Earthquakes
The ground itself giving way — the great quakes that levelled cities and reshaped coastlines, from Lisbon 1755 to the megathrusts of the modern age.
Part of Natural Disasters
108 moments in this segment.
- — The 115 Antioch earthquake. An earthquake struck Antioch while the Roman emperor Trajan was wintering there, nearly killing him.
- — The 526 Antioch earthquake. A quake and fire destroyed Antioch in the Byzantine Empire, killing an estimated 250,000.
- — The 856 Damghan earthquake. One of the deadliest earthquakes in history struck Damghan in Persia in 856, killing some 200,000.
- — The 893 Ardabil earthquake. A catastrophic earthquake struck Ardabil in northwestern Persia in 893, one of history's deadliest.
- — The 1138 Aleppo earthquake. One of the deadliest earthquakes ever, it devastated Aleppo in Syria, killing around 230,000.
- — The 1356 Basel earthquake. The most destructive earthquake in central Europe's recorded history levelled the Swiss city of Basel.
- — The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake. The deadliest earthquake in history killed an estimated 830,000 people in Shaanxi, China, where many lived in soft-loess cave dwellings.
- — The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake. The deadliest earthquake in recorded history killed an estimated 830,000 in China's Shaanxi province.
- — The 1692 Port Royal earthquake. An earthquake dropped much of the pirate city of Port Royal, Jamaica, into the sea in 1692.
- — The 1746 Lima–Callao earthquake. An earthquake and tsunami destroyed Lima and its port Callao in 1746, one of Peru's worst disasters.
- — The 1751 Concepción earthquake. A great earthquake and tsunami destroyed Concepción in colonial Chile, forcing the city to move.
- — The 1755 Lisbon earthquake. On All Saints' Day 1755 a magnitude ~8.5 quake, fire and tsunami destroyed Lisbon and killed tens of thousands — a catastrophe that shook Enlightenment Europe's faith itself.
- — The 1783 Calabrian earthquakes. A sequence of earthquakes devastated Calabria in southern Italy in 1783, killing tens of thousands.
- — The 1797 Riobamba earthquake. One of the most destructive earthquakes in the Andes levelled Riobamba, Ecuador, killing tens of thousands.
- — The New Madrid earthquakes. A series of massive earthquakes rocked the central U.S. in 1811-12, reportedly making the Mississippi run backwards.
- — The 1812 Caracas earthquake. An earthquake destroyed Caracas during Venezuela's war of independence, killing thousands.
- — The 1822 Aleppo earthquake. An earthquake devastated the Syrian city of Aleppo again in 1822, centuries after the great 1138 disaster.
- — The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake. New Zealand's largest recorded earthquake lifted the Wellington coastline in 1855.
- — The 1855 Edo earthquake. An earthquake struck Edo (Tokyo), spawning the famous 'namazu-e' catfish woodblock prints of Japanese folklore.
- — The 1886 Charleston earthquake. A rare, powerful earthquake in the U.S. Southeast devastated Charleston, South Carolina.
- — The 1891 Mino–Owari earthquake. The largest known inland earthquake in Japan tore a visible fault scarp across the countryside.
- — The 1939 Chillán earthquake. An earthquake destroyed the Chilean city of Chillán in 1939, one of the country's deadliest.
- — The 1944 San Juan earthquake. An earthquake destroyed the Argentine city of San Juan in 1944, a disaster that helped launch Juan Perón.
- — The 1960 Agadir earthquake. A moderate but shallow quake destroyed the Moroccan city of Agadir, killing a third of its population.
- — The 1964 Alaska earthquake. The magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake — the strongest in North American history — devastated Anchorage.
- — The 1963 Skopje earthquake. A quake destroyed 80% of Skopje in Yugoslavia (now North Macedonia), killing over 1,000.
- — The 1972 Managua earthquake. An earthquake destroyed the centre of Managua, Nicaragua, on Christmas Eve, killing over 10,000.
- — The 1976 Guatemala earthquake. A quake along the Motagua Fault killed over 23,000 in Guatemala.
- — The 1976 Tangshan earthquake. A magnitude 7.6 quake struck the sleeping Chinese city of Tangshan, killing at least 242,000 people — one of the deadliest earthquakes in recorded history.
- — The 1977 Caucete earthquake. An earthquake struck the San Juan region of Argentina in 1977, causing widespread liquefaction.
- — The 1978 Tabas earthquake. An earthquake obliterated the Iranian desert town of Tabas, killing around 15,000.
- — The 1980 El Asnam earthquake. An earthquake destroyed the Algerian city of El Asnam (Chlef) in 1980, killing thousands.
- — The 1980 Irpinia earthquake. A quake struck the Campania and Basilicata regions of southern Italy, killing nearly 2,500.
