This terrible event occurred, now known as the strongest earthquake in history, not at all in Japan or China, where such natural disasters so often occur today, but in India.
It happened the strongest earthquake in history in 1950 in Assam, an Indian state in the east of the country. The strength of the earth tremors that began then was so high that special instruments were unable to detect them, because all the sensors were just going off scale. After the earthquake ended, causing huge losses to the city and leaving terrible ruins throughout the area, the cataclysm was officially assigned a magnitude of nine on the Richter scale. However, everyone who witnessed this event knows that in reality the tremors were much stronger.
It's interesting that the waves from this the most powerful earthquake in the world even reached America. On that day, August 15, very strong, one might say, anomalous earth tremors were recorded in the United States. Researchers decided that a natural disaster was happening in Japan, however, at the same moment a similar story happened in this country. The latter suggested that the earthquake was occurring in America, but not any closer. As a result, it turned out that such a destructive shaking took place in India. It is not only the severity of this disaster that is terrible, but also its duration. The tremors continued continuously for five days, i.e. almost a week. As a result, more than two thousand people lost their homes, and more than a thousand died. More and more cracks in the earth's crust appeared every day, and thick and hot steam poured out of the cracks. The disaster had a very large-scale effect: dams, dikes and other objects were destroyed.
As a result, this strongest earthquake in history caused $25 million in damage. Newspapers described these events after this: many residents of cities and towns tried to escape in the trees, one woman even had to give birth to a child in this condition - high above the ground. This region itself has long been known for the very unstable position of the earth's crust; these places are prone to both earthquakes and floods, which occur constantly as a result of the seasonal monsoons. Two more strong cataclysms were recorded earlier - in 1869 and 1897 (more than eight points on the Richter scale).
We often imagine nature in the role of a kind of “caring grandmother,” admiring flowers, beautiful landscapes and watching a peacefully babbling brook. This impression is deceptive, as sometimes she shows her true strength.
An example of this is the most powerful earthquake in the world. More precisely, we will talk about several cases known to us, since different scientists and historians are not very similar in their assessments.
The sad list is crowned by the disaster that occurred in India. This happened not so long ago, in 1950. All old Hindus remember with horror the day when the earth split open and thousands of people disappeared without a trace into huge cracks in the earth. All this happened in the city of Assam, which was located on the eastern coast of the country.
Officially, this is the strongest earthquake in the world in the last millennium. Unfortunately, this event received a sad title for a reason.
In particular, none of the metering devices was able to record its real strength, as they were simply off scale. Official science later assigned it a score of 9, although all surviving Indian scientists from Assam unanimously insist that these figures are false, that in fact this monstrous earthquake was many times stronger.
Their words are fully confirmed by the information of their American colleagues, who, being many thousands of kilometers from the epicenter of the disaster, recorded its consequences without any instruments, since tremors of impressive force even reached the central states! This is truly the most powerful earthquake in the world.
On the same day, the alarm was sounded in Japan: the tremors detected by sensors were so strong that the country's civil defense forces cut off pipes, trying to find out in which prefecture such a strong earthquake was occurring.
What was their surprise and horror when they learned that the disaster that occurred in distant India had echoed with strong underground vibrations even among them!
This is the most powerful earthquake in the world, only due to the small size of the city (completely destroyed) and cost India a thousand dead. If something similar happened in Delhi, the consequences are scary to imagine...
Unfortunately, the Chinese are much less fortunate. In 1976, what all historians consider to be the most terrible cataclysm in the history of modern civilization occurred, meaning an incredible number of victims.
We are talking about a cataclysm in Hebei province. Then the strength of the underground rumors was “only” 8.2 points, which is much weaker than the Indian incident, but even according to official data, about 250 thousand people were among the dead.
A terrible number. Of course, this is not the strongest earthquake in history, but analysts believe that Chinese authorities underestimated the loss figures by 3-4 times.
What about our country? Are we really lucky to live in the most sustainable place on the planet? Unfortunately, it is not.
The most powerful one happened quite recently - on May 28, 1995 on Sakhalin. This is a dark day in our history. On that fateful morning, the force of the tremors was up to 10 points.
