The world's strongest earthquakes and tsunamis

Associated Press

-- March 11, 2011: A magnitude 8.9 quake strikes off the northeast coast of Japan, sending a tsunami across the Pacific and killing a still-undetermined number of people.

-- October 2010: A volcanic eruption and a tsunami kill more than 500 people in Indonesia.

-- February 2010: A 8.8 magnitude quake shakes Chile, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.

-- September 2009: A magnitude 8.0 earthquake unleashes tsunamis of up to 40 feet (12 meters) and killing 194 people in the South Pacific, including 34 in American Samoa.

-- September 2007: A 7.8 magnitude earthquake rattles Sumatra island, triggering regional tsunami alerts and damaging scores of buildings.

-- September 2007: An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.4 near Sumatra triggers a wave in the coastal city of Padang. The tremor kills at least 25 people and injures around 50.

-- April 2007: At least 28 people in the Solomon Islands die in a tsunami and earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.1.

-- July 2006: A magnitude 6.1 earthquake triggers a tsunami off Java island's southern coast, killing at least 600 people.

-- March 2005: A magnitude 8.6 quake in northern Sumatra kills about 1,300 people.

-- December 2004: An Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, kills 230,000 in a dozen countries.

-- August 1976: A magnitude 8.0 earthquake hits near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu in the Philippines, generating a tsunami and leaving at least 5,000 dead.

-- March 1964: A 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, kills 131 people, including 128 from a tsunami.

-- May 1960: A magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami kill at least 1,716 people.

-- November 1952: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka causes damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves in Hawaii.

-- August 1950: A magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Assam, Tibet, kills at least 780 people.

-- April 1946: An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.1 near Unimak Islands, Alaska, triggers a tsunami, killing 165 people, mostly in Hawaii.

-- January 1906: A magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generates a tsunami that kills at least 500 people.

-- August 1868: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generates catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.

-- April 1868: A 7.9-magnitude earthquake strikes the Big Island, Hawaii, killing 77 people, including 46 from a tsunami.

-- November 1755: A magnitude 8.7 quake and ensuing tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal, kill an estimated 60,000 people and destroy much of Lisbon.

-- July 1730: A magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile, kills at least 3,000 people.

-- January 1700: A magnitude 9.0 quake shakes present-day Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Colombia and triggers tsunami that damages villages in Japan.

--------

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and WHO's International Disaster Database

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)