983 Sea of Japan earthquake
41	2012-05-29 07:00:04		111	EMILIA2012B	2012 Northern Italy earthquakes
42	1997-09-26 09:40:25		102	UMBRIA-MARCHE1997B	1997 Umbria and Marche earthquake
43	2000-10-06 04:30:17		100	TOTTORI2000	2000 Tottori earthquake
44	2008-06-13 23:43:46		97	IWATE-MIYAGI2008	2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake
45	2007-07-16 01:13:21		96	CHUETSU-0KI2007	2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake
46	2010-04-13 23:49:37		96	YUSHU 2010	2010 Yushu earthquake
47	1977-03-04 19:21:54		96	ROMANIAN1977	1977 Vrancea earthquake
48	2011-10-23 10:41:22		91	VAN2011	2011 Van earthquakes
49	1975-02-04 11:36:05		80	HAICHENG1975	1975 Haicheng earthquake
50	2007-03-25 00:41:57		73	NOTO-HANTO2007	2007 Noto earthquake

modified from figure 2, "The most studied events", at the ISC's .
. 2018.

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