Due to the small population, everything could have worked out, but the main force of the blow was taken by the city of Neftegorsk, which after that ceased to exist. More than two thousand people died.
The most tragic thing is that graduates gathered at the local school that day. Of the 26 children, only nine survived.
Today we will talk about the deadliest and largest earthquakes that occurred on our planet.
The list of major earthquakes includes hundreds, thousands of natural phenomena, the list of the most powerful in terms of magnitude according to Wikipedia includes 13 earthquakes (we’ll talk about the most powerful below), and in terms of mortality (the number of victims and the scale of destruction) there are also 13 earthquakes, the lists are far from identical.
This is due to the fact that seismically active areas in which very strong tremors occurred were in the mountains, non-residential areas. And in poor areas with an eternally warm climate, where houses are like houses of cards, the uneven earth's surface with impressive differences in elevation, any earthquake, even one of medium magnitude, turns into a tragedy on a global scale - with a typhoon, landslides, mudflows, mud flows, floods, tsunami, tornadoes.
“Earthquake - underground tremors and vibrations of the earth's surface. According to modern views, earthquakes reflect the process of geological transformation of the planet.
It is believed that the root cause of earthquakes is global geological and tectonic forces, but at present their nature is not entirely clear. The appearance of these forces is associated with temperature inhomogeneities in the bowels of the Earth.
Most earthquakes occur at the margins of tectonic plates. It has been noted that over the past two centuries, strong earthquakes have arisen as a result of the rupture of large faults that come to the surface.
Earthquakes are best known for the devastation they can cause. Destructions of buildings and structures are caused by soil vibrations or giant tidal waves (tsunamis) that occur during seismic displacements on the seabed.
Most earthquakes occur near the Earth's surface."
That is, an earthquake begins with a shock, on land or in water (ocean), the causes of these shocks are unclear... After the rupture, the movement of rocks deep in the Earth begins. There are the most seismically active areas, including, for example, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Armenia, and Sakhalin.
The strength of the magnitude and the number of victims are not always related concepts; the number of victims depends on the area, the proximity of populated areas to the epicenter of the shock. The strength of buildings and population density are also important.
The largest earthquake in terms of magnitude in one list is the Chilean earthquake that occurred on May 22, 1960 in Valdivia (9.5 points on the Richter scale), and in the other - the earthquake in Ganja (on the site of Azerbaijan), with a magnitude of 11 points. But this natural disaster occurred a very long time ago - on September 30, 1139, so the details are not known for certain; according to rough estimates, 230 thousand people died, the phenomenon is included in the list of the five most destructive earthquakes.
The first one, which occurred in Chile, is also called the Great Chilean Earthquake; as a result of the shock, a tsunami arose with waves above 10 meters and a speed of 800 km per hour; even the regions of Japan and the Philippines were affected by the already subsiding storm. The number of victims, despite the scale of destruction, is less than in other major earthquakes, mainly because sparsely populated areas suffered the main destruction. 6 thousand people died, damage was about half a billion dollars (at 1960 prices).
In terms of magnitude, the following five earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 9 on the Richter and Kanamori scale are considered the strongest after those listed above:
The 2004 earthquake in Indonesia is one of the worst natural disasters to have occurred on the planet in history, both in terms of the number of victims, the scale of destruction, and the magnitude. The tsunami arose due to the collision of plates in the ocean, the height of the waves was more than 15 meters, the speed was 500-1000 km per hour, destruction and casualties were even 7 km from the epicenter of the shock. The number of victims is from 225 thousand to 300 thousand people. Some people remained unidentified, and some of the victims were forever classified as “missing” because the bodies were carried into the ocean, where they were eaten by predators or disappeared without a trace into the depths of the sea.
The disaster was not only in the earthquake and tsunami itself, but in the destruction that occurred later, and in the infections that enveloped “poor” Indonesia from the decomposition of corpses. The water was poisoned, there was infection everywhere, there was no food or homes, many people died from a humanitarian catastrophe. It was the poorest areas and the people living in them that suffered the most. Eyewitnesses said that the tsunami wave demolished everything, people, children, and houses; mixed with the rubble of houses, small children and animals were circling in the whirlwind.
