WORST EARTHQUAKES

VALDIVIA, CHILE

When it comes to the earthquake’s magnitude, the 1960

Valdivia earthquake takes the cake at 9.5, which was equivalent

to a massive 178-Gigatons of power. This can be comparable to

1,000 atomic bombs going off at the same time. The earthquake was not

only felt in Valdivia but also reached Hawaii, at a distance of 435 miles.

While only 6,000 people died in the catastrophe, it incurred more

than $1 billion worth of damages.

SHAANXI, CHINA

This earthquake has sometimes been called the deadliest

earthquake in history. The incident happened on January 23, 1556 in

Shaanxi, China and devastated an area of 520 miles. It was felt in

97 countries; and resulted in more than 20 metres deep crevices

and landslides, which collapsed numerous dwellings. The death toll of

this devastating earthquake was 830,000, which is over 60% of the

region’s population. Its magnitude was only 8.0 on the Richter

Scale or only 1-Gigaton, but the costs cannot be written in

today’s terms.

SUMATRA, INDONESIA

This earthquake hit the sea bed of the Indian Ocean on December 26,

2004 with a magnitude of 9.1 to 9.3 or over 32-Gigatons, and caused

the Boxing Day Tsunami. This was the second highest seismic activity

recorded with the longest duration of tremors. The after-effects even

reached Maldives and Thailand, with more than 5 tsunamis hitting the

coastlines of the Indian Sea. It had a death toll of 100,100 to 225,000

with over $7 billion worth of rescue and damage costs during the first

8.3 to 10 minutes alone.

ALEPPO, SYRIA

This disaster happened near the town of Aleppo in Syria on October 11,

1138. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 8.5 or 2.8-Gigaton,

was labelled as the fourth worst earthquake disaster in the world.

Catastrophes included a nearby church that fell on itself causing the

death of 600 guards and citizens, and total death toll of 230,000.

A number of towns near the tremor were completely destroyed and

had to be rebuilt to become habitable again.

TANGSHAN, CHINA

This tragedy happened on July 28, 1976 in Tangshan, Hebei and

killed 255,000 people though the Chinese government first recorded

its death toll at 655,000. The 8.2 magnitude or 2.2-Gigaton quake

only lasted for 10 seconds, but brought a lot of devastation to the

area. In addition, Tangshan is a region with a very low-risk for earthquakes,

so the buildings were not earthquake-proof. The quake was 4 miles long

and 5 miles wide, which left a total damage of 10 billion Yuan or $1.3 billion.

HAIYUAN COUNTY, CHINA

Also called ‘the 1920 Gansu Earthquake,’ this disaster happened

in Haiyuan County, Ningxia. Though there were conflicting reports on its

magnitude and death toll, as both the Chinese government and the

United States Geological Survey (USGS) published different reports,

it still brought catastrophic effects that were felt for over 125 miles

and aftershocks that lasted over 3 years. The December 16, 1920

quake has conflicting magnitudes of 7.8 and 8.5 and death tolls of

200,000 or 240,000.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

The Haiti earthquake was a magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale, with

an epicentre near Leogane, 25 km west of its capital, Port-au-Prince.

It struck on January 12, 2010 where at least 52 aftershocks measuring

4.5 or greater could still be felt even 12 days later. The earthquake left

a devastating wake of 316,000 deaths, 300,000 injured and 1,000,000

people homeless. It was estimated that 250,000 houses and 30,000

commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely destroyed.

  XINING, CHINA

Xining, which lies on the Huangshui River on the eastern part of

Quinghai Province, experienced a magnitude 7.9 seismic activity on

May 22, 1927. It killed 40,900 people though there were other reports

that the death toll could be as high as 200,000. The earthquake was not

only deadly but it also brought large fractures, damages to over 500

schools and office buildings causing many people to lose their

occupations. This was also linked to the Great Gansu Earthquake.

DAMGHAN, IRAN

The earliest record-breaking earthquake as it happened on December

22, 856, this earthquake struck Damghan, the capital of Iran at that

time with a magnitude of 8.0 or 1-Gigaton power. It killed 200,000 people,

with tremors that could be felt throughout the surrounding areas of

Damghan causing these areas to be totally destroyed as well, though

Damghan itself was not severely damaged. A great example was

Bustam, a nearby town, which was completely levelled by the quake.