5 The largest earthquake in the world was recorded in Chile on May 22, 1960, and had a magnitude of 9.5.

So strong was this earthquake that seismic waves that traveled around the world were detected! It also induced several large tsunamis in the area, which led to even more damage to life and property. The quake was preceded by four shocks, all higher than 7.0 magnitude, and followed by more than five aftershocks of a magnitude higher than 7.0.(source)

6 The earthquake of 2004 in the Indian Ocean generated 1500 times the energy of the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima.

The energy released on was about 26 megatons of TNT. But this was just on the surface; underground, the energy released was over 9600 gigatons of TNT equivalent, or about 550 million times the energy released at Hiroshima. To give you a better idea, the energy then released would be equal to 370 years of energy use in the U.S. at 2005 levels.

It was also one of the longest on record, lasting nearly 10 minutes.(source)

7 The world’s worst landslide as a result of an earthquake occurred in the Gansu province of China in 1920, killing about 200,000 people.

Measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale, this earthquake caused several landslides, which caused widespread damage, primarily due to the poor soil conditions in the area, and the fact that, for almost 300 years, the region had seen no landscape-stabilising earthquakes.(source)

8 The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812, one of the most powerful in US history, were so strong that they led to reversal of the Mississippi River’s flow, led to church bells ringing in Boston, and cracked sidewalks in Washington D.C.