Afterwards (since Indonesia is always hot), literally a couple of days later, the swollen corpses of people filled the bays of the destroyed cities, there was nothing to drink and nothing to breathe. Even the world communities who rushed to help were unable to remove the corpses; they managed only a small fraction of a percent. More than a million residents were left homeless, and a third of all those killed were children. Over 9 thousand tourists went missing. The earthquake is one of the largest in all respects, in the top five places, the tsunami is the strongest in history.
The Great Alaskan earthquake, which occurred on March 27, 1964 in Alaska, USA, with a magnitude of 9.2, is a disaster of great magnitude, but despite such a powerful force of tremors, the number of victims ranged from 150 to several hundred, including from tsunamis, landslides and destruction buildings.
Losses from the tsunami amounted to 84 million US dollars. This is one of the most powerful earthquakes, but with a relatively small number of victims, since the consequences of the tremors were in sparsely populated areas, uninhabited islands.
The earthquake and tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk occurred on November 5, 1952 at about 5 am; as a result of the disaster, several settlements in the Sakhalin and Kamchatka regions were destroyed.
The tremors themselves lasted half an hour; the first tsunami wave arrived an hour after the tremors. The earthquake itself did not cause major destruction; the overwhelming number of deaths was due to the tsunami, which occurred in three waves. During the first wave, those who survived ran to the mountains in what they were wearing and after a while began to return to their houses, and then the second wave came, which reached the height of a five-story building (15-18 meters) - this decided the fate of many Northern Kuril residents, almost half The city's inhabitants were buried in the ruins by the first and second waves.
The third wave was weaker, but also brought death and destruction: those who were able to survive stayed afloat or tried to save others - and then they were overtaken by another tsunami, the last, but for many deadly. According to official data, 2,336 people became victims of the North Kuril tsunami (despite the fact that the city’s population was about 6 thousand people).
As a result of the Japanese earthquake of March 11, 2011 in Sendai, with a magnitude of 9, at least 16 thousand people died, and more than 10 thousand were still missing. In terms of the totality of one type of energy, this earthquake exceeded the strength of the Indonesian one (2004) by almost 2 times, but part of the main force was under water, northern Japan shifted 2.4 meters towards North America.
The earthquake itself occurred in three shocks. Economic damage from the 2011 Japan earthquake is estimated at $198–309 billion. Oil refineries burned and exploded, car production was stopped, and many other industries were stopped, Japan fell into a global crisis.
The tsunami itself and its consequences were filmed in different regions of Japan on a video camera, since the development of digital technology at that time was already sufficient, and the effects of the elements can be seen in many videos posted on the Internet, in films based on footage of amateur filming.
People were driving in cars when waves came out from around the corners of buildings, burying both cars and people, many ran in panic wherever they looked, and in the end they were still captured by the elements. There are many shots of people running in despair across a bridge going under water... sitting on the roofs of collapsing houses.
The deadliest earthquakes by number of victims are:
- July 28, 1976 Tangshan, victims - 242,419 (according to unofficial data, over 655,000 people died), magnitude - 8.2
- May 21, 525 Antioch, Byzantine Empire now Turkey), victims - 250,000 people, magnitude 8.0
- December 16, 1920 Ningxia-Gansu, China, victims - 240,000 people, magnitude - 7.8 or 8.5
- December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia, victims - 230,210 people, magnitude - 9.2
- October 11, 1138 Aleppo, Emirate of Aleppo (now Syria), casualties - 230,000 people, magnitude - 8.5
There is insufficient data for the earthquakes of 1556 in China and 525 in Antioch. There are sources that report information about these disasters almost for certain, and there are sources that deny such a number of victims.
However, today the Great Chinese earthquake is considered the strongest in the history of mankind. The epicenter of the tremor was in the Weihe River, which is just under 1 km long and is a tributary of the larger river.
