MOST DESTRUCTIVE EARTHQUAKES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Location
Date
Magnitude
Deaths
Tangshan, China
July 27, 1976
8.0
255,000
China, near Xining
May 22, 1927
8.3
200,000
Gansu, China
Dec. 16, 1920
8.6
200,000
Kwanto, Japan
Sept. 1, 1923
8.3
143,000
Messina, Italy
Dec. 28, 1908
7.5
70,000 to
100,000 (est.)
Gansu, China
Dec. 25, 1932
7.6
70,000
Peru
May 31, 1970
7.8
66,000
Pakistan, Quetta
May 30, 1935
7.5
30,000
to 60,000
Iran
June 21, 1990
7.7
50,000

Source: National Earthquake Information Center, USGS