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GEOGRAPHY
Physical - Natural Disasters
Worst Earthquakes by Death Toll
This list features the worst earthquakes in history based on the number of fatalities.
RANK | LOCATION | COUNTRY | DEATH TOLL | MAGNITUDE | YEAR |
1 | Shaanxi | China | 830,000 | 8 | 1556 |
2 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti | 316,000 | 7 | 2010 |
3 | Antakya | Turkey | 260,000 | 7.5 | 115 |
4 | Antakya | Turkey | 250,000 | 7 | 525 |
5 | Tangshan | China | 242,769 | 7.5 | 1976 |
6 | Gyzndzha | Azerbaijan | 230,000 | 7.0–7.7 | 1139 |
7 | Sumatra | Indonesia | 227,899 | 9.1 | 2004 |
8 | Damghan | Iran | 200,000 | 7.9 | 856 |
8 | Gansu | China | 200,000 | 8.3 | 1920 |
9 | Dvin | Armenia | 150,000 | 5.3—6 / 7.0 | 893 |
References
Our World in Data. (n.d.) The world’s deadliest earthquakes. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/the-worlds-deadliest-earthquakes (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
Wikipedia contributors. (2025) ‘Lists of earthquakes’, Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_earthquakes#Deadliest_earthquakes (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
Wikipedia contributors. (2025) ‘893 Dvin earthquake’, Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/893_Dvin_earthquake (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
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