Strongest Earthquakes

Dear Mouse,

Update(Dec.28, 2004)

The magnitude of an earthquake is described in intensity.

8 or higher= Great

7-7.9= Major

6-6.9=Strong

5-5.9=Moderate

4-4.9=light

3-3.9=minor

2-2.9=very minor

I decided to exclude earthquakes with magnitudes below 8 in my list below and moved them to another blog.

When I was a kid, old folks prophesied that the end of the world is when the earthquake measures more than 8 in the richter scale.

These stats have proven them wrong.

Chile may have recorded the strongest earth- quake at 9.5 in 1960 where 5,000 lives were lost but China suffered the highest number of casualties since the year 1290. An earthquake in 1556 claimed 830,000 while the latest in 1976 killed 255,000 people.

This is also the country that has the most number of strong earthquakes closely followed by Iran.

Below are the countries with devastating earthquakes up to the last earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004 in Aceh, Indonesia.

China

1290 Chihli 100,000 n/a

1556 Shansi 830,000 n/a

1920 Gansu 200,000 8.6

1927 near Xining 200,000 8.3

1976 Tangshan 255,000 8.0

Iran

c.893 Iran, Ardabil 150,000 n/a

c.856 Iran, Damghan 200,000 n/a

1727 Iran, Tabriz 77,000 n/a

Alaska

1957 Andreanof Islands no record 9.1

1964 Yukon Territory and British Columbia, 125 9.2

1965 Shemya Island no report 8.7

Italy

1693 Italy, Sicily 60,000 n/a

1783 Italy, Calabria 50,000 n/a

Japan

1923 Japan, Kwanto 143,000 * n/a

1667 Azerbaijan, Shemakha 80,000 n/a

Russia

1923 (Russia) – Kamchatka no lives were lost 8.5.

1952 no lives were lost 9.1

Indonesia –

1938 Banda Sea no report of casualties 8.5

2004 (Indonesia) -Aceh province 44,000 9.0

Portugal –

1755 Portugal, Lisbon 70,000 8.5

Chile

1960= Santiago and Concepcion, 5,000 9.5

India

(Tibet/India) –

1950 Brahmaputra Basin in northeast India. 1,500 people were killed. 8.6

Ecuador –

1906 Ecuador and Colombia, 1,000. 8.8

The Ca t