Earthquakes can be utterly terrifying and extremely destructive, levelling towns and cities and sometimes sparking floods, landslides and tsunamis that cause even more damage and death. Some regions are disproportionately affected, such as countries along the so-called Ring of Fire – a path around the Pacific Ocean that encompasses Chile, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and more.
These are some of the most destructive earthquakes from recent times, including from this year...
A series of earthquakes and aftershocks shook Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains region between September 2010 and December 2011, the most destructive hitting on 22 February 2011. It struck during the busy lunchtime period, killing 185 people, injuring thousands more and causing widespread damage to buildings already weakened by the initial earthquake on 4 September 2010. It registered a 6.3 magnitude – the scale used to measure the severity of large earthquakes based on seismic energy at the source.
The worst earthquake in Japan’s history shook the country’s northeast on 11 March, killing thousands. Measuring 9.0 in magnitude, the powerful earthquake triggered a huge tsunami that devastated coastal areas including the Tohoku region, where three nuclear power stations failed and leaked radiation. The official number of those confirmed dead or missing is around 18,500, the majority of whom drowned due to the tsunami.
The Ercis-Van earthquake, which struck near the two cities in eastern Turkey on 23 October, was so severe that it was felt in Jordan and southern Russia. The initial 7.2-magnitude earthquake triggered more than 200 aftershocks, causing more than 570 deaths and ripping down thousands of structures in the cities and surrounding towns. There were moments of hope amid the devastating scenes, including the rescue of a 14-day-old baby, discovered alive in the wreckage of a building.
Chilling echoes of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which caused nearly 230,000 deaths, sent people fleeing from the coast in terror when two powerful earthquakes hit in the same area close to Sumatra island on 11 April. The tremors had magnitudes of 8.6 and 8.2 respectively and there were fears that another huge tsunami might be triggered, though the alert was later withdrawn. It was reported that five people were killed – that figure later doubled – while the chaos allowed dozens of inmates to escape from a damaged prison in Aceh (pictured).
It’s estimated that at least 306 people were killed by two potent earthquakes that hit East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran on 11 August 2012. Measuring 6.2 and 6.3 respectively, the quakes struck within minutes of each other near the cities of Tabriz and Ahar. The disaster severely damaged nearly 12,000 houses in the cities and surrounding areas, displacing families and completely destroying 46 villages.
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The impact of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit China’s southwestern Sichuan province was both widespread and devastating. Striking on 20 April, the quake and its series of aftershocks shook 11 counties across 18 prefectures in the largely rural region, with 196 people killed and a further 21 missing. A quarter of a million houses were reduced to rubble and it’s estimated that more than two million people were affected by the disaster. Five years earlier, in May 2008, the region was hit by one of the deadliest ever earthquakes, which killed almost 90,000 people including many schoolchildren.
More than 348 people were killed when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southwest Pakistan’s remote Balochistan province on 24 September, causing severe damage particularly in the Awaran and Kech districts. Entire villages were flattened in the mountainous region and around 21,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. A second earthquake struck the area four days later, with an epicentre 60 miles (96.5km) northeast of the first. At least seven people were killed.
The Bohol earthquake struck the island province in Central Visayas on 15 October. With a magnitude of 7.2, it was felt in the Davao Region (formerly Southern Mindanao) more than 323 miles (520km) away, though most of the devastation was concentrated around Bohol. Of the 222 people killed, 195 were on the island. A further 976 people were injured, with eight missing and nearly 80,000 structures damaged or destroyed. Typhoon Haiyan, which swept through the region less than a month later, exacerbated the situation and hampered rescue and recovery efforts.
Initial reports that several hundred people were killed when this 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit on 3 August proved tragically short of the mark, with a final death toll of 617 plus 112 missing and 3,143 injured. The quake hit Ludian County in a remote, mountainous region of southwestern China that’s known to have high poverty levels. The vulnerability of both residents and structures exacerbated the devastation, with more than 80,000 houses flattened and nearly 600,000 others damaged by the tremor and resulting landslides.
