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some memorable earthquakes

Most destructive earthquakes
The ten largest earthquakes in the United States
The ten largest earthquakes in the contiguous United States

Richter magnitude	Moment magnitude	Location	Date
2.1		New York, NY	11 September 2001. Collapse of South Tower of the World Trade Center.¹
2.3		New York, NY	11 September 2001. Collapse of North Tower.
4.9		Korea	12 February 2013. Nuclear test in North Korea.
6.2		Long Beach, CA	10 March 1933
6.5		San Fernando, CA	9 February 1971
6.6		Charleston, SC	31 August 1886
6.8		Northridge, CA	1994
6.8		Kobe, Japan	17 January 1995
6.9		Armenia	7 December 1988
7.1		Loma Prieta, CA	17 October 1989
7.5		Kanto, Japan	1923
7.7		northwest Iran	21 June 1990
7.7		Luzon, Philippines	16 July 1990
7.9		90 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska (Denali Fault)	3 November 2002
7.9		Tejon Pass, CA	9 January 1857
8.0–8.3 (est.)		New Madrid, Missouri	December 1811– March 1812
8.3–8.6 (est.)		Yakutat Bay, Alaska	1899
8.2		Tangshan, China	28 July 1976
7.7–8.25		San Francisco	18–9 April 1906
8.3		northern Bolivia	9 June 1994
8.75		Lisbon, Portugal	1 November 1755
9.0		Andaman-Nicobar Islands	26 December 2004
8.6		Andreanof Islands, Alaska	9 March 1957
8.5	9.2	Prince William Sound, Alaska	28 March 1964
	9.0	Japan	2011
	9.5	Chile	22 May 1960

1. Won-Young Kim, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University.

Most destructive earthquakes (50,000 deaths or more)

Date	Location	Deaths and Missing	Est. mag.	Comments
23 Jan. 1556	China, Shansi	830,000
11 Oct. 1737	India, Calcutta	300,000
27 July 1976	China, Tangshan	255,000¹	8.0
9 August 1138	Syria, Aleppo	230,000
26 December 2004	Indian Ocean	229,866		Tsunami
22 May 1927	China, near Xining	200,000	8.3	Large fractures.
22 Dec. 856²	Iran, Damghan	200,000
16 Dec. 1920	China, Gansu	200,000	8.6	Major fractures, landslides
23 March 893²	Iran, Ardabil	150,000
Sept. 1, 1923	Japan, Kwanto	143,000	8.3	Great Tokyo fire.
Dec. 28, 1908	Italy, Messina	70,000 to 100,000	7.5	Deaths from earthquake and tsunami.
Sept. 1290	China, Chihli	100,000
Nov. 1667	Caucasia, Shemakha	80,000
18 Nov. 1727	Iran, Tabriz	77,000
1 Nov. 1755	Portugal, Lisbon	70,000	8.7	Great tsunami.
25 Dec. 1932	China, Gansu	70,000	7.6
31 May 1970	Peru	66,000	7.8	$530,000 damage, great rock slide, floods
1268	Asia Minor, Silicia	60,000
11 Jan. 1693	Italy, Sicily	60,000
30 May 1935	Pakistan, Quetta	30,000 to 60,000	7.5	Quetta almost completely destroyed
4 Feb. 1783	Italy, Calabria	50,000
20 June 1990	Iran	50,000	7.7	Landslides.

1. Official casualty figure--estimated death toll as high as 655,000.

2. Note that these dates are prior to 1000 AD. No digit is missing.

Data compiled from several sources.

The ten largest earthquakes in the United States

	Mag	Date	Location
1.	9.2	March 28, 1964	Prince William Sound, Alaska
2.	8.6	September 10, 1899	Yakutat Bay, Alaska
3.	8.5	March 9, 1957	Andreanof Islands, Alaska
4.	8.3	September 4, 1899	Yakutat Bay, Alaska
5.	8.3	October 9, 1900	Kodiak Island, Alaska
6.	8.3	June 2, 1903	Cape Providence, Alaska
7.	8.3	November 10, 1938	East of Shumagin Islands, Alaska
8.	8.25	April 18, 1906	San Francisco, California
9.	8.2	February 7, 1812	New Madrid, Missouri
10.	8.0	December 16, 1811	New Madrid, Missouri

The ten largest earthquakes in the contiguous United States

	Mag	Date	Location
1.	8.25	April 18, 1906	San Francisco, California
2.	8.2	February 7, 1812	New Madrid, Missouri
3.	8.0	December 16, 1811	New Madrid, Missouri (0815 UTC)
4.	7.9	January 9, 1857	Fort Tejon, California
5.	7.8	January 23, 1812	New Madrid, Missouri
6.	7.8	March 26, 1872	Owens Valley, California
7.	7.8	October 3, 1915	Pleasant Valley, Nevada
8.	7.8	July 21, 1952	Kern County, California
9.	7.7	August 31, 1886	Charleston, South Carolina
10.	7.6	December 16, 1811	New Madrid, Missouri (1415 UTC)

Note:

Opinions about the magnitudes of these earthquakes differ considerably. For example, some sources list the magnitude of the 8.6 Yakutat Bay earthquake as low as 8.0. On the other hand, some sources list the Fort Tejon quake as high as 8.3. Similar variations exist for nearly every event on this list (although generally not so large as for this event).

The two events of magnitude greater than 9.0 are recomputed values using the moment magnitude. For very large earthquakes, the moment magnitude is considered to be a more accurate determination that the traditional amplitude magnitude computation procedures. The magnitudes of the Prince William Sound earthquake and the Andreanof Islands earthquake were 8.6 and 8.1, respectively, using the amplitude magnitude procedures. Note that all of these values can be called “magnitudes on the Richter scale”, regardless of the method used to compute them.

^# A fault 1,000 kilometers long slipped 10 meters.