The World's Strongest Earthquakes

Here is a list of earthquakes that registered at least magnitude 8.6.

• May 22, 1960: A magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami killed at least 1,716 people.
• March 27, 1964: A magnitude 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and ensuing tsunami killed 128 people.
• Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude 9.1 quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 12 countries, including 165,700 in Indonesia and 35,400 in Sri Lanka.
• Aug. 13, 1868: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generated catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.
• Jan. 26, 1700: A magnitude 9.0 quake shakes Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Colombia and triggers tsunami that damages villages in Japan.
• Nov. 4, 1952: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka causes damage but no reported deaths, despite setting off 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves in Hawaii.
• Jan. 31, 1906: A magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generated a tsunami that killed at least 500 people.
• Feb. 27, 2010: A magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Chile killed a still-undetermined number of people and sends a tsunami across the Pacific.
• Nov. 1, 1755: A magnitude 8.7 quake and ensuing tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal killed an estimated 60,000 people and destroyed much of Lisbon.
• July 8, 1730: A magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile, killed at least 3,000 people.
• Aug. 15, 1950: A magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Assam, Tibet, killed at least 780 people.
• March 28, 2005: A magnitude 8.6 quake in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, kills about 1,300 people.