Top Ten Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions

Largest Recorded Earthquakes

Seismic Moment
Date Location Richter Magnitude
Magnitude
May 22, 1960 Chile 8.5 9.5
Mar 28, 1964 Alaska 8.4 9.2
Mar 9, 1957 Aleutians 8.1 9.1
Nov 4, 1952 Kamchatka 8.2 9.0
Dec. 26, 2004 Sumatra N/A 9.0
Jan 31, 1906 Ecuador 8.2 8.8
Feb 4, 1965 Aleutians 8.2 8.7
Nov 11, 1922 Chile 8.3 8.5
Mar 2, 1933 Japan 8.5 8.4
Aug 15, 1950 India-China 8.6
Dec 16, 1920 N. China 8.6

Greatest Killer Earthquakes

Year Month
Mag Deaths Location Notes
Day
July 5, 1201 1,100,000 Egypt-Syria 1
Jan. 23, 1556 830,000 China: Shanxi 2
July 27, 1976 8 655,237 NE China, Tangshan 3
1139 6.8 300,000 Caucasus
1662 300,000 China
Oct. 11, 1737 300,000 India: Calcutta 4
115 260,000 Turkey: Antioch
1139 230,000 Syria: Aleppo
1876 215,000 India: Bay of Bengal, Andaman Islands
Dec. 22, 856 200,000 Iran
1703 200,000 Japan: Jeddo
Jan. 8, 1780 200,000 Iran: Tabriz
Dec. 16, 1920 8.5 200,000 China: Gansu and Shanxi
May 22, 1927 8.3 200,000 China: Qinghai
Dec. 14, 893 180,000 Iran-Armenia
Dec. 26, 2004 9.0 160,000 Sumatra 10
Sept. 1, 1923 8.2 142,807 Japan: Tokyo-Yokohama 5
Dec. 30, 1730 137,000 Japan: Hokkaido
Nov. 23, 533 130,000 Syria-Turkey 6
Dec. 28, 1908 7.5 110,000 Italy: Messina, Sicily
1007 100,000 Iraq
1138 100,000 Egypt-Syria
1201 100,000 Greece: Aegean 7
Sept. 27,
6.7 100,000 China: Chihli
1290
Jan. 9, 1693 100,000 Italy: Sicily
Nov. 30,
100,000 China: Beijing
1731
1779 100,000 Iran: Tabriz 8
1780 100,000 Iran-Caucasus 8
Aug. 26,
100,000 Java 9
1883
May 31, 1970 7.8 70,000 Peru 11

Largest Known Holocene Volcanic Eruptions

Year Volcano Location Ejecta Remarks
4650 B.C. Mount Mazama Oregon 100+ Formed Crater Lake
Pyroclastic flows traveled 100 km,
Ryukyu
4300 B.C. Kikai 100+ reached southern Japan. Southern
Islands, Japan
Kyushu devastated.
1470 B.C. Santorini Greece 10+ Destroyed Minoan civilization
186 A. D. Taupo New Zealand 80+ Pyroclastic flows travelled 100 km
260 Ilopango El Salvador 10+
536 Rabaul New Guinea 10+ Global climatic effects
850 Hekla Iceland 10+
1010 Baitoushan China-Korea 150
1783 Laki Iceland 1 Largest historic fissure flow
1815 Tambora Indonesia 150 Global climatic effects
1883 Krakatau Indonesia 20+ Blast heard 5,000 km away
1912 Katmai Alaska 10+

Greatest Killer Volcanic Eruptions

Date Volcano Location Deaths Remarks
Ash falls, Tsunami,
April 10-12, 1815 Tambora, Indonesia 92000
Disease, Starvation

Aug. 26-28, 1883 Krakatoa Indonesia 36000 Ash falls, Tsunami

May 8, 1902 Mount Pelee Martinique 28000 Pyroclastic Flow

Nov. 13, 1985 Nevado Ruiz Colombia 23000 Mudflow
Ash falls and Pyroclastic
Aug. 24, 79 A.D. Vesuvius Italy 16000 Flows. The famous
Pompeii eruption.
May 21, 1792 Unzen Japan 14500
1586 Kelut Java 10000
Fissure Flow, Disease,
June 8, 1783 Laki Iceland 9350
Starvation
May 19, 1919 Kelut Java 5000
Dec. 15, 1631 Vesuvius Italy 4000
Ash falls, Disease,
April 24, 1902 Santa Maria Guatemala 4000
Starvation
Aug. 12, 1772 Papandayan Java 3000
Pyroclastic Flow.
Volcano was not known
Jan. 27, 1951 Lamington New Guinea 3000
to be active before the
eruption.
Mar. 28, 1982 El Chichon Mexico 1880 Ash falls
Aug. 21, 1986 Lake Nyos Cameroon 1700 Carbon dioxide emission
 from volcanic lake

Top Repeat Offenders

Volcanoes with the largest number of Holocene explosive
eruptions.
Volcano Location Number of Eruptions
Arenal Costa Rica 19
Pelee Martinique, West Indies 19
Ibusuki Volcanic Field Kyushu, Japan 15
Taupo New Zealand 15
Hekla Iceland 13
Vesuvius Italy 13
Katla Iceland 12
Avachinsky Kamchatka, Russia 12
Cotopaxi Ecuador 10
Raoul Island Kermadec Islands 9
Cerro Bravo Colombia 8
Colima Mexico 8
Fuego Guatemala 8
Ksudach Kamchatka, Russia 8
Sakura-Jima Kyushu, Japan 8
St. Helens Washington, USA 8