Major Earthquakes since 2000:
(selected timeline of earthquakes around the world with death tolls exceeding 100)
June 4, 2000 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes southern Sumatra, Indonesia, killing an estimated 103 people.
January 13, 2001 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquakes hits near San Miguel, El Salvador, killing an estimated 852 people.
January 26, 2001 – An estimated 20,000 people are killed by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered in Gujarat, India.
February 13, 2001 – Another earthquake strikes El Salvador, magnitude 6.6. Three hundred and fifteen people are estimated to have been killed.
June 23, 2001 – An estimated 138 people are killed in Peru by an 8.4 magnitude earthquake.
March 3, 2002 – In the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, an estimated 166 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.
March 25, 2002 – Another earthquake in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, this one a magnitude 6.1, kills 1,000 people.
February 24, 2003 – In southern Xianjiang, China, a magnitude 6.3 quake leaves an estimated 263 people dead.
May 1, 2003 – A 6.4 quake strikes eastern Turkey, killing approximately 177 people.
May 21, 2003 – An estimated 2,266 people are killed by a magnitude 6.8 quake in northern Algeria.
December 26, 2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes the city of Bam in southeast Iran. Around 31,000 people die in the quake.
February 24, 2004 – Approximately 631 people are killed in Morocco by a magnitude 6.4 quake.
February 22, 2005 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes central Iran, killing at least 612 people.
May 26, 2006 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs in central Java, Indonesia, killing at least 5,749 people.
July 17, 2006 – A magnitude 7.7 quake strikes Java, Indonesia, killing an estimated 730 people.
August 15, 2007 – A magnitude 8.0 earthquake hits Peru, about 100 miles south of the capital of Lima. Approximately 514 people are reported dead.
May 12, 2008 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes in central China. It is estimated that more than 87,000 people have been killed.
October 28, 2008 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Pakistan, killing an estimated 166 people.
April 6, 2009 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes central Italy, killing 295 people.
September 29, 2009 – An 8.0 earthquake in the Samoa Islands kills approximately 192 people.
September 30, 2009 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes Sumatra, Indonesia, killing more than 1,000 people.
February 27, 2010 – An 8.8 magnitude earthquake strikes central Chile, killing an estimated 547 people.
April 13, 2010 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes China’s Qinghai province. Approximately 2,968 people are reported dead.
October 25, 2010 – At least 503 people die due to a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Indonesia and a subsequent tsunami.
February 21, 2011 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Christchurch, New Zealand. An estimated 181 people are killed.
September 18, 2011 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Sikkim, India, killing an estimated 111 people.
October 23, 2011 – A 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Turkey. The confirmed death toll is 604 people.
February 6, 2012 – A 6.7-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Negros, Philippines, killing at least 113 people.
November 7, 2012 – A 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Guatemala kills an estimated 139 people.
April 20, 2013 – An earthquake strikes the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, killing at least 192 people. The US Geological Survey gauges it at 6.6-magnitude and the China Earthquake Networks Center estimates it at 7.0-magnitude.
(from the US Geological Survey)
May 22, 1960 – Chile, 9.5
March 28, 1964 – Prince William Sound, Alaska, 9.2
December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia, 9.1
March 11, 2011 – Honshu, Japan, 9.1
November 4, 1952 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 9.0
February 27, 2010 – Chile, 8.8
January 31, 1906 – Ecuador, 8.8
February 4, 1965 – Rat Islands, Alaska, 8.7
March 28, 2005 – Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
August 15, 1950 – Assam – Tibet, 8.6
April 11, 2012 – Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
March 9, 1957 – Andreanof Islands, Alaska, 8.6
September 12, 2007 – Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.5
February 1, 1938 – Banda Sea, Indonesia, 8.5
February 3, 1923 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 8.5
November 11, 1922 – Chile-Argentina Border, 8.5
October 13, 1963 – Kuril Islands, 8.5
Deadliest Earthquakes from 1900 to present:
(from the US Geological Survey)
July 27, 1976 – Tangshan, China – 242,769 killed (7.5)
December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia – 227,898 killed in quake and resulting tsunami (9.1)
December 16, 1920 – Haiyuan, China – 200,000 killed (7.8)
September 1, 1923 – Kanto, Japan – 142,800 killed (7.9)
October 5, 1948 – Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 110,000 killed (7.3)
May 12, 2008 – Eastern Sichuan, China – 87,587 killed (7.9)
October 8, 2005 – Pakistan – 86,000 (7.6)
December 28, 1908 – Messina, Italy – 72,000 (7.2)
May 31, 1970 – Chimbote, Peru – 70,000 killed (7.9)
June 20, 1990 – Rasht-Qazvin-Zanjan, Iran – 50,000 killed (7.4)
Richter Scale:
Invented in 1935 by Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg, of the California Institute of Technology.
After a seismograph recorded the amplitude of waves during an earthquake, Richter used a logarithm to determine the magnitude of the quake.
Each whole number increase on the scale, say from 5.0 to 6.0, represents a tenfold increase in amplitude and releases 32 times more energy.