Nearby villages were completely destroyed and buried under mudflows, everything was complicated by the fact that then people lived densely, inhabiting the territory (as always in China) and right in earthen caves on the slopes of mountains, hills or in lowlands, and during earthquakes the walls of the caves and “flimsy” houses collapsed in one second. In some places the ground split apart at the seams by 20 meters...
The Tangshan earthquake of July 28, 1976 killed at least 242,419 people, but some estimates put the death toll as high as 655,000. 90% of all the buildings in the city were destroyed under the waves from the first shock; the second shock followed 15 hours later, just when the workers were clearing the rubble, burying them under it too.
Strong tremors, there were about 130 of them, continued for several days, burying everything that was alive before. The opening earth was burying people and buildings in cracks; a hospital, along with its patients and staff, and a train with passengers fell into such an abyss. A drama film, Earthquake, directed by Feng Xiaogang, was made about the disaster.
The 1920 earthquake in Ningxia Gansu (PRC) killed at least 270 thousand people. About 100 thousand died from the consequences of the disaster: cold, landslides, mudflows. 7 provinces were destroyed.
We talked about the terrible earthquake and tsunami of 2004 in Indonesia above.
1138 earthquake in Syria (Aleppo) shocked contemporaries not only by the number of victims, but also by the fact that in that area and at that time there were sparsely populated areas, and the cities usually did not exceed 10 thousand people, that is, it is possible to compare the scale of destruction and the strength of the tremors, if such were the victims. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 230 thousand people.
All the natural disasters that occur, the most terrible, terrible, wild ones, seem to make us understand how insignificant man is before the power of nature... How small the ambitions of people are in comparison with the forces of the elements... Those who have at least once seen the elements with their own eyes never argue with God. Then don’t believe in the Apocalypse...
The history of mankind remembers a lot of cataclysms, the most dangerous of which, for good reason, are earthquakes. The power of such natural incidents is assessed on the Richter scale. We propose to recall the top 10 most powerful earthquakes in the history of the Earth. We are talking about the most devastating seismic hazards that have taken the lives of millions of people. At the same time, humanity still remembers the dates of terrible events, which even modern technology and progress could not avoid. So, let's get started with the review:
TOP 10 most destructive earthquakes
It is worth noting that the strongest earthquakes in the history of the world were recorded in Chile. The last of these occurred in 2010. The power of magnetic influence on the Richter scale is estimated at 8.8 points. The epicenter of the threat was in the city of Bio-Bio Concepción. The residents of this locality and the city of Maule suffered the most. A total of 540 people died in Bio-Bio Concepción. In the territory of the second city, 64 people were injured. Approximately 2 million people were left homeless. In total, damage is estimated at $30 billion.
The tsunami that occurred on January 31 in Ecuador immediately hit the entire coast of Central America. A magnitude of 8.8 was recorded in San Francisco. The first wave even reached Japan. Fortunately, we managed to get by with a minimum number of casualties due to the low population density. According to preliminary estimates, 1,500 people were affected and left without homes. Due to the timely response of rescuers, no fatalities were found. However, the damage is estimated at $1.5 million.
One of the most powerful earthquakes in history is considered to be a seismic shock recorded in 1923 near the island of Oshima. As a result of the incident, nearly three hundred thousand buildings in Tokyo and Yokohama were destroyed. Over two days, 356 tremors occurred. As a result, the waves reached a height of 12 meters. The tsunami took the lives of 174 thousand people. About 542 thousand are considered missing. In total, damage is estimated at $4.5 billion.
As a result of this cataclysm, over 820 thousand people died. The number of victims is considered the most serious incident in history. The disaster went down in history due to its duration. The horror lasted for nearly three days. During this time, the entire component of Shaanxi province was destroyed, including 60% of the population of the locality. The epicenter affected three provinces, including Feinan and Huaxian. A magnetic source was recorded in the Wei Valley. It is difficult to assess the damage due to the time span of the events.
In 2011, a magnitude of 9.1 was recorded on the island of Honshu. The most powerful earthquake in the history of Japan occurred 130 kilometers from the city of Sendai. About 30 minutes later, a powerful tsunami hit the coast of the country, which destroyed 11 nuclear power units in 69 minutes. As a result, 6,000 people died. 2,000 Japanese were missing. In total, the country suffered $36.6 billion in damage. To this day, local residents remember March 11 with horror.