- — The 1985 Mexico City earthquake. An 8.0 quake off the Pacific coast devastated Mexico City hundreds of kilometres away, collapsing buildings and killing around 10,000.
- — The 1986 San Salvador earthquake. An earthquake struck the capital of El Salvador in 1986, killing over 1,500.
- — The 1988 Armenian earthquake. The Spitak earthquake devastated northern Armenia in the Soviet Union, killing at least 25,000.
- — The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A quake struck the San Francisco Bay Area during a live World Series broadcast, collapsing a freeway and killing 63.
- — The 1992 Cairo earthquake. A moderate but shallow earthquake struck Cairo in 1992, killing over 500 in the crowded city.
- — The 1993 Latur earthquake. An earthquake struck a quiet, quake-free part of India in 1993, killing nearly 10,000 in their sleep.
- — The 1994 Northridge earthquake. A quake beneath Los Angeles killed 57 and caused over $20 billion in damage.
- — The 1999 Armenia earthquake. An earthquake devastated Colombia's coffee-growing region around the city of Armenia in 1999.
- — The 1999 İzmit earthquake. A magnitude 7.6 quake struck northwestern Turkey, killing over 17,000.
- — The 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. The 921 earthquake devastated central Taiwan in 1999, killing over 2,400 and collapsing a school onto its foundations.
- — The 1999 Düzce earthquake. A second great earthquake struck Düzce, Turkey, months after the İzmit disaster of 1999.
- — The 2001 Gujarat earthquake. A quake struck western India on Republic Day, killing around 20,000.
- — The 2005 Nias earthquake. A great aftershock of the 2004 megaquake struck Nias island off Sumatra, killing over 1,300.
- — The 2005 Kashmir earthquake. A magnitude 7.6 quake devastated Pakistani-administered Kashmir, killing over 87,000 in the Himalayan foothills.
- — The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. An earthquake struck near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, killing nearly 6,000.
- — The 1915 Avezzano earthquake. An earthquake destroyed Avezzano in central Italy, killing over 30,000.
- — The 2008 Sichuan earthquake. A magnitude 7.9 quake struck Sichuan, China, killing nearly 90,000 and collapsing schools across the province.
- — The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. A quake struck the medieval Italian city of L'Aquila, killing 309 and later leading to a controversial scientists' trial.
- — The 2009 Padang earthquake. An earthquake struck Padang on Sumatra in 2009, collapsing buildings and killing over 1,100.
- — The 2010 Haiti earthquake. A magnitude 7.0 quake struck near Port-au-Prince, killing an estimated 100,000-300,000 people and devastating the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
- — The 2010 Haiti earthquake. An earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, killing well over 100,000 in one of the deadliest disasters of the century.
- — The 2010 Chile earthquake. A magnitude 8.8 quake and tsunami struck central Chile, killing over 500.
- — The 2010 Yushu earthquake. A quake struck the Tibetan plateau of Qinghai, China, killing around 2,700.
- — The 2011 Christchurch earthquake. A shallow quake devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 185 and destroying much of the city centre.
- — The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. The magnitude 9.0 quake off Japan — the most powerful in the country's history — shifted the Earth on its axis.
- — The 2012 Emilia earthquakes. Quakes struck the Po Valley of northern Italy, killing 27 and toppling historic towers.
- — The 2013 Lushan earthquake. An earthquake struck Sichuan, China, near the 2008 disaster zone, killing about 200.
- — The 2013 Bohol earthquake. A quake struck the central Philippines, destroying centuries-old churches and killing over 220.
- — The 2015 Nepal earthquake. A 7.8 quake struck Nepal, killing nearly 9,000, flattening centuries-old temples in Kathmandu and triggering a deadly avalanche on Everest.
- — The Nepal aftershock. A major aftershock struck Nepal weeks after the 2015 Gorkha quake, toppling already-weakened buildings.
- — The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. A sequence of earthquakes struck Kumamoto on Kyushu, Japan, in 2016, damaging its historic castle.
- — The 2016 Ecuador earthquake. A powerful earthquake struck Ecuador's coast, killing over 670 in Pedernales and Portoviejo.
- — The 1995 Kobe earthquake. The Great Hanshin earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, killing over 6,400 and shattering the myth that modern Japanese infrastructure was quake-proof.
- — The 2016 Central Italy earthquake. A quake destroyed the town of Amatrice and villages in the Apennines, killing nearly 300.
- — The 2016 central Italy earthquakes. A sequence of earthquakes destroyed Amatrice, Norcia and other medieval towns in central Italy.
- — The 2017 Puebla earthquake. A quake struck central Mexico exactly 32 years after the 1985 disaster, killing over 370.
- — The 2017 Iran–Iraq earthquake. An earthquake on the Iran–Iraq border in 2017 killed over 600 and destroyed new government housing.
- — The 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake. An earthquake devastated the Iranian provinces of Gilan and Zanjan in 1990, killing some 40,000.
