Earthquakes are among the most dangerous natural catastrophes. These are the most powerful earthquakes that human beings have seen to date.

Imagine the Earth as a huge hot mass of rock plates called tectonic plates floating in the surface of hot melting metal. When the plates shake and rub together they release massive quantities of energy, which can cause earthquakes. But what is the most powerful earthquake that has ever occurred?

There are estimated to be 20,000 seismic events each year around the globe that is about fifty per hour. From these, about 16 are classified to be major (magnitude 7 or greater) during any one year.

The majority of earthquakes occur on bottom of the sea, so the most risk to human life is caused by massive tsunamis striking land after an earthquake that occurs undersea.

The Richter scale was used to standardize magnitude measurements for earthquakes during the 1930s, making it much easier to assess the sizes of different earthquakes. But, the scale was not perfect and was later replaced with the magnitude of moment (M _w) scale, which we’ve utilized in our top 10.

Similar to the Richter scale the Moment magnitude scale can be described as a logarithmic meaning that for every whole number you increment in the scale the earthquake becomes 10 times stronger. To put it in perspective, that means that a 9M _wi earthquake is 1000 times more powerful than an earthquake of 6 M _w..

These are the top 10 powerful earthquakes that have ever been recorded.

10 – Indian Ocean, 2012

A security guard walked through the ruins of a structure one day after a devastating earthquake struck the coast west in Banda Aceh, Indonesia on 11 April 2012. The tsunami watch in that area of the Indian Ocean was lifted hours after two powerful earthquakes struck Indo’s Sumatra Island, sending panicked people fleeing the coast.

The Indonesian province of Aceh is not a stranger to earthquakes. However, on April 11, 2012, a massive 8.6 M_w earthquake that was 610km off of from the Banda Aceh coast was recorded shortly after by another that measured 8.2 M_w. The magnitude and the area of the earthquakes led to an outrage, with terrified people to flee coastal regions.

The damage actually was not that bad, and minor damage to buildings was being reported in certain areas, and the tsunami wave that was feared never came to pass.

The earthquake was the most extensive recorded instance of an earthquake with a strike slip. It happens when the crust between two plates tectonically move against one another horizontally rather than vertically.

These kinds of earthquakes are also less likely to generate massive tsunami waves when compared to the horizontal strike slip fault.

9 – Aleutian Islands, USA, 1946

Within the North Pacific Ocean, the Aleutian Islands are located between Alaska (USA) and the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia). In April 1946 in 1946, an 8.6 M_W earthquake caused a large tsunami that traveled at an estimated 800km/h all throughout the Pacific Ocean, creating widespread destruction.

This massive wave hit to the Hawaiian Islands a mere 5 hours after the earthquake, reaching a distance of more than 3,900 kilometers. The resultant carnage was that the death toll was 159 and numerous buildings were destroyed.

Hawaii was not the only area to experience the waves triggered by the earthquake. The height of waves at Unimak Island, close to the epicentre, were measured at 42 meters. In fact, Antarctica which is located more than 15,500 km away, was hit by tsunami waves resulting from this massive earthquake.

8 – Assam, India, 1950

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded on land was observed in the region between Assam in India and Tibet and Tibet, with the epicentre that was located at the Mishmi Hills of northeastern India. The massive quake was caused by two plates of the continental plate (the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate) colliding.

In Tibet In Tibet, the 8.6 M_w earthquake resulted in massive landslides as well as land cracks. Whole villages were swept away by rivers. ended up being washed away. Additionally, India too experienced large amount of destruction, with hundreds of villages destroyed due to landslides and destabilization of the natural dams.

It is estimated that around 4,800 people died in the tragedy, including over 1500 killed people killed in India as well as 3,300 people in Tibet.

7 – Rat Island, USA, 1965

Rat Islands Rat Islands are part of the larger range of volcanic islands, known together as The Aleutian Islands. The islands lie near the border of and the Pacific as well as the North American tectonic plates, and, as a consequence, generally experience enough earthquake activity.

An earthquake that struck Rat Island in 1965 caused the tsunami to reach 10m high at Shemya Island 304km away. In Hawaii, USA, the tsunami that resulted from the Rat Island earthquake reached 1m in height, despite being located 4,200km far from its epicentre.

Fortunately, despite the force of the earthquake, reports of damage and casualties were minimal mostly due to the low populations in the region.

