The 10 most powerful earthquakes ever recorded

Think of the Earth as a big mess of rocky tectonic plates floating on a sea of ​​hot molten metal. When these plates move and rub against each other, they release huge amounts of energy, causing earthquakes. But what is the largest earthquake ever?

It is estimated that there are 20,000 earthquakes per year worldwide, which is approximately 55 earthquakes per day. Of these, about 16 would be classified as significant (magnitude 7 or higher) in any given year.

Most earthquakes occur on the sea floor, which means that the main danger to life comes from huge tsunami waves that hit the ground after an undersea earthquake.

The Richter scale helped standardize measurements of earthquake strength in the 1930s, making it much easier to compare their relative magnitudes. However, this measure was flawed and has since been replaced by the moment-magnitude (Mw) measure, which we used in our top ten.

Just like the Richter scale, the magnitude scale is logarithmic, meaning that for every whole number you go up on the scale, the earthquake becomes ten times stronger. In context, this means that a 9 Mw earthquake is 1,000 times stronger than a 6 Mw earthquake.

Here are the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded.

10 – Indian Ocean, 2012 A security guard walks through damage to a building a day after a strong earthquake struck the west coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia on April 11, 2012. A tsunami alert was raised around the Indian Ocean hours after two massive earthquakes. Off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, causing terrified people to flee the coast. Image source: Adek Perry/AFP/Getty Images

Indonesia's Aceh province is no stranger to seismic activity. But on April 11, 2012, a massive Mw 8.6 earthquake was recorded 610 kilometers off the coast of Banda Aceh, followed by another Mw 8.2 earthquake. The strength and location of these earthquakes sparked a state of mass panic, prompting terrified people to flee coastal areas.

Actual damage was low, with minor building damage reported in some areas, and the feared tsunami wave never occurred.

The seismic event was the largest ever recorded example of a strike-slip earthquake. This occurs when the crust on either side of tectonic plates moves against each other horizontally, rather than vertically.

These types of earthquakes are also less likely to cause huge tsunamis than a vertical strike-slip fault.

9 – Aleutian Islands, USA, 1946 The main street in Hilo, Hawaii, USA, is shown damaged beyond recognition after a tsunami swept in on April 1, 1946. Image credit: Getty

In the North Pacific Ocean, the Aleutian Islands are located between Alaska (USA) and the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia). In April 1946, a Mw 8.6 earthquake triggered a widespread tsunami at speeds of 800 kilometers per hour across the Pacific Ocean, causing widespread devastation.

This huge wave reached the Hawaiian Islands only 5 hours after the earthquake, covering a distance of more than 3,900 km. The resulting massacre left 159 people dead and many buildings leveled.

Hawaii was not the only place that witnessed the waves caused by this earthquake. Waves on Unimak Island, close to the epicenter, were recorded at a height of up to 42 metres. Even Antarctica, which is more than 15,500 kilometers away, experienced tsunami waves as a result of this huge earthquake.

8 – Assam, India, 1950 This photo shows a damaged bridge, taken shortly after the earthquake in Assam, India, August 25, 1950. Image credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth occurred between the state of Assam in India and Tibet, and its epicenter was in the Mishmi Hills in northeastern India. This huge earthquake resulted from the collision of two continental plates (the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate).

In Tibet, this Mw 8.6 earthquake caused massive landslides and cracks in the land, and entire villages slid into rivers and were swept away. Meanwhile, India also saw major damage as landslides and collapse of natural dams destroyed 70 villages.

It is estimated that nearly 4,800 people were killed in the event, including more than 1,500 in India and 3,300 in Tibet.

7 – Rat Island, USA, 1965 The black volcanic sands of Kiska Island, part of the Rat Islands, Alaska, USA. Image credit: Alamy

The Rat Islands are part of a broader chain of volcanic islands known collectively as the Aleutian Islands. These islands lie on the border between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates and, as a result, tend to experience a lot of seismic activity.

The 1965 Rat Island earthquake triggered a tsunami wave more than 10 meters high on Shemya Island, 304 kilometers away. Even in Hawaii, USA, the tsunami wave resulting from the Rat Island earthquake reached a height of one meter even though it was 4,200 kilometers away from the epicenter.

Fortunately, despite the strength of this earthquake, the reported damage and losses were minor, mainly due to the small population in the area.

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6 – Chile, 2010 Soldiers stand by as firefighters battle a fire at a supermarket in Concepcion, Chile, on March 1, 2010, three days after a massive earthquake struck the country. Image source: Claudio Santana/AFP/Getty Images

A Mw 8.8 earthquake shook the coast of central Chile in the early hours of February 27, 2010, near the coastal city of Concepcion. The intense shaking lasted about 3 minutes, and was felt as far away as Sao Paulo, Brazil, 4,620 kilometers away.

Concepcion has a long history with earthquakes. In 1939, powerful shock waves destroyed large parts of the city and 28,000 people lost their lives. The city was then hit by more large earthquakes in 1953 and 1960, which again caused severe damage and loss of life.