- — The Gujarat earthquake on Republic Day. The 2001 Bhuj quake struck as India celebrated Republic Day, killing around 20,000.
- — The 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The great quake and the three-day firestorm that followed levelled much of San Francisco, killing some 3,000 and leaving 200,000 homeless.
- — The 2018 Lombok earthquakes. A series of quakes struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, killing over 500.
- — The 2018 Palu earthquake. An earthquake, tsunami and rare soil liquefaction devastated Palu on Sulawesi, Indonesia.
- — The 1970 Great Peruvian earthquake. Peru's worst disaster killed about 70,000, including 20,000 buried by an avalanche off Huascarán.
- — The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. A quake and firestorm destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama, killing over 105,000 in Japan's deadliest earthquake.
- — The 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake. One of the largest continental earthquakes ever recorded devastated the Assam-Tibet border.
- — The 1939 Erzincan earthquake. Turkey's deadliest recorded earthquake killed some 33,000 people in the depth of winter.
- — The 2019 Albania earthquake. An earthquake struck Durrës and Thumanë in Albania in 2019, the country's deadliest in decades.
- — The 2003 Boumerdès earthquake. A quake struck northern Algeria near Algiers, killing over 2,200.
- — The 2003 Bam earthquake. A quake destroyed the ancient mud-brick citadel city of Bam, Iran, killing over 26,000.
- — The 1990 Luzon earthquake. A powerful earthquake struck the Philippines' Luzon island, collapsing a Baguio hotel with people inside.
- — The 2020 Aegean earthquake. An earthquake in the Aegean toppled buildings in İzmir, Turkey, and sent a small tsunami into Samos in 2020.
- — The 2020 Petrinja earthquake. An earthquake devastated the town of Petrinja in Croatia at the end of 2020.
- — The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. New Zealand's deadliest earthquake destroyed Napier and Hastings, killing 256.
- — The 1905 Kangra earthquake. An earthquake in the Indian Himalayas killed some 20,000 and destroyed the town of Kangra.
- — The 1970 Ancash earthquake. Peru's deadliest natural disaster; the quake killed about 70,000, including 20,000 buried by the Huascarán avalanche.
- — The 2022 Afghanistan earthquake. A quake struck rural eastern Afghanistan, killing over 1,000 in remote mountain villages.
- — The 2022 Michoacán earthquake. An earthquake struck western Mexico in 2022 on the anniversary of the 1985 and 2017 quakes — a chilling coincidence.
- — The 2022 Cianjur earthquake. A shallow earthquake struck Cianjur on Java, Indonesia, in 2022, killing over 600, many of them children.
- — The 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes. Twin quakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 struck southern Turkey and Syria, killing more than 55,000 in one of the region's worst disasters.
- — The 2023 Morocco earthquake. A magnitude 6.8 quake struck the High Atlas mountains near Marrakesh, killing nearly 3,000 in remote villages.
- — The 2023 Herat earthquakes. A series of earthquakes flattened villages near Herat, Afghanistan, killing thousands, most of them women and children.
- — The 1927 Gulang earthquake. A powerful earthquake struck Gansu, China, killing an estimated 40,000.
- — The 2024 Noto earthquake. A magnitude 7.6 quake struck Japan's Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day, triggering a tsunami and fires.
- — The 2024 Hualien earthquake. Taiwan's strongest quake in 25 years struck near Hualien, toppling buildings.
- — The Great Chilean earthquake. The most powerful earthquake ever recorded — magnitude 9.5 — struck Valdivia, Chile, and sent a tsunami across the Pacific.
- — The 2025 Myanmar earthquake. A powerful magnitude 7.7 quake struck central Myanmar near Mandalay, causing catastrophic damage.
- — The 1976 Friuli earthquake. A quake devastated the Friuli region of northeastern Italy, killing nearly 1,000.
- — The 1945 Makran earthquake. A megathrust earthquake off Pakistan's Makran coast triggered a tsunami across the Arabian Sea.
- — The 1957 Golden Angel earthquake. An earthquake toppled Mexico City's landmark Angel of Independence statue in 1957.
- — The 1960 Valdivia earthquake. The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, struck southern Chile and sent tsunamis across the Pacific.
- — The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake. A quake levelled Ashgabat in Soviet Turkmenistan, killing an estimated 110,000.
- — The 1935 Quetta earthquake. An earthquake destroyed Quetta in British India (now Pakistan), killing tens of thousands.
- — The 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake. An earthquake and tsunami struck the Moro Gulf in the southern Philippines in 1976, killing thousands.
- — The Great Kantō firestorm. The 1923 quake's true horror was fire — firestorms and a fire tornado in Tokyo killed tens of thousands in minutes.
- — The 1993 Hokkaido earthquake. The Hokkaido earthquake and its tsunami devastated the island of Okushiri in Japan in 1993.