6 – Chile, 2010

A 8.8 M_w earthquake shook the coastline from Central Chile during the wee hours on the 27th of February 2010, near the town of Concepcion. This intense shaking continued for about three minutes and could be felt as far as Sao Paulo, Brazil, 4620km away.

Concepcion is a city that has been dotted of earthquakes. In 1939, huge areas of Concepcion were devastated by powerful shock waves and 28,000 people lost their lives. The city was also hit by more large earthquakes during 1953 as well as 1960 that caused massive damage and deaths.

The 2010 earthquake was that large and resulted from a rupture in the ocean warnings about tsunamis were issued across 53 countries. The tsunami that caused it affected both Japan as well as the Californian coast of the USA.

5 – Severo-Kurilsk, Russia, 1952

Severo-Kurilsk is located in Severo-Kurilsk is located in the Kuril Islands, Russia, an archipelago of volcanic origins that is located 1300km to the northeast of Japan. In 1952, nearly half the inhabitants of this tiny town was killed after a massive 18m wave completely flattened the entire region.

The earthquake alerted the residents of the town to the possibility of a tsunami wave. The town’s residents rushed up to higher ground to protect themselves but returned shortly after the initial wave struck, believing that the threat was gone. The second wave then took the lives of many as people returned home to their home.

In the aftermath of this catastrophe after the disaster, the city was rebuilt upon a higher level. Today, it remains the largest earthquake ever recorded in Russia.

4 – Tohoku, Japan, 2011

The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami took place on March 11, 2011, and is the most powerful that has been that has been recorded by Japan to the present. The epicentre of the earthquake was approximately 72km from the northeast coast in Honshu (the most populous island in Japan) and the magnitude was so high that it was later discovered that the Earth was moved in its axis between 10-25 cm, while Honshu was shifted 2.4m to the east.

The massive force of the tsunami was among the most shocking elements of the catastrophe and swept away entire villages and towns and breaking through the barriers that had been built following previous tsunamis.

With waves of more than 40m recorded in some regions along the coast Planners did not anticipate tsunamis of this size at the time seawall protection was constructed.

As shocking as those events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, where the tsunami destroyed its power source. The result was a loss of cooling for the cores of the reactor, that in turn led to the reactor to melt down and release significant amounts of nuclear materials to the atmosphere.

In all, it was estimated that nearly 22,000 people died in the aftermath of the massive earthquake.

3 – Sumatra, Indonesia, 2004

This massive 9.1 M_w earthquake that ripped an area of 1,300 km along the Sumatran megathrust plate was a century ago in the making. It was triggered due to the Burma microplate overcoming the India plates in a process referred to as subduction.

The huge rupture led to an uplift of the ocean floor of more than 20 meters and caused a devastating tsunami wave that grew to over 30m in height. This terrifying wave struck coastal areas across fourteen nations, killing approximately 228,000 people, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand being the worst affected.

It is still the strongest earthquake recorded in Asia and is the deadliest natural catastrophe of the 21st century.

2 – Alaska, USA, 1964

The vast majority in North America were affected when around 1,000km of fault along the Pacific-North American plate was ruptured in one go, causing an earthquake that rattled for more than five minutes.

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage suffered a significant amount of damage, despite being 121km away from the epicentre. The destruction was further compounded due to the absence of earthquake-resistant structures and infrastructure. This led to a number of buildings fell down and roads and pavements collapsed.

1964’s Alaska earthquake is the second most massive recorded earthquake in the world and also the strongest earthquake in US the history of the United States.

1 – Valdivia, Chile, 1960

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded was recorded in the year 1960, close to the town of Valdivia, Chile. With an intensity of 9.5 It was among the deadliest earthquakes to hit the earth. It killed around 5,700.

The quake struck about 15:00 local time and lasted 10 minutes. The earthquake caused a significant amount of land subsidence across an extensive stretch of Chile’s coast. Many land slides were also observed in rural areas. They also blocked local roads.

The massive earthquake caused extensive destruction and damage mostly due to the tsunami waves that resulted across the coast.

A few days after the earthquake occurred, it was the Cordon Caulle volcano (part of the Puyehue-Cordon Volcanic Complex located in the Andes mountains) began to erupt in response to earthquake activity sending steam and ash into atmosphere. The eruption lasted for 59 days, but it caused very little damage.

In the wake of a series strong foreshocks Chileans were already alerted to the risk of a larger earthquake that was coming. This may have helped in limiting the number of casualties.