A staggering 9,000 people died, thousands more were injured and more than 600,000 structures were destroyed as a result of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that shook Nepal’s capital to its core on 25 April. Those figures made it the country’s worst natural disaster in 80 years. It reached parts of China, India and Bangladesh, crumbled homes and shattered temples and palaces, and also caused an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least a dozen people on the slopes.
Even as rescue efforts continued in the region, a second huge earthquake – this time measuring 7.3 in magnitude – struck Nepal. Hitting 47 miles (76km) east of Kathmandu on 12 May, and close to Mount Everest, the earthquake killed more than 100 people. While less devastating than the 25 April earthquake, it was particularly terrifying in the wake of that disaster. Nearly 1,900 people were injured and many more displaced, with an estimated total of more than eight million people affected by the combined tragedies.
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Hindu Kush mountain range on 26 October and caused devastating damage in northeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, with some less severe damage in India. Pakistan suffered the highest death toll, with reports of 272 deaths, while 117 people were killed in Afghanistan. A further 2,600-plus people were injured during the earthquake and its aftermath, with villages all but wiped out and tens of thousands of homes destroyed.
It’s estimated that almost 700 people died when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on 16 April, flattening homes, schools and other structures. Entire blocks were reduced to heaps of rubble in the worst-hit cities of Manta, Pedernales and Portoviejo. The impact was also felt in the capital Quito – a gateway city to the Galapagos Islands – with overall damage costs estimated at between £1.7 and £2.5 billion ($2 and $3bn).
At least 295 people were killed and around 400 injured when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit central Italy on 24 August, causing devastating damage to mountain towns and villages less than 100 miles (161km) from Rome. The hilltop town of Amatrice was particularly badly hit, with the destruction of historic buildings prompting the mayor to declare: "The town is no more." Structures razed included the medieval church of Sant'Emidio, of which only the bell tower remained standing.
Mexico City was hit by two earthquakes in September 2017, killing more than 300 people (including in other parts of central Mexico) and crumbling buildings to the ground. The first, on 7 September, was more powerful at a terrifying magnitude of 8.1 but caused less devastation as it struck offshore. It was the 7.1-magnitude quake that came 12 days later – on the anniversary of a devastating 1985 earthquake – that caused the most damage, with at least 225 people killed and dozens of buildings levelled.
The 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the mountainous border between Iran and Iraq on 12 November was so powerful that its tremor was felt in Israel and across the Gulf states. It was also the region’s deadliest in over a decade, with the final death toll estimated at more than 600 people. Around 7,000 others were injured in what was also the world’s deadliest earthquake in 2017. Many of the region’s homes, made with mud bricks, were completely destroyed, along with structures in the town of Sarpol-e-Zahab (pictured) in western Iran.
Hundreds of potent aftershocks devastated the resort island of Lombok after a 6.9-magnitude tremor hit on 5 August, with more than 430 people killed and 1,300 injured. It followed an earthquake that killed 16 people on 29 July, causing widespread panic and terror. It levelled buildings including homes and mosques, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, and its presence was felt more than 100 miles (161km) east in Bali.
People had been preparing for a beach festival due to start that evening when a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck central Sulawesi on 28 September, triggering a tsunami with waves up to 10 feet (3m) high. A power cut and landslide seriously hampered rescue efforts. The final death toll was confirmed as 4,340, with nearly half of those in Palu. More than 40,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Eyewitness reports described bodies along the shoreline and cars, logs and houses dragged through the city.
At least 16 people died when two earthquakes – measuring 6.1 and 6.3 – hit the Central Luzon region in as many days. Most deaths and hundreds of injuries were the result of buildings such as the four-storey Chuzon Supermarket in Porac collapsing, trapping people inside and hitting passers-by. The province of Pampanga was the worst affected by the quakes on 22 and 23 April, with 15 people killed and more than 60 homes damaged.
The epicentre of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck on 25 September was close to the city of Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where its impact was so severe that huge, gaping cracks opened in roads. Official figures suggest 38 people died and 700 were injured as a result of the earthquake and its aftershocks, while more than 7,400 families were affected by devastating damage to their homes.
