1755- Lisbon, Portugal

8.7 quake. This quake caused major tsunamis along the coast for six days.

1897- Assam, India

8.7 quake. This quake was one of the largest ever recoreded in earthquake history.

1960-Santiago, Chille

?.? quake. This quake killed over 5,000 people, and it was so powerful that it was still being recorded 2 and a half days after the actual quake!

1964- Alaska, United States

8.5 quake. This quake origionated only 80 miles south of Anchorage, and the quake lasted for 7 minutes! It caused tsunamis that traveled as far as Antartica.

1976- Tangshan, China

8.0 quake. This quake was the worst quake to hit China in 400 years!! This quake also caused a massive death toll, a quarter million dead, and 150,000 injured.

1988- Spitak, Armenia

6.9 quake. Supprisingly, this quake totally destroied the town of Spitak, and almost every building in Kirovakan and Leninakan were destroied. Many people were trapped, and 25,000 people died, but 15,000 people were saved.

1989- Loma Prieta, United States (California)

7.1 quake. This was caused by the San Andreas Fault.

1995- Kobe, Japan

?.? quake. This was an extremely devistating quake in Japan. It took 30 seconds to make over 200,000 people homeless.

More information about how/why earthquakes occur can be found [here]

More information about what an earthquake is can be found [here]

Information about major past earthquakes can be found [here]

Earthquake links can be found [here]

Information on how earthquakes are classified can be found [here]