CNN
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Here we will look at earthquakes around the world.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) describes an earthquake as “a shaking of the ground caused by the sudden sliding of a fault. Stresses in the Earth’s outer layers press against the sides of the fault. Stress builds up, rocks suddenly slide, and the energy of waves traveling through the Earth’s crust is released, causing the shaking you feel during an earthquake.”
Earthquakes are measured using seismographs, which monitor seismic waves that travel through the Earth after an earthquake occurs.
Scientists have used the Richter scale for years to measure earthquakes, but now they primarily follow the “moment magnitude scale,” which the USGS says is a more accurate measure of magnitude.
(Extracted timeline of earthquakes around the world that caused more than 100 deaths)
June 4, 2000 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes southern Sumatra, Indonesia, killing an estimated 103 people.
January 13, 2001 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes near San Miguel, El Salvador, killing an estimated 852 people.
January 26, 2001 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat kills an estimated 20,000 people.
February 13, 2001 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits El Salvador, killing 315 people.
June 23, 2001 – A magnitude 8.4 earthquake kills an estimated 138 people in Peru.
March 3, 2002 – A magnitude 7.4 earthquake kills an estimated 166 people in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region. A second earthquake struck the region on March 25, killing 1,000 people.
June 22, 2002 – A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes western Iran, killing an estimated 261 people.
February 24, 2003 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes southern Xinjiang, China, killing an estimated 263 people.
May 1, 2003 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes eastern Türkiye, killing approximately 177 people.
May 21, 2003 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in northern Algeria kills an estimated 2,266 people.
December 26, 2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits the city of Bam in southeastern Iran. This earthquake will kill an estimated 30,000 people.
February 24, 2004 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake kills approximately 631 people in Morocco.
December 26, 2004 – A magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurs off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed 227,898 people in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Bangladesh.
February 22, 2005 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes central Iran, killing at least 612 people.
March 28, 2005 – A magnitude 8.6 earthquake occurs off the coast of Indonesia on the same fault that caused the December 26 quake. At least 1,300 people died.
October 8, 2005 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake hits Pakistan. At least 80,000 people will die.
May 26, 2006 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes central Java, Indonesia, killing at least 5,749 people.
July 17, 2006 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Java, killing an estimated 730 people.
August 15, 2007 – A magnitude 8.0 earthquake strikes Peru, about 160 miles south of the capital Lima. Approximately 514 people are reported to have died.
May 12, 2008 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes central China, killing more than 87,000 people.
October 28, 2008 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes Pakistan, killing an estimated 166 people.
April 6, 2009 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits central Italy, killing 295 people.
September 29, 2009 – A magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurs in the Samoa Islands, killing 192 people.
September 30, 2009 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake hits the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing more than 1,000 people.
January 12, 2010 – A magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs 22 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. USAID estimates the death toll at about 230,000, but other estimates put it as high as 316,000.
February 27, 2010 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake strikes central Chile, killing an estimated 547 people.
April 13, 2010 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hits China’s Qinghai province. Approximately 2,968 people have been reported dead.
October 25, 2010 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake and subsequent tsunami off the coast of Indonesia kills at least 503 people.
February 21, 2011 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Christchurch, New Zealand. An estimated 181 people died.
March 11, 2011 – A magnitude 9.1 earthquake occurs near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, causing a massive tsunami. The epicenter of the earthquake is 371 miles from Tokyo. The total number of confirmed deaths and missing people exceeded 22,000.
September 18, 2011 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes the Indian state of Sikkim, killing an estimated 111 people.
October 23, 2011 – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes eastern Türkiye. The death toll was 604.
February 6, 2012 – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes off the coast of Negros Island in the Philippines, killing at least 113 people.
August 11, 2012 – Two earthquakes hit northern Iran. The first earthquake to occur is a magnitude 6.4 earthquake. A few minutes later, a second earthquake of magnitude 6.3 occurred. At least 306 people died.
November 7, 2012 – A magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Guatemala kills an estimated 139 people.
