Shaanxi Earthquake — China
The deadliest earthquake ever recorded, striking a region where millions lived in cave dwellings carved into soft loess cliffs.
Read the full record →Deadliest Incidents In History
An archive of 73 recorded disasters — natural catastrophes, industrial accidents, transport disasters, fires, crowd crushes and epidemics. Every event has its own page. Our own hand-written records come first; the rest are imported from Wikidata and Wikipedia.
1556
1976
Tangshan Earthquake — China
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake flattened an industrial city of a million people in under thirty seconds, while almost everyone slept.
Read the full record →2010
Haiti Earthquake — Haiti
A magnitude 7.0 quake 25 km from Port-au-Prince destroyed a capital city and triggered one of the largest humanitarian operations ever mounted.
Read the full record →1920
Haiyuan Earthquake — China
A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in Ningxia triggered enormous loess landslides that buried whole villages.
Read the full record →1923
Great Kantō Earthquake — Japan
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake and the firestorms that followed destroyed much of Tokyo and Yokohama in a single afternoon.
Read the full record →2008
Sichuan (Wenchuan) Earthquake — China
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake in mountainous Sichuan killed nearly 90,000 people and collapsed thousands of school buildings.
Read the full record →2005
Kashmir Earthquake — Pakistan
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in northern Pakistan struck on a school morning, killing tens of thousands of children in collapsing classrooms.
Read the full record →1908
Messina Earthquake and Tsunami — Italy
Europe's deadliest earthquake destroyed Messina and Reggio Calabria before dawn, followed within minutes by a 12-metre tsunami.
Read the full record →1970
Ancash Earthquake and Huascarán Avalanche — Peru
A magnitude 7.9 offshore earthquake triggered a rock-and-ice avalanche that buried the town of Yungay in about three minutes.
Read the full record →2023
Turkey–Syria Earthquakes — Turkey
Twin magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes nine hours apart collapsed tens of thousands of buildings across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Read the full record →1990
Manjil–Rudbar Earthquake — Iran
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake destroyed towns and villages across northern Iran shortly after midnight.
Read the full record →2003
Bam Earthquake — Iran
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake levelled the ancient mud-brick city of Bam, including its 2,000-year-old citadel.
Read the full record →1556
1556 Shaanxi earthquake — China
One of the deadliest earthquakes in history occurred in the early morning of 23 January 1556 in Huaxian, Shaanxi, during the Ming dynasty. Most of the residents there lived in yaodongs—artificial caves in loess cliffs—which collapsed and bu
Read the full record →1920
1920 Haiyuan earthquake — China
The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake (Chinese: 海原大地震; pinyin: Hǎiyuán dà dìzhèn) occurred in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China at 19:05:53 (UTC+8) on 16 December 1920. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia wa
Read the full record →115
Antioch earthquake of 115 — Turkey
An earthquake occurred in Antioch on 13 December 115 AD. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the surface-wave magnitude scale and an estimated maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Antioch and surrounding ar
Read the full record →526
Antioch earthquake of 526 — Turkey
The 526 Antioch earthquake struck Syria and, in particular, the city of Antioch in the Byzantine Empire. It occurred some time in late May 526, probably between 20 and 29 May, during mid-morning, killing approximately 250,000 people. This w
Read the full record →1976
1976 Tangshan earthquake — China
A Mw 7.6 earthquake hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, China, at 03:42:55 on 28 July (19:42:55, 27 July UTC) 1976. The maximum intensity of the earthquake was XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli scale. In minutes, 85 percent of the buildings i
Read the full record →2010
2010 Haiti earthquake — Haiti
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, H
Read the full record →856
856 Damghan earthquake — Iran
The Damghan earthquake or the Qumis earthquake occurred on 22 December 856 (242 AH) in Khorasan province, Abbasid Caliphate. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.9, and a maximum intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity
Read the full record →893
893 Ardabil earthquake — Iran
The 893 Dvin earthquake occurred on 28 December 893 at around midnight. It had a magnitude of approximately 6 and a maximum intensity of approximately IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It destroyed the city of Dvin in Armenia, c
Read the full record →1980
1980 El Asnam earthquake — Algeria
The 1980 El Asnam earthquake occurred on October 10 at 13:25:23 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The shock occurred in the Algerian town of El Asnam (now known as Chlef). The shocks
Read the full record →1923
1923 Great Kantō Earthquake — Japan
The Great Kantō Earthquake (Japanese: 関東大地震, Kantō daijishin, or 関東大震災, Kantō daishinsai) was a megathrust earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September
Read the full record →1667
1667 Shamakhi earthquake — Azerbaijan
The 1667 Shamakhi earthquake occurred on 25 November 1667 with an epicenter close to the city of Shamakhi, Azerbaijan (then part of Safavid Iran). It had an estimated surface-wave magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme)
Read the full record →2005
2005 Kashmir earthquake — Afghanistan
An earthquake occurred at 08:50:39 Pakistan Standard Time on 8 October 2005 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, region administered by Pakistan. Its epicenter was 19 km northeast of the city of Muzaffarabad, and 90 km north north-east of Islamabad,
Read the full record →1718
1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake — China
An earthquake occurred on June 19, 1718, in Tongwei County, Gansu Province, Qing dynasty, present-day China. The estimated surface wave magnitude (Ms) 7.5 earthquake was designated a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), causi
Read the full record →2008
2008 Sichuan earthquake — China
An earthquake occurred in the province of Sichuan, China at 14:28:01 China Standard Time on May 12, 2008. Measuring at 8.0 Ms (7.9–8.3 Mw), the earthquake's epicenter was located 80 kilometres (50 mi) west-northwest of Chengdu, the provinci
Read the full record →1693
1693 Sicily earthquake — Italy
The 1693 Sicily earthquake was a natural disaster that struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, then a territory part of the Crown of Aragon by the Kings of Spain Calabria and Malta, on 11 January at around 21:00 local time. This earthqu
Read the full record →1598
Amasya–Çorum earthquake of 1598 — Turkey
The 1598 Amasya–Çorum earthquake devastated central north Anatolia during the month of May. The earthquake destroyed the towns of Amasya and Çorum, killing at least 60,000 people. A tsunami accompanied the shock, drowning many people along
Read the full record →History is still being written
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