563 The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes.
1293 An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.
1531 Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake--thousands die.
1556 The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
1667 An earthquake devastates Dubrovnik, then an independent city-state.
1667 A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.
1755 Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between sixty thousand and ninety thousand people.
1759 An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.
1763 A massive earthquake occurs on the same day in Komárom in Hungary, in Komárno in Slovakia and in Zsámbék in Hungary.
1812 The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
1835 Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake.
1857 An earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
1861 An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
1887 The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
1907 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000.
1915 An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.
1929 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.
1932 A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills
1939 Erzincan, Turkey was hit by an earthquake.
1946 Aleutian Island earthquake: A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands creates a tsunami that strikes the Hawaiian Islands killing 159, mostly in Hilo.
1949 In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.
1953 An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 250.
1960 An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, now known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
1963 An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in the Republic of Macedonia) leaves 1,100 dead.
1967 During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
1974 An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses.
1976 In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
1976 An earthquake strikes Friuli, causing 989 deaths and the destruction of entire villages.
1976 A series of earthquakes spreads panic in the city of Thessaloniki, which is evacuated.
1979 A disastrous earthquake (of M 7.1) occurs on Montenegro coast.
1979 Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale.
1986 An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
1988 Spitak Earthquake: In Armenia an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
1989 A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
1990 An earthquake with its epicentre in Afghanistan results in the greatest number of fatalities in a mountaineering accident in High Asian mountains when an avalanche kills 43 climbers in Camp I on Pik Lenina (Lenin Peak).
1992 An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500 in Erzincan, eastern Turkey.
1994 1994 Northridge Earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California.
1995 The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.
1995 The Russian town of Neftegorsk is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that kills at least 2,000 people, half of the total population.
1998 An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000.
1998 An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hits southeastern Iran.
1998 An earthquake in Slovenia, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurs near the town of Bovec.
1998 A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake: A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.
1999 A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
1999 A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocks Athens, rupturing a previously unknown fault, killing 143, injuring more than 500, and leaving 50,000 people homeless.
2001 An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.
2001 An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
2001 An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale hits El Salvador, killing at least 400.
2003 An earthquake hits northern Algeria killing more than 2,000 people.
2003 A magnitude-8.0 earthquake strikes just offshore Hokkaidō, Japan.
2004 The island of Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island receives the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed.
2005 2005 Kashmir earthquake: Thousands of people are killed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.