As a result of a powerful earthquake on November 5, 1952, a tsunami reached the city of Severo-Kurilsk. As a result of a seismic phenomenon with a magnitude of 9 points, a powerful tsunami destroyed the entire city. According to rough estimates, the wave took the lives of 2,336 people. At the same time, about 6,000 people are considered missing. The waves reached 18 meters in height. The damage even at that time was $1 million. A total of three waves were observed. The weakest of them reached a height of 15 meters.
On December 26, an underwater earthquake with a scale of 9.3 reached the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The source of the cataclysm was provoked by the most destructive tsunami in human history. Waves of 15 meters destroyed Sri Lanka, southern India and the coast of Indonesia. Even the people of Thailand suffered damage. The tsunami almost completely destroyed the infrastructure of eastern Sri Lanka. According to preliminary estimates, nearly 225 thousand people died. At the same time, another 300 thousand are considered missing. Preliminary estimates put the damage at $10 billion.
This happened in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Power is 9.2 points. The epicenter of the terrible earthquake was recorded 120 kilometers from the western part of Seward. The tremors led to the destruction of Kodiak Island and the city of Valdese. The shock itself killed 9 people. The tsunami killed 190 people. The mortality rate was reduced thanks to the timely detection of the threat. However, California suffered $200 million in damages. Destruction stretched from Canada to California.
Major earthquakes have occurred throughout human history, with the earliest recorded dating back almost 2,000 BC. But it is only in the last century that our technological capabilities have reached the point where the impact of these disasters can be fully measured.
Our ability to study earthquakes has made it possible to avoid catastrophic casualties, such as in the case of a tsunami, when people have the opportunity to evacuate a potentially dangerous area. But unfortunately, the warning system does not always work. There are several examples of earthquakes where the greatest damage was caused by the subsequent tsunami, and not by the earthquake itself. People have improved building standards and improved early warning systems, but they have never been able to completely protect themselves from disasters. There are many different ways to estimate the strength of an earthquake. Some people rely on the Richter scale, others on the number of deaths and injuries, or even the monetary value of the damaged property.
This list of the 12 strongest earthquakes combines all of these methods in one.
Lisbon earthquake
The Great Lisbon Earthquake struck the Portuguese capital on November 1, 1755, causing enormous destruction. They were made worse by the fact that it was All Saints' Day and thousands of people attended mass in the church. Churches, like most other buildings, could not withstand the elements and collapsed, killing people. Subsequently, a tsunami 6 meters high hit. An estimated 80,000 died due to fires caused by the destruction. Many famous writers and philosophers dealt with the Lisbon earthquake in their works. For example, Emmanuel Kant, who tried to find a scientific explanation for what happened 
California earthquake
A major earthquake struck California in April 1906. Etched into history as the San Francisco earthquake, it caused damage to a much wider area. Downtown San Francisco was destroyed by a huge fire that followed. Initial figures mentioned 700 to 800 dead, although researchers claim the actual death toll was more than 3,000. More than half of San Francisco's population lost their homes as 28,000 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake and fires. 
Messina earthquake
One of Europe's largest earthquakes struck Sicily and southern Italy in the early hours of December 28th, 1908, killing an estimated 120,000 people. The main epicenter of the damage was Messina, which was virtually destroyed by the disaster. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake was accompanied by a tsunami that hit the coast. A recent study suggested that the size of the waves was so huge because of an underwater landslide. Much of the damage was due to the poor quality of buildings in Messina and other parts of Sicily. 
Haiyuan earthquake
One of the deadliest earthquakes on the list occurred in December 1920, with its epicenter in Haiyuan Chingya. At least 230,000 people died. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake destroyed almost every home in the region, causing significant damage to major cities like Lanzhou, Taiyuan and Xi'an. Incredibly, waves from the earthquake were visible even off the coast of Norway. According to a recent study, Haiyuan was the strongest earthquake to hit China during the 20th century. Researchers have also questioned the official death toll, suggesting there may have been more than 270,000. This number represents 59 percent of the population in the Haiyuan area. The Haiyuan earthquake is considered one of the most destructive natural disasters in history. 
