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VIVA – One of the most dangerous natural disasters in the world, earthquakes are vibrations or shocks that occur on the earth's surface due to the release of energy from beneath the surface and create seismic waves.
Earthquakes can cause severe damage as they trigger volcanic eruptions, create tsunamis and even move mountains. Since scientists discovered how to measure the magnitude of earthquakes in the early 1900s, several truly massive events have rocked our planet.
So, here is list of the largest earthquakes in the world, based on the US Geological Survey (USGS).
10. Sumatra Earthquake (2012)
On 11 April ,2012 at 15.38 local time, Indian Ocean earthquakes were magnitude 8.6 undersea that near of Indonesian city of Aceh. Authorities were at tsunami call but subsequently cancelled. These were unusually strong intraplate earthquakes and the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded.
It occurred very remote from an inhabited place and produced no destructive tsunami (10 cm to 0.8 meter or 3.9 inches to 31.4 inches tsunamis were reported). 10 deaths and 12 injuries were reported – most of them caused by panic and heart attack.
9. Assam-Tibet Earthquake (1950)
Gempa Assam-Tibet 1950.
- NASA
On August 15, 1950, Earthquake occurred at Xizang-India border region and epicenter of earthquake located near Rima, Tibet, Result of earthquakes many buildings were destroyed and between 1.500 and 3.000 people were killed.
After the earthquake, large landslides blocked the Subansiri River. This natural dam broke 8 days later, creating a wave of 7 m (23 ft) high which inundated several villages and killed 536 people. The earthquake also created around 5,000,000 homeless.
8. Rat Islands Earthquake (1965)
Gempa Pulau Rat 1965
- NASA
The 1965 Rat Islands Earthquake occurred at 05:01 UTC, on February 4 (19:01, February 3, in local time). It triggered a tsunami of over 10 meters (33 feet) on Shemya Island, Alaska, but thanks to its distant location, caused very little damage.
As information, the Earthquake was the result of the Pacific Plate diving under the North American Plate on the Alaska-Aleutian megathrust, which has been the site of many megathrust quakes.
7. Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake (1906)
The 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake occurred at 15:36 UTC on January 31, off the coast of Ecuador, near Esmeraldas (a coastal city in northwestern Ecuador). It produced large tsunamis (up to 5 meters/16 feet high), which is the cause of the deaths.
6. Maule Earthquake (2010)
On February 27, 2010, an earthquake and tsunami struck central Chile. At least 500 people were killed and 800,000 displaced by the natural disaster. More than 1.8 million people were affected, and total economic losses were estimated at US$30 billion.
Like many of the other earthquakes on this list, it occurred along the seismically active boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, which can release strong tremors.
The quake came just over a month after the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, which killed more than 200,000 people.
5. Kamchatka Russia Earthquake (1952)
Gempa Kamchatka Peninsula, Rusia 1952.
- Johnson Space Center
On November 4, 1952, a huge earthquake struck off the coast of Kamchatka Peninsula, in the far east of Russia. It produced a great destructive Pacific-wide tsunami with waves up to 15 meters (50 feet) which caused extensive damage to the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, left an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people dead.
It was also very damaging in the Hawaiian Islands, but there were no human deaths attributed to the tsunami. The waves traveled as far as Peru, Chile and New Zealand. In Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and California, tsunami waves of up to 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) were observed.
4.Tohoku Earthquake (2011)
Tsunami Tohoku (2011)
- today.btekno.id
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake triggered a tsunami that left more than 15,700 people dead, more than 4,600 missing, more than 5,300 injured and more than 130,900 displaced, according to the USGS.
More than 332,000 buildings, 2,100 roads, 56 bridges and 26 railroads were damaged by the quake. The quake also damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing one of the largest nuclear disasters in history.
The earthquake was the largest ever recorded in Japan, and cost an estimated US$309 billion in damage. For weeks afterward, powerful aftershocks above 6.0, even 7.0 continued to shake the region, sending tsunami waves as far away as Hawaii, California and the Galapagos Islands.
3. Aceh Earthquake and Tsunami (2004)
Gempa Aceh.
- ANTARA FOTO/Irwansyah Putra
One of the deadliest natural disasters in recent history, the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami also known as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred on 26 December with the epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It ruptured the greatest fault length of any recorded earthquake, spanning a distance of 1500 km (900 miles). The resulting tsunami, with waves up to 30 meters (100 ft) high, caused up to a quarter of a million deaths.
2. Prince William Sound Earthquake, Alaska (1964)
Gempa Prince William Sound, Alaska 1964
- USGS
A massive earthquake and tsunami claimed 128 lives and caused an estimated US$311 million in property damage. Earthquake damage was severe in many cities, including Anchorage, which was about 75 miles (120 km) northwest of the epicenter.
The quake, which occurred on March 27, 1964, broke along a seismically active fault between the North American and Pacific plates. The shaking lasted about 3 minutes.
Landslides in Anchorage caused severe damage. Large landslides occurred in the downtown business section of the city, and water and gas lines, sewers, telephone and electrical systems were disrupted throughout the area.
1. Valdivia Earthquake (1960)
Gempa Bumi di Valdivia, Chile 22 Mei 1960 (Magnitude 9.5)
Some 1,655 people died in the largest earthquake ever recorded, which struck Valdivia, Chile, on May 22, 1960. Thousands more were injured, and millions were left homeless. Southern Chile suffered US$550 million in damage.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed 61 people in Hawaii, 138 in Japan and 32 in the Philippines. The natural disaster occurred where the Nazca Plate, dipping beneath the South American Plate, in the Peru-Chile Trench.