April 20, 2013 – An earthquake hits southwest China’s Sichuan province, killing at least 192 people. The USGS measured it at magnitude 6.6, and the China Earthquake Network Center estimated it at magnitude 7.0.
September 24, 2013 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits Pakistan’s Balochistan province. More than 300 people are reported to have died.
August 3, 2014 – An earthquake strikes China’s Yunnan province, killing at least 615 people and injuring more than 2,400. The USGS measured the quake’s magnitude as 6.1, and the China Earthquake Network Center estimated it at magnitude 6.5.
April 25, 2015 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, with its epicenter less than 80 miles from the capital, Kathmandu. According to Nepal’s National Emergency Management Center, the death toll is more than 8,000. At least 125 people were killed in Nepal, India and Tibet on May 12 when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake rocked the already shaken country.
October 26, 2015 – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes South Asia, killing at least 364 people and injuring more than 2,000. The epicenter was in northeastern Afghanistan, but most of the deaths were reported in Pakistan.
April 16, 2016 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits the Ecuadorian coast, killing 663 people.
August 24, 2016 – A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hits central Italy, killing at least 290 people.
September 19, 2017 – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits Mexico City and surrounding states, killing at least 369 people.
November 12, 2017 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Iraq-Iran border area. More than 600 people died.
September 28, 2018 – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Sulawesi, Indonesia. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 2,100 people.
August 14, 2021 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs in southwestern Haiti. Two days later, Tropical Storm Grace brought strong winds and heavy rain to the same area, complicating relief efforts. Approximately 2,248 people were killed and 12,763 injured.
June 22, 2022 – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan. More than 1,000 people were killed and at least 1,500 injured.
November 21, 2022 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurs in the Cianjur region of West Java, Indonesia, killing more than 334 people.
February 6, 2023 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits Türkiye and Syria. More than 50,000 people were killed and tens of thousands injured.
September 8, 2023 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hits Morocco. Approximately 2,946 people were killed and 5,674 injured.
October 7, 2023 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Afghanistan. More than 1,000 people died.
March 28, 2025 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits Myanmar. More than 2,700 people died.
August 31, 2025 – A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan. At least 800 people were killed and more than 2,800 injured, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
(USGS)
May 22, 1960 – Chile, 9.5
March 28, 1964 – Prince William Sound, Alaska, 9.2
December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia, 9.1
March 11, 2011 – Honshu, Japan, 9.1
November 4, 1952 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 9.0
July 29, 2025 – Russia, 8.8
February 27, 2010 – Chile, 8.8
January 31, 1906 – Ecuador, 8.8
February 4, 1965 – Rat Islands, Alaska, 8.7
August 15, 1950 – Tibet, Assam, 8.6
April 11, 2012 – North Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
March 28, 2005 – North Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6
March 9, 1957 – Andreanof Islands, Alaska, 8.6
April 1, 1946 – Unimac Island, Alaska, 8.6
February 1, 1938 – Indonesia, Banda Sea, 8.5
November 11, 1922 – Chile-Argentina border, 8.5
October 13, 1963 – Kuril Islands, 8.5
February 3, 1923 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 8.4
September 12, 2007 – South Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.4
June 23, 2001 – Arequipa, Peru, 8.4
March 2, 1933 – Sanriku, Japan, 8.4
January 12, 2010 – Haiti – 316,000 people killed (magnitude 7.0). Other sources report 230,000.
July 27, 1976 – Tangshan, China – 255,000 people killed (7.5)
December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia – Earthquake and resulting tsunami kill 227,898 people (9.1)
December 16, 1920 – Haiyuan, China – 200,000 people killed (7.8)
September 1, 1923 – Kanto, Japan – 143,000 people died (7.9)
October 5, 1948 – Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 110,000 people killed (7.3)
May 12, 2008 – Eastern Sichuan, China – 87,587 deaths (7.9)
October 8, 2005 – Pakistan – 86,000 (7.6)
December 28, 1908 – Messina, Italy – 70,000 (7.2)
May 31, 1970 – Chimbote, Peru – 66,000 people killed (7.9)
