What are the 5 deadliest earthquakes in history?
As a terrible 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria this morning, we have listed the 5 most devastating earthquakes.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria this morning and has already killed more than 2,300 people. “The worst catastrophe since 1939” for Erdogan. As the world mobilizes to help victims, we’ve identified the 5 most devastating earthquakes in history.
1 – Shanxi, China (1556)
On the morning of January 23, 1556, the city of Shaanxi (western province of China) was awakened by a devastating earthquake. Destroyed buildings and houses, fires, landslides… The final toll is estimated at 830,000 dead, not to mention the injured. Even today, this earthquake is nicknamed ” Great Jiajing Earthquake‘, considered the deadliest of all time.
2 – Tangshan, China (1976)
Unfortunately, due to its geographic location, Asia is one of the most affected areas on earth. As evidence, China succumbs again 420 years after Shaanxi. This time, in the middle of the night, an earthquake occurs in the industrial city Tangshan and quickly reaches 7.8 on the Richter scale. Balance sheet identified: 180,000 buildings destroyed and around 255,000 people killed.
3 – Aleppo, Syria (1138)
We are in the 12th century when Syria succumbs to a most impressive earthquake. With its epicenter in Aleppo (northwest), a city then devastated by war, the earthquake spread over several days 230,000 people lost their lives (estimated numbers).
4 – Sumatra Island, Indonesia (2004)
Images that excite. On December 26, 2004, several Asian countries became the subject of an unprecedented tragedy. Many minute-long tsunamis hit Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India after a powerful 8.9-magnitude underwater quake. The death toll, a few months before the disaster, exceeds 227,000.
5 – Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2010)
The Haitian earthquake of January 12, 2010 (magnitude 7.0) devastated the capital and several surrounding provincial cities. The disaster kills more than 200,000 people and injures around 300,000 others. Among those who survived, nearly a million and a half were left homeless, posing a colossal challenge for authorities and the international humanitarian community to rebuild a country.
