10 Deadliest Earthquakes

2010: Port-au-Prince, Haiti


2004: Indian Ocean Tsunami

2005: Kashmir, Pakistan


2008: Sichuan Province, China






10 deadliest earthquakes

1970: Chimbote, Peru

The Great Peruvian Earthquake hit the coastal town of Chimbote, Peru on May 31, 1970 — measuring a 7.9

magnitude on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the quake was 15 miles away from the city, in the Pacific Ocean, yet the disaster claimed the lives of some

70,000 people and left more than 800,000 homeless. Landslides, with debris traveling at speeds of up to 200 mph

down the sides of the Navado Huascaran mountain, destroyed whole villages. Tremors could be felt in Lima — some 400 miles

away.

70,000 people were killed or presumed dead on May 31, 1970, when a 7.9 earthquake hit Chimbote, Peru.

1908: Messina, Italy

By today's standards, the earthquake that struck beneath the Messina Strait — which separates the regions of Sicily and Calabria — on December 28, 1908, was a magnitude 7.5. A subsequent tsunami sent waves as much as 40 feet high

crashing into the Italian coast. More than 123.000 people were killed and dozens of towns destroyed. Refugees from Messina

were relocated to cities throughout Italy. Many were eventually transported to North America, aboard

ships like the Florida — which, before reaching New York City, collided with another vessel, killing three already traumatized

Italian passengers.

123.000 people were killed by a magnitude-7.2 earthquake in Messina, Italy, more than 40% of the city's population was killed. The December 28, 1908, quake caused a tsunami and was felt throughout Sicily.


Kashmir, the site of a prolonged and violent border dispute between India and Pakistan, is beleaguered enough;

a massive earthquake on Oct. 8, 2005 only added to the province's woes. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, the

quake killed 100,000 and left millions more homeless. The remote, mountainous terrain compounded problems for

rescue and recovery efforts, as crews struggled to reach the injured.

100.000 people were killed on October 8, 2005, when a magnitude-7.6 earthquake slammed northern Pakistan. The heaviest damage occurred in parts of Kashmir, where entire villages were destroyed.


Over 87,000 people died in China's deadly 2008 earthquake, and an estimated 10 million were left homeless.

The 7.9-magnitude disaster struck the mountainous Sichuan Province in western China, destroying millions of buildings and

causing an estimated $86 billion worth of damage. Nearly 10,000 children died in schools — trapped under rubble when the buildings collapsed — leading to public outcry and a

government investigation that found that as many as 20 percent of primary schools may have been shoddily constructed and unsafe.

Grieving parents' initial calls for justice, however, have been silenced to a large extent by intimidation and alleged payoffs.

The magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck eastern Sichuan, China on May 12, 2008, killed 87,587 people and was felt in parts of Bangladesh, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

1948: Turkmenistan

In a matter of minutes, an October earthquake measuring 7.3 turned the city of Ashgabat into a pile of rubble.

A thousand Soviet doctors, nurses and other medical personnel flooded in from Moscow and other cities to aid sufferers in what is

now Turkmenistan. Despite their efforts, 110,000 people perished.

The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, at a magnitude 7.3 Mw, occurred at 1:12 in the morning on 6 October 1948, near Ashgabat, in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. Almost all the brick buildings in Ashgabat, collapsed and 110,000 people were killed.

1923: Kanto, Japan

Shortly before noon on September 1, 1923, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale sent shockwaves through the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. The violent tremors left few

buildings habitable and prompted a tsunami that surged up to 40 ft. (12 m.) high.

But the damage continued for days: by the time the fires stemming from the quake were contained, 90% of Yokohama's buildings were reportedly damaged or in ruins, and some two-fifths of Tokyo's had

been destroyed — leaving half its population homeless. Nearly 143,000 people died.

A 7.9 earthquake in the Tokyo-Yokohama area of Japan killed 142,800. The quake, which took place on September 1, 1923, caused firestorms and generated a tsunami.

1920: Haiyuan, China

The Dec. 16, 1920 Haiyuan earthquake — which registered a 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale — caused rivers to change course

and sent landslides pouring down mountains. Destruction stretched across seven Chinese provinces. Sujiahe, a town in in Xiji County, was completely buried under a landslide.

An estimated 200,000 people died in the disaster, which was felt as far away as Norway.

An estimated 200,000 people were killed when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Haiyuan County, China, on December 16, 1920. Here, Muslims pray outside a mosque in Haiyuan in 2007.


On Dec. 26, 2004 a 9.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the bottom of the Indian Ocean, releasing energy equivalent to that of 23,000

atomic bombs. The largest earthquake in 40 years, the Sumatra-Andaman

earthquake (so named because the epicenter was near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra) launched a tsunami across

the Indian Ocean, sending a series of waves as high as 50 feet crashing onto the shores of 11 countries.

Some people were swept out to sea while others drowned in their homes, unable to escape. According to the U.S. Geological survey,

the official death toll was 227,898.

227,898 people were killed on December 26, 2004, when a magnitude-9.1. quake hit Sumatra. This was the third-largest earthquake measured since 1900. Almost 2 million people were displaced by the earthquake and resulting tsunami.

1976: Tangshan, China

China has the misfortune to have had the second deadliest earthquake on record, the 1976 Great Tangshan Earthquake, which struck in the country's northeast. It'd be more accurate to call this a

binary quake: an aftershock that struck 16 hours after the initial temblor measured an identical 7.8 on the Richter scale and was

equally destructive. Death estimates are hard to pin down — initial reports placed the toll at nearly 700,000, but those have since been revised down to some 250,000. Compounding the massive casualty count was the decision

by the Chinese government to accept no international aid in the aftermath of the quakes.

On July 27, 1976, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake killed an estimated 242,769 people in Tangshan, China. Unofficial estimates put the toll at much higher, perhaps 700,000 deaths.


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

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicenter near the town of Léogâne (Ouest Department), approximately 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake.


Prayers for Nepal

end

cast 10 deadliest earthquakes

images and text credit www. Music wav. created olga.e.

thanks for watching

Art & Photos

10 Deadliest Earthquakes