Biggest Earthquake Ever Recorded

Earthquakes occur quite frequently, but not all of them are intense enough to be felt by us. While some of these earthquakes are felt as light tremors, others are catastrophic enough to bring down the skyscrapers. One such earthquake which went down the memory lane as the biggest earthquake to be ever recorded in the history was the Great Chilean earthquake of 1960. The impact of this earthquake was not just restricted to the South American nation of Chile, but was also felt by the other nations along the Pacific coastline.

The Great Chilean Earthquake

The Great Chilean earthquake occurred at 1411 hours (19:11 GMT) on the 22nd May, 1960. With a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale, this was undoubtedly the world's largest earthquake ever. The epicenter of this earthquake was the Chilean city of Canete, located at around 435 miles from Santiago - the capital of Chile. The worst hit city was Valdivia, located at around 533 miles from the capital - and thus the Great Chilean earthquake is at times also referred to as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

The tsunamis triggered by this earthquake further worsened the situation, as waves measuring 80 feet ravaged the coastal areas of South America. The impact of these waves was felt as far as the Japanese and the Australian coasts, which recorded waves measuring as high as 35 feet. If the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates are to be believed, around 1,655 people lost their lives owing to this earthquake, while other reports put the estimated deaths at 6,000. The damage caused due to it amounted to a whopping $800 million.

Was it the Biggest Earthquake known to Mankind?

It is a bit difficult to ascertain whether the Great Chilean earthquake is really the biggest earthquake in the history of mankind, considering that the Richter scale, i.e. the scale of 1 to 10 used to express the magnitude of an earthquake today, was not developed until as recently as in 1930s. If any earthquake which was more severe than this earthquake has occurred before the 1930s, then it must have gone unnoticed. There have been several earthquakes which were much more fierce than the Great Chilean quake in terms of damage caused to life and property. The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China, for instance, killed around a million people - which makes it the worst earthquake ever in history, but unfortunately it went unrecorded.

Other Powerful Earthquakes

1. 1960 Great Chilean earthquake with a magnitude of 9.5
2. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3
3. 1964 Alaska earthquake (aka the Good Friday earthquake) with a magnitude of 9.2
4. 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1
5. 1952 Kamchatka earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0

More recently, the risks involved with earthquakes have just increased owing to the rise in population and the fact that most of the cities with large population lie in the seismically active regions. This explains why the damage caused by the recent earthquakes measuring 6 to 8 on the Richter scale surpasses the damage caused by the Greater Chilean earthquake.

The threat of these natural disasters is looming on some of the most populated cities of the world, and an earthquake with a magnitude of as low as 6 on the Richter scale would be enough to create havoc in these cities. That being said, it is difficult to imagine the extent of damage an earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale would cause, but the probability of one cannot be ignored.