Biggest earthquakes in history

Philippine Daily Inquirer

TOKYO—The 8.9-magnitude earthquake which hit Japan on Friday was the country’s biggest ever and the seventh largest on record, according to USGeological Survey (USGS) data.

Here are the largest magnitude earthquakes in history, according to the USGS website:

9.5, Chile, May 22, 1960. A quake off the coast of southern Chile killed 1,655 people and left 2,000,000 homeless.

9.2, Alaska, United States, March 27, 1964. A quake and tsunami killed 128 people and caused severe damage to the state’s largest city Anchorage.

9.1, Indonesia, Dec. 26, 2004. An undersea quakecaused a massive tsunami that devastated coastlines in countries around the Indian Ocean, ultimately killing 227,898 people.

9.0, Russia, Nov. 4, 1952. A quake off the coast of the remote Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s far east caused Pacific-wide tsunamis. No lives were lost.

9.0, Port of Arica (now part of Chile), Aug. 13, 1868. Two great earthquakes generated catastrophic tsunamis that killed more than 25,000 people in South America and affected locations throughout the PacificBasin. The port of Arica was hit by a quake felt up to 1,400 kilometers away.

9.0, North America, Jan. 26, 1700. A quake affecting 1,000 km of coastline set off a tsunami that crossed the Pacific Ocean and caused damage to coastal villages in Japan.

8.9, Japan, March 11, 2011. An undersea quake off northeast Japan unleashed a 10-meter-high tsunami which left devastation in its wake.

8.8, Chilean coast, Feb. 27, 2010. An offshore quake and tsunami killed more than 500 people, most in the coastal area of Maule, 400 km southwest of the capitalSantiago.

8.8, Ecuador, Jan. 31, 1906. A quake struck off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia and was felt as far away as San Francisco. The generated tsunami killed between 500 and 1,500 people.

8.7, Alaska, Feb. 4, 1965. A quake in the remote Rat Islands generated a tsunami reported to be 10 meters high.

8.7, Portugal, Nov. 1, 1755. The capital Lisbon was struck by a quake while many residents were in church. One-fourth of the city’s population perished.

8.7, Chile, July 8, 1730. A quake hit the city of Valparaiso, 120 km northwest of the capital Santiago, causing a tsunami which hit more than 1,000 km of coastline. AFP and Lawrence de Guzman, Inquirer Research