Deadliest Earthquakes in History

LiveScience Staff

Date: 27 March 2005 Time: 07:00 PM ET

Earthquake damage.
CREDIT: USGS

Tsunamis and fires have contributed to some of the largest death tolls in earthquakes. Here are the most notable known earthquake events, based on the number of deaths. Both deaths and magnitudes, when shown, are estimates.

Date	Location	Deaths	Magnitude	Comments
January 23, 1556	China, Shansi	830,000	~8	Damage up to 270 miles away
July 27, 1976	China, Tangshan	255,000 (official) 655,000 (estimated)	7.5	Estimated death toll as high as 655,000.
Dec. 26, 2004	Sumatra, Indonesia	227,898	9.1	Deaths from earthquake and tsunami
August 9, 1138	Syria, Aleppo	230,000	n/a
Jan. 12, 2010	Haiti	222,570	7.0	1.3 million displaced.
May 22, 1927	China, near Xining	200,000	7.9	Large fractures.
December 22, 856+	Iran, Damghan	200,000	n/a
December 16, 1920	China, Gansu	200,000	8.6	Major fractures, landslides.
March 23, 893	Iran, Ardabil	150,000
September 1, 1923	Japan, Kanto (Kwanto)	143,000	7.9	Great Tokyo fire.
October 5, 1948	USSR (Turkmenistan, Ashgabat)	110,000	7.3
December 28, 1908	Italy, Messina	70,000 to 100,000 (estimated)	7.2	Deaths from earthquake and tsunami.
September, 1290	China, Chihli	100,000	n/a
May 12, 2008	Sichuan, China	87,586	7.9	More than 45.5 million affected
Oct. 8, 2005	Pakistan	85,000	7.6	More than 69,000 injured
November, 1667	Caucasia, Shemakha	80,000
November 18, 1727	Iran, Tabriz	77,000	n/a
November 1, 1755	Portugal, Lisbon	70,000	8.7	Great tsunami.
December 25, 1932	China, Gansu	70,000	7.6
May 31, 1970	Peru	66,000	7.9	$530,000,000 damage, great rock slide, floods.
1268	Asia Minor, Silicia	60,000	n/a
January 11, 1693	Italy, Sicily	60,000
May 30, 1935	Pakistan, Quetta	30,000 to 60,000	7.5	Quetta almost completely destroyed.
February 4, 1783	Italy, Calabria	50,000
June 20, 1990	Iran	50,000	7.7	Landslides.

SOURCE: USGS