The biggest earthquakes in history

Extreme Events & Natural Disasters / Date: 04-27-2025

The largest earthquakes in history have reached levels equal to or greater than 9 degrees in intensity. They have caused the loss of many lives and countless material damages.

Earthquakes , as we know, are tremors in the Earth's crust, manifested mainly by the accommodation of the lithosphere in areas where two tectonic plates meet or by the manifestation of some geological fault. The largest earthquakes in history – which obviously includes only those recorded by humans – were all identified in areas where manifestations of tectonics are very common, which reveals the fact that these areas are much more geologically unstable than the others.

At least based on official records, there has not been a single earthquake that has exceeded or equaled 10 points on the Richter Scale, which, theoretically, has no limit number. Therefore, the closer the intensity of the earthquake is to this value, the greater the damage it tends to cause to the environment around its epicenter.

Thus, the five strongest earthquakes ever recorded were:

5th) Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia (1952)

In 1952, the vast Kamchatka Peninsula, in the eastern part of Russia – close to the Bering Strait – was hit by a powerful earthquake that measured an amazing 9.0 on the Richter Scale, and was felt as far away as Hawaii island. Though it resulted in some destruction, there were no fatalities caused by the phenomenon, owing to the fact that the region was thinly populated.

4th) Oshika Peninsula, Japan (2011)

The March 2011 earthquake that hit Japan, on the Oshika Peninsula in Japan's Tohoku region, is comparable to the earlier earthquake . But while the effects of the earlier earthquake were felt in a lesser manner, the effects were felt more intensely in what is regarded by many as the biggest earthquake in Japanese history.

At the time of the incident, over 13,000 fatalities and thousands of missing individuals were noted, as well as extensive damage to infrastructure systems which enable part of the nation to survive, including railways, highways and others. A nuclear power plant, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, however, was also affected when it experienced a powerful tsunami wave created by the earthquake that had a great possibility of radioactive leakage.

3rd) Sumatra Island, Indonesia (2004)

In December 2004, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The biggest problem with this earthquake was that it also caused a tsunami, which created an uncommon number of fatalities in most countries of the region, and even popularized the term "tsunami" worldwide.

Overall, more than 220,000 victims were tallied in thirteen countries: Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Madagascar, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Seychelles, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Therefore, the earthquake was officially referred to as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

2nd) Alaska, United States (1964)

A 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Alaska killed 125 individuals in March 1964. Following this earthquake, no other earthquake of higher magnitude has ever occurred on the Earth since the strongest earthquake in the world had happened on a previous date.

In addition to the strong impacts on the surface and the intense landslides, the Alaskan earthquake also generated a tsunami. At the time, little was known about the origin of this phenomenon and the occurrence of this episode served to corroborate, at the time, the theory that seismic shocks were associated with the meeting of two tectonic plates, the existence of which had not yet been fully proven.

1st) Valdivia, Chile (1960)

The most intense earthquake ever scientifically recorded occurred in the city of Valdivia, Chile, and affected much of the country, being known as the Great Chilean Earthquake . In total, more than two thousand people died and countless material losses were recorded. At the time, the earthquake generated a tsunami that crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached Japan.

Chile, being a nation nearly wholly placed in a region in the convergence area of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, has a high rate of major earthquakes, including the strongest ever diagnosed.

It is worth noting that this list was drawn up using scientific accounts of earthquake strength, rather than the damage they did. Were we to use material destruction and loss of human life as our primary guide for selecting the strongest earthquake in history, the Shensi earthquake in China in 1556 would top the list with its staggering death toll of 830,000.