Most Destructive Earthquakes in History

Earthquake

     If the crust of the earth were not solid, it would be shaking about and moving up and down constantly. But there are places in the earth's crust where it isn't strongly held together—where faults exist. Along this break, one rock mass might rub against another with very great force and friction. The energy of this rubbing is changed to vibration in the rocks—and we have an earthquake!
     There are two ways we can describe an earthquake in terms of size: one is in the force of the earthquake, and the other is in the damage it does. Since the loss of lives and destruction worry people more than technical measurements, the "great earthquakes" people remember are those in which many lives were lost.

Destructive Earthquakes

    Three most destructive earthquakes that caused enormous damage took place in Kansu, China (Gansu), Indian Ocean and Tokyo, Japan.

Kansu, China

The Chinese Quake shook the earth in December 1920 killing two hundred thousand (200,000) persons. It covered three hundred square miles (300 miles²) and was recorded 8.6 on Richter Scale. This was the earthquake deadliest ever known to mankind.

Indian Ocean Quake

The second largest earthquake hit India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Somalia and small areas of some other countries on 26 December 2004. Its magnitude was recorded 9.4 on Richter Scale, 30 km underneath The Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami is known as Christmas Tsunami. The Quake and Tsunami killed over 250,000 thousand people and some are missing.

Tokyo, Japan

In September 1923, a strong earthquake hit the capital of Land of Rising Sun. Killing one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) people, Tokyo Quake destroyed cities of Tokyo along with Yokohama. Land shook for well 4 minutes and the earthquake was spread over a wide area of 60 km.

America

The most famous one in The North, America was the San Francisco earthquake in April 1906. A great fire followed this quake. Thousands of people died and property loss amounted to $425,000,000.
More recently, in February 1971, a heavy earthquake in Los Angeles are caused many dollars damage to homes, businesses and roadways.

Europe

One of the most famous earthquakes in Europe took place in Lisbon, Portugal in 1755. The city was ruined and at least thirty thousand (30,000) people were killed.

In 1906, in Calabria and Sicily, a tremor killed about seventy-five thousand (75,000) men and women and in 1915, in central Italy, hundreds of towns and villages were damaged and thirty thousand (30,000) people expired as a result of another earthquake.

Asia

People of Pakistan can never forget the black day, 8 October 2005. A heavy wave of the earthquake hit Kashmir and other adjacent areas 15 km deep. The 7.6 magnitude was felt in Afghanistan and India, too. It killed about 87,000 people along with the same amount of injuries.

Islamabad, the second most beautiful capital in the world after the earthquake.

The most recent among the deadliest earthquakes took place in Nepal on 25 April 2015. This quake had its impact on India, China and Bangladesh, too. It killed 9,000 people in Nepal and few in India & China. Its magnitude was recorded 7.8 15 km deep. As a  result of this earthquake, Mount Everest was moved more than 4 cm and plenty of avalanches caused problems for mountain climbers.

New Madrid, Missouri

An earthquake may be a great earthquake and do very little damage. For example, the greatest earthquake on record in the United States in hardly known to most people. It took place near Town of New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811/1812. There were 1.874 separate earthquakes, but the affected area was sparsely settled, so not much damage was done.