Central Albania was rocked by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that hit close to the capital Tirana on 26 November, killing 51 people, injuring more than 650 and reducing towns, villages and homes to heaps of rubble. The Red Cross reported that 32,000 people remained homeless three months on, with more than 11,500 homes damaged beyond repair and a further 84,000 needing significant repairs to be habitable again.
At least five people were killed and nearly 600 injured when northwestern Iran was hit by an earthquake on 8 November, and the 5.9-magnitude event had a widespread impact. Six cities and 145 villages in the area were badly affected by the quake and its more than 159 aftershocks, some as powerful as 4.8 in magnitude.
It was reported that at least three people were killed by the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that hit southern parts of Puerto Rico on 7 January. It was the scale of devastation, however, that really shook the island. The initial tremor – Puerto Rico’s worst in a century – and its relentless and powerful aftershocks left more than 8,000 homes uninhabitable, displacing tens of thousands. The island was still slowly recovering from Hurricane Maria, which killed more than 4,600 people in September 2017.
This earthquake-prone region was struck by a 6.8-magnitude tremor on a cold, snowy evening on 24 January, and the impact was devastating. Official figures suggest 41 people died and 1,607 were injured when the main quake and a relentless 1,416 aftershocks caused 76 buildings to collapse completely and damaged hundreds more.
At least nine people died when an earthquake measuring 5.7 in magnitude hit close to the Iranian city of Khoy on 23 February. Those killed – three of them children – were all across the border in Turkey’s Van province. Officials in the area also reported that more than 1,000 buildings had collapsed, dozens of people were injured and around 43 villages were badly damaged by the earthquake and its aftershocks.
Two people died when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck close to the northern coast of Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, on 30 October. Its impact was more severe on the nearby Turkish coast (pictured) where the death toll was reported as 115 people. A further 1,030 were injured as the earthquake triggered a tsunami that flooded Turkey’s Seferihisar district and the port of Samos.
There were no deaths reported after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Iran on 17 February but the damage was significant and widespread. Its epicentre was close to the town of Sisakht in mountainous districts in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. Reports suggest a staggering 1,144 villages were affected, with some almost completely destroyed as hundreds of homes crumbled to rubble.
The Caribbean country of Haiti thought it had seen the worst of 2021 when on 7 July President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. But then, on 14 August, came a magnitude 7.2 quake, followed by Tropical Storm Grace on 17 August. These two events ravaged a nation already in shock, reducing buildings to rubble. The earthquake alone killed at least 2,248 people and injured 12,200 more.
The 5.6-magnitude earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Java on 21 November 2022 caused such strong tremors that high-rise buildings were evacuated in the capital city, Jakarta, 62 miles (100km) away. The epicentre was near Cianjur town, a densely-populated and landslide-prone area with many poorly-constructed buildings, where the earthquake was able to wreak tragic damage. Figures for the exact death toll vary depending on which reports you read, but it's believed that between 331 and 600 people were killed in the disaster.
On Monday 6 February 2023, a deadly and terrifying earthquake hit central Turkey and northwest Syria, leading to widespread destruction and a death toll that surpassed 50,000. The initial quake, which had a magnitude of 7.8, was then followed by a magnitude 7.7 quake a few hours later. Around 240,000 rescue workers, including volunteers, helped with the rescue efforts. Some 530,000 people were evacuated from the disaster area in Turkey alone, with at least 173,000 buildings recorded as collapsed or severely damaged.
On the night of Friday 8 September 2023, violent tremors measuring magnitude 6.8 devastated several rural villages in the High Atlas Mountains and razed parts of Marrakech's historic medina to the ground. The earthquake was Morocco's most powerful since at least 1900 and claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Settlements around the quake's mountain epicentre were the worst hit, with homes, hotels and pastoral buildings reduced to uninhabitable ruins.
In April 2024 Taiwan was rocked by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake – its most powerful quake for 25 years. Thirteen people died and more than 1,100 people were injured, but the island nation avoided mass casualties. In 1999, the so-called Chi-Chi earthquake claimed more than 2,400 lives with a similar magnitude, but these days Taiwan has quake-resistant building codes and well-drilled rescue efforts. Experts were impressed with the low death toll, and most houses stood firm against a quake that could have devastated a less well-prepared country.
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