Because the 2010 earthquake was so large and was caused by a rupture under the ocean, tsunami warnings were issued in a total of 53 countries. The wave that broke out reached Japan and the California coast in the USA.

5 – Severo-Kurilsk, Russia, 1952 The former site of the city of Severo-Kurilsk, before it was destroyed by the 1952 tsunami. The site of the modern city, which was rebuilt at a higher level, is not visible in this photo from 2006. Image credit: Victor Morozov/Wikipedia

Severo-Kurilsk is located in the Kuril Islands of Russia, a small volcanic archipelago located 1,300 kilometers northeast of Japan. In 1952, nearly half of the population of this small town was wiped out when a massive 18-meter wave flattened the entire area.

The earthquake alerted the town's residents to the danger of a possible tsunami wave. Residents made their way to higher ground in search of safety, but returned after the first wave hit, believing the danger had passed. The second wave then claimed many lives when people returned to their homes.

After this disaster, the city was rebuilt on higher ground. To this day, this remains the largest earthquake ever recorded in Russia.

Unidentified 4 – Tohoku, Japan, 2011 This photo taken on March 11, 2011, shows tsunami waves hitting the coast of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Image credit: Sadatsugu Tomizawa/Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images

The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011 and is the largest seismic earthquake recorded in Japan to date. The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 72 kilometers off the northeastern coast of Honshu (Japan's largest island), and was so powerful that it was later estimated that the Earth had moved on its axis by between 10 and 25 cm, while Honshu had moved 2.4 meters to the east.

The sheer force of the tsunami wave was one of the most shocking aspects of the disaster, as it swept through entire towns and villages and easily penetrated defenses installed after previous tsunamis.

With tsunami waves exceeding 40 meters high recorded in some areas of the coast, planners did not expect waves this high when the seawall was built.

Equally shocking were the events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where the tsunami destroyed power supplies. This led to the loss of cooling of the reactor core, which in turn led to the collapse and the release of a large amount of nuclear material into the atmosphere.

In total, it is estimated that more than 22,000 people lost their lives as a result of this massive earthquake.

3 – Sumatra, Indonesia, 2004 Overview The city of Meulabuh, Indonesia, is shown underwater on December 28, 2004, after an earthquake and tsunami struck Aceh province on December 26. Image credit: HO/AFP/Getty Images

This massive 9.1 megawatt earthquake, which tore off a 1,300-kilometre-long section of the Sumatra megathrust plate boundary, was centuries old and was caused by the Burma microplate overtaking the Indian tectonic plate in a process known as subduction.

This massive rupture caused the ocean floor to rise by more than 20 meters and created a devastating tsunami wave that reached more than 30 meters in height. This terrifying wave hit coastal areas in 14 countries, killing an estimated 228,000 people, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand suffering the highest number of deaths.

It remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Asia, and the worst natural disaster of the twenty-first century.

2- Alaska, USA, 1964 Seismic damage on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, after an earthquake on March 27, 1964. Image credit: UPI/Getty Images

Large areas of North America were affected when nearly 1,000 kilometers of fault along the Pacific and North American tectonic plates ruptured at once, causing an earthquake that lasted about 5 minutes.

The city of Anchorage suffered extensive damage, as it was only 121 kilometers from the epicenter. The damage was exacerbated by the lack of earthquake-resistant buildings and infrastructure. As a result, many buildings collapsed and sidewalks and roads sank.

The 1964 Alaska earthquake remains the second strongest earthquake in recorded history and the strongest earthquake in United States history.

1 – Valdivia, Chile, 1960 Wreckage in Valdivia after a devastating earthquake struck the city on May 22, 1960. The earthquake caused a tsunami and a volcanic eruption. Image credit: Alamy

The largest earthquake ever recorded occurred in 1960 near the city of Valdivia, Chile. With a magnitude of 9.5, it was one of the deadliest earthquakes in history, killing an estimated 5,700 people.

The earthquake occurred at approximately 15:00 local time and lasted for 10 minutes. The earthquake caused a large amount of land to subside along a long stretch of Chile's coast, and several landslides were reported in rural areas, closing local roads.

This massive earthquake caused widespread damage and destruction mostly due to the resulting tsunami waves along the coast.

Two days after the earthquake, the Cordon Cauli volcano (part of the Puiho-Cordon Cauli volcanic complex in the Andes) erupted as a result of seismic activity, spewing ash and steam into the atmosphere. This eruption lasted 59 days in total but caused minimal damage.

Thanks to a series of strong forecasts, Chileans have already been alerted to the imminent threat of a stronger earthquake. This may have helped reduce the overall number of casualties.

Location Date Power (MW) 1 Valdivia, Chile May 22, 19609.52 Alaska, USA March 27, 19649.23 Sumatra December 26, 20049.1 to 9.34 Tohoku March 11, 2019.15 Kamchatka, Russia November 5, 19529.06 Chile February 27, 20108.87 Rat Island February 3, 1 965 8.78Assam-Tibet15 August 19,508.69 Aleutian Islands April 1, 19468.610 Indian Ocean April 11, 20128.6

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