Chilean earthquake
A total of 1,655 were killed and 3,000 were injured after a magnitude 9.5 earthquake struck Chile in 1960. Seismologists called it the strongest earthquake ever to occur. 2 million people were left homeless and economic losses amounted to $500 million. The force of the earthquake caused a tsunami, with casualties in places as far away as Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines. In some parts of Chile, waves have moved building ruins 3 kilometers inland. The massive Chilean earthquake of 1960 caused a giant rupture in the ground extending over 1,000 kilometers. 
Earthquake in Alaska
On March 27th, 1964, a strong 9.2 earthquake struck the Prince William Sound region of Alaska. As the second most powerful earthquake on record, it caused a relatively low number of deaths (192 deaths). However, significant property damage occurred in Anchorage, and tremors were felt in all 47 US states. Due to significant improvements in research technology, the Alaska earthquake has provided scientists with valuable seismic data, allowing them to better understand the nature of such events. 
Kobe earthquake
In 1995, Japan was hit by one of its most powerful earthquakes when a magnitude 7.2 shock struck the Kobe region in south-central Japan. Although it was not the worst ever observed, the devastating impact was felt by a significant portion of the population - approximately 10 million people living in the densely populated area. A total of 5,000 were killed and 26,000 were injured. The US Geological Survey estimated damage at $200 billion, with infrastructure and buildings destroyed. 
Sumatra and Andaman earthquake
The tsunami that struck across the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 killed at least 230,000 people. It was caused by a large undersea earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. His strength was measured at 9.1 on the Richter scale. The previous earthquake in Sumatra occurred in 2002. It is believed to have been a seismic pre-shock, with several aftershocks occurring throughout 2005. The main reason for the huge number of casualties was the lack of any early warning system in the Indian Ocean capable of detecting an approaching Tsunami. A giant wave reached the shores of some countries, where tens of thousands of people died, for at least several hours. 
Kashmir earthquake
Jointly administered by Pakistan and India, Kashmir was hit by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in October 2005, killing at least 80,000 people and leaving 4 million homeless. Rescue efforts were hampered by conflicts between the two countries fighting over the territory. The situation was aggravated by the rapid onset of winter and the destruction of many roads in the region. Eyewitnesses spoke of entire areas of cities literally sliding off cliffs due to the destructive elements. 
Disaster in Haiti
Port-au-Prince was hit by an earthquake on January 12, 2010, leaving half the capital's population without their homes. The death toll is still disputed and ranges from 160,000 to 230,000. A recent report highlighted that as of the fifth anniversary of the disaster, 80,000 people continue to live on the streets. The impact of the earthquake has caused severe poverty in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many buildings in the capital were not built in accordance with seismic requirements, and the people of the completely destroyed country had no means of subsistence other than the international aid provided. 
Tohoku earthquake in Japan
The worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl was caused by a magnitude 9 earthquake off the east coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. Scientists estimate that during the 6-minute earthquake of colossal force, 108 kilometers of the seabed rose to a height of 6 to 8 meters. This caused a large tsunami that damaged the coast of Japan's northern islands. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was badly damaged and efforts to salvage the situation are still ongoing. The official death toll is 15,889 dead, although 2,500 people are still missing. Many areas have become uninhabitable due to nuclear radiation. 
Christchurch
The worst natural disaster in New Zealand's history claimed 185 lives on February 22, 2011, when Christchurch was hit by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake. More than half of the deaths were caused by the collapse of the CTV building, which was built in violation of seismic codes. Thousands of other houses were also destroyed, including the city's cathedral. The government declared a state of emergency in the country so that rescue efforts could proceed as quickly as possible. More than 2,000 people were injured, and reconstruction costs exceeded $40 billion. But in December 2013, the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said that three years after the tragedy, only 10 per cent of the city had been rebuilt. 