The world’s strongest earthquakes since 1900

Saturday's quake is touted to be worst in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years. A look at the world's strongest earthquakes since 1900.

A file photo of Japanese schoolchildren making their way through the rubble in the devastated city of Minamisanriku, northeastern Japan on March, 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country’s northeast coast.

A magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal’s capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley on Saturday, the worst quake in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years. The world’s strongest earthquakes since 1900:

The world's strongest earthquakes since 1900

• March 2, 2016 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes in the Indian Ocean, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of Sumatra in Indonesia. Tsunami warnings were briefly issued for Indonesia and Australia.
• April 25, 2015 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal, killing more than 8,000 people.
• April 11, 2012 - A magnitude-8.6 quake off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia triggers tsunami warnings in more than two dozen nations.
• March 11, 2011 - A magnitude-9.0 quake off the northeast coast of Japan triggers a tsunami, killing more than 18,000 people.
• Feb. 27, 2010 - A magnitude-8.8 quake shakes Chile, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.
• Sept. 12, 2007 - A magnitude-8.5 quake near Sumatra in Indonesia kills at least 25 people.
• March 28, 2005 - A magnitude-8.6 quake in northern Sumatra in Indonesia kills about 1,300 people.
• Dec. 26, 2004 - A magnitude-9.1 quake in Indonesia triggers an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
• Feb. 4, 1965 - A magnitude-8.7 quake strikes Alaska’s Rat Islands, causing an 11-meter (35—foot) -high tsunami.
• March 28, 1964 - A magnitude-9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, kills 131 people, including 128 from a tsunami.
• Oct. 13, 1963 - A magnitude-8.5 quake in the Kuril Islands triggers a tsunami.
• May 22, 1960 - A magnitude-9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami kill at least 1,716 people.
• March 9, 1957 - A magnitude-8.6 quake strikes the Andreanof Islands in Alaska triggers a 16-meter (52-foot) -high tsunami.
• Nov. 4, 1952 - A magnitude-9.0 quake in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East causes damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.
• Aug. 15, 1950 - A magnitude-8.6 earthquake in Tibet kills at least 780 people.
• Feb.1 , 1938 - A magnitude-8.5 quake in Banda Sea, Indonesia, generates a small tsunami.
• Feb. 3, 1923 - A magnitude-8.5 quake in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East triggers a tsunami.
• Nov. 11, 1922 - A magnitude-8.5 quake along the Chile—Argentina border triggers a tsunami that causes damage along Chile’s coast.
• Jan. 31, 1906 - A magnitude—8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador generates a tsunami that kills at least 500 people.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Published - April 25, 2015 04:28 pm IST