Great Earthquakes (Magnitude 8 or higher)

[HurricaneBill]

A great earthquake is an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 8.0.

Here's a list of earthquakes that had magnitudes 8.0 or higher, according to the USGS.

January 23, 1556 Shensi, China
Magnitude: 8.0 (at least)
Deaths: 830,000 (deadliest earthquake on record)

August 17, 1668 Anatolia, Turkey
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 8,000

October 20, 1687 Lima, Peru
Magnitude: 8.5
Deaths: 600

January 26, 1700 Cascadia Subduction Zone
Magnitude: 9.0

July 8, 1730 Valparasio, Chile
Magnitude: 8.7

November 1, 1755 Lisbon, Portugal
Magnitude: 8.7
Deaths: 70,000 (some sources say toll may have exceeded 100,000; This disaster had a profound affect on Europe)

May 2, 1787 Puerto Rico
Magnitude: 8.0

December 16, 1811 New Madrid Region
Magnitude: 8.1

February 7, 1812 New Madrid Region
Magnitude: 8.0

July 10, 1821 Camana, Peru
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 162

February 20, 1835 Concepcion, Chile
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 500

February 8, 1843 Leeward Islands
Magnitude: 8.3
Deaths: 5,000

January 23, 1855 Wellington, New Zealand
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 4

August 13, 1868 Arica, Peru (now Chile)
Magnitude: 9.0
Deaths: 25,000

May 10, 1877 Offshore Tarapaca, Chile
Magnitude: 8.3
Deaths: 34

October 27, 1891 Mino-Owari, Japan
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 7,273

June 15, 1896 Sanriku, Japan
Magnitude: 8.5
Deaths: 27,000

June 12, 1897 Assam, India
Magnitude: 8.3
Deaths: 1,500

September 10, 1899 Yakutat Bay, Alaska
Magnitude: 8.0

[HurricaneBill]

1900-1949:

August 11, 1903 Southern Greece
Magnitude: 8.3
Deaths: 2

July 9, 1905 Mongolia
Magnitude: 8.4

January 31, 1906 Off the Coast of Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Magnitude: 8.8
Deaths: 1,100

August 17, 1906 Valparaiso, Chile
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 20,000
Damage: $100 million

October 21, 1907 Qaratog, Tajikistan
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 15,000

December 12, 1908 Off the Coast of Central Peru
Magnitude: 8.2

June 5, 1920 Taiwan Region
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 5

November 11, 1922 Chile-Argentina Border
Magnitude: 8.5
Deaths: 1,000
Damage: $25 million

February 3, 1923 Kamchatka
Magnitude: 8.5

August 10, 1931 Xinjiang, China
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 10,000

June 3, 1932 Jalisco, Mexico
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 60

March 2, 1933 Sanriku, Japan
Magnitude: 8.4
Deaths: 3,064

January 15, 1934 Bihar, India-Nepal
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 15,040

February 1, 1938 Banda Sea, Indonesia
Magnitude: 8.5

November 10, 1938 Shumagin Islands, Alaska
Magnitude: 8.2

May 24, 1940 Callao, Peru
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 250

August 24, 1942 Off the Coast of Central Peru
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 30

April 6, 1943 Illapel-Salamanca, Chile
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 25
Damage: $100 million

December 7, 1944 Tonankai, Japan
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 1,251

November 27, 1945 Makran Coast, Pakistan
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 4,000

April 1, 1946 Unimak Island, Alaska
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 173
Damage: $26 million (produced a destructive and deadly tsunami in Alaska and Hawaii)

August 4, 1946 Samana, Dominican Republic
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 100

December 20, 1946 Nankaido, Japan
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 2,000

August 22, 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada
Magnitude: 8.1

[HurricaneBill]

1950-2008:

August 15, 1950 Assam-Tibet
Magnitude: 8.6
Deaths: 3,300

November 4, 1952 Kamchatka
Magnitude: 9.0
Deaths: 2,331 (Tsunami struck Japan and Hawaii but caused no fatalities; All fatalities occured on Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia)
Damage: $1 million

March 9, 1957 Andreanof Islands, Alaska
Magnitude: 8.6
Damage: $5 million

December 4, 1957 Gobi-Altay, Mongolia
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 1,200

November 6, 1958 Kuril Islands
Magnitude: 8.3

May 22, 1960 Chile
Magnitude: 9.5 (strongest earthquake on record)
Deaths: 6,231 (Tsunami caused deaths in Chile, Hawaii, Japan, Philippines, and California)
Damage: $675.5 million

October 13, 1963 Kuril Islands
Magnitude: 8.5

March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska
Magnitude: 9.2
Deaths: 131 (Tsunami caused deaths in Alaska, Oregon, and California)
Damage: $1.02 billion

February 4, 1965 Rat Islands, Alaska
Magnitude: 8.7

October 17, 1966 Near the Coast of Peru
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 125
Damage: $15 million

July 31, 1970 Colombia
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 1

October 3, 1974 Near the Coast of Central Peru
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 78
Damage: $10 million

September 19, 1985 Michoacan, Mexico
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 9,500 (This is the figure released by the government; However, very few in Mexico City believe that number. Many say the toll was probably closer to 35,000. Others claim it may have been around 60,000-100,000.)
Damage: $4.104 billion

June 9, 1994 Bolivia
Magnitude: 8.2
Deaths: 10

March 25, 1998 Balleny Islands Region
Magnitude: 8.1

November 16, 2000 New Ireland Region, Papua New Guinea
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 2

June 23, 2001 Near the Coast of Peru
Magnitude: 8.4
Deaths: 145
Damage: $300 million

September 25, 2003 Hokkaido, Japan Region
Magnitude: 8.3
Deaths: 2
Damage: $563 million

December 23, 2004 North of Macquarie Island
Magnitude: 8.1

December 26, 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Islands
Magnitude: 9.1
Deaths: 230,000 (Tsunami caused deaths along the coastlines of several Asian and African countries bordering the Indian Ocean; Worst tsunami disaster on record)
Damage: $10 billion

March 28, 2005 Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Magnitude: 8.6
Deaths: 1,313

November 15, 2006 Kuril Islands
Magnitude: 8.3
Damage: $1 million (Minor tsunami struck Crescent City, California; Several docks and boats at a marina were damaged)

January 13, 2007 East of the Kuril Islands
Magnitude: 8.1

April 1, 2007 Solomon Islands
Magnitude: 8.1
Deaths: 54 (Caused by tsunami)

August 15, 2007 Near the Coast of Central Peru
Magnitude: 8.0
Deaths: 519
Damage: $2 billion

September 12, 2007 Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Magnitude: 8.4
Deaths: 25
Damage: $500 million

[Cryomaniac]

OMG, earthquakes are increasing!!! [/conspiracy theorists]