The 10 deadliest earthquakes in history
From Shaanxi in 1556 to Turkey in 2023, the deadliest earthquakes, tsunamis included: they are often not the most powerful, but those that strike densely populated, poorly built cities.
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1
Shaanxi earthquake
An earthquake of estimated magnitude 8 strikes the Wei River valley in the middle of the night.
≈ 830,000 deaths
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2
Haiyuan earthquake
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes the Loess Plateau in the depths of winter.
≈ 273,000 deaths
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3
Tangshan earthquake
At 3:42 a.m., a magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes directly beneath this industrial city of one million people, built without seismic standards.
242,769 deaths
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4
Indian Ocean tsunami
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake ruptures about 1,300 km of undersea fault.
227,898 deaths
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5
Haiti earthquake
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes 25 km from the capital, one of the most densely populated and fragile cities in the Americas.
≈ 220,000 deaths
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6
Great Kantō earthquake
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes at lunchtime, when cooking fires are lit.
≈ 105,000 deaths
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7
Sichuan earthquake
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes the foothills of the Tibetan Plateau in the middle of the afternoon.
87,150 deaths
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8
Kashmir earthquake
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes the mountains on a Saturday morning, a school day.
≈ 86,000 deaths
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9
Messina earthquake
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes the Strait of Messina before dawn, followed by a tsunami about ten metres high that sweeps both shores.
≈ 80,000 deaths
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10
Áncash earthquake
An offshore magnitude 7.9 earthquake destabilises the north face of Huascarán.
≈ 70,000 deaths
Other very deadly earthquakes, with more uncertain tolls, are not yet in the atlas, such as Aleppo (1138), Damghan (856) or Ashgabat (1948). Ranking based on the disasters in the Mémoire du Globe atlas, using the most commonly accepted tolls. For older events, the figures are orders of magnitude.
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