natural disasters can be some of the most devastating things on the planet mother nature
can produce everything from hurricanes tornadoes volcanoes and more but there is still one type
of natural disaster that trumps them all in terms of ferocity and that is the earthquake what makes
the earthquake so terrifying is the fact that there is nowhere to escape how can you run from
a disaster when the problems are generated by the very ground that you walk on luckily for us
the vast majority of earthquakes are minor they happen every day all across the world with most
people being none the wiser from time to time they're more noticeable and shake things around
however on rare occasions our earth gives us quakes on truly catastrophic levels from russia to
japan here are the five most powerful earthquakes in recorded history november 4th 1952 just off
the far eastern coast of russia a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck it was a very shallow earthquake
occurring at a depth of only 30 kilometers this added an immense amount of power to the earthquake
however the most destructive aspect was where the earthquake occurred about 81 miles off the coast
the earthquake triggered a series of tsunamis in the region especially on the kamchatka peninsula
here three tsunamis hit ranging from four meters high to 18 meters high also all of these waves
occurred with a lengthy period of time between them as the residents felt the earthquake they
fled to high ground and were able to escape the first wave however after the residents had
enough time to return to their village a second wave struck causing massive amounts of damage
unfortunately it was the third wave that was the largest and most destructive between ten thousand
and fifteen thousand people in the region lost their lives the strength of this earthquake was
not just felt in that area though around six hours after the tsunami struck the russian peninsula
hawaii was hit with a tsunami of its own although it wasn't close to the size of the bigger ones
measuring only four feet high it was large enough to damage some ships also two hours after striking
hawaii the waves struck chile measuring 1.2 meters it was enough to damage a few structures
that were close to the coast but no loss of life the power of this earthquake was enough to send
a wave across the pacific ocean in less than 10 hours commercial jets barely have this capability
2011 saw the most powerful earthquake that has ever hit japan and the fourth most powerful since
modern record keeping began in 1900 occurring only 43 miles off the coast of the oshika peninsula
the earthquake produced a tsunami that claimed thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars
in damage when the earthquake first hit the entire island of honshu shook violently it was so intense
that the geographical position of the island was moved eight feet east the earth's axis was
shifted between 4 and 10 inches and the earth's rotational speed increased by 1.8 microseconds
the 42-foot high tsunami that was generated swept through the japanese mainland and killed over
15 000 people but the effects are still felt to this day the wave ended up severely damaging the
fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant causing a level 7 meltdown in three of the reactors
it was the worst nuclear disaster since the chernobyl explosion in 1986 even now the land
is inhospitable and probably will be for decades so along with a death toll an additional 228
863 people are still having to live away from their homes due to how contaminated the area is
the damage left by this earthquake and tsunami is rather astounding japan's national police agency
estimates that around 45 000 buildings were completely destroyed and another 144 000 were
damaged to make matters worse 300 hospitals were damaged and 11 completely destroyed in total it
is estimated that this earthquake caused roughly 200 billion us dollars in damage
in 2004 the world bore witness to one of the greatest losses of life at the hands of an
earthquake in history on december 26th a magnitude 9.1 earthquake with an epicenter just off the
west coast of northern sumatra indonesia struck just under the sea floor it had so much power
that it caused the planet to vibrate as much as .4 inches and remotely triggered earthquakes as
far away as alaska along with the violent shaking it raised the sea level in that area very suddenly
over 20 feet the waves traveled to beach shores in the area causing a tsunami wave that measured over
100 feet high the suddenly receding tide which is the first warning sign of an impending wave
mesmerized many people on the beach but it soon became evident that danger was imminent
the huge wave came crashing in washing many of the once curious onlookers away
as well as buildings and cars in the end over 227 000 people in 14 countries died
it was one of the costliest and deadliest natural disasters in recorded history scientists were
stunned that an earthquake that powerful could have such an effect on the earth it was a stark
reminder that no matter how much we prepare and plan we are always at the mercy of our own planet
the second most powerful earthquake recorded in world history also known
as the great alaskan earthquake occurred on march 27 1964. the 9.2 magnitude quake
shook south central alaska for a full 4 minutes and 38 seconds causing massive amounts of damage
opening ground fissures collapsing structures and producing tsunamis that caused about 131 deaths
on a geological scale this earthquake dwarfed any others 600 miles of the fault line ruptured
at the same time releasing hundreds of years of built up stress and moving up to 60 feet
in the course of the 4 minutes and 38 seconds landslides occurred due to soil liquefaction huge
cracks opened in the earth some areas near the island of kodiak permanently rose by 30
feet however others around the city of anchorage dropped as much as eight feet
underwater landslides collapsed to the valdez city harbor and docks resulting in the deaths
of 32 people tsunamis up to 27 feet washed away villages up and down the alaskan coast
luckily the death toll was very low due to the sparsely populated area in which it happened
however the effects were still felt all over the earth with tsunamis hitting hawaii and japan
the most powerful earthquake to ever be measured occurred in chile in 1960. this type of earthquake
known as a mega thrust earthquake occurred at an area of a fault where one tectonic
plate was forced underneath another because of this one plate is thrust upward very violently
the epicenter of this quake was located about 350 miles south of the capital city of santiago
luckily this area was very sparsely populated however there was an incredible amount of damage
that extended far past the country of chile within chile's borders there were actually
a series of earthquakes that occurred between may 21st and june 6th the first quake was a magnitude
8.1 and knocked out telecommunications to southern chile that spelled disaster for the
residents as the subsequent earthquakes including the valdivia quake did the majority of the damage
at corral the main port of valdivia the water rose 13 feet before it began to recede minutes later
a 26-foot wave struck one area of the chilean coast soon after a second wave measuring 33
feet high struck hundreds of people were already reported dead before the tsunami hit
other tsunamis traveled across the pacific ocean striking hawaii and killing 61 people china japan
new zealand australia and the philippines also reported tsunamis one other significant
effect from the earthquake happened two days later volcanic vents close to the puerwei
volcano erupted spewing ash into the air it was determined to be a direct result of the earthquake
as the magma chambers were shaken so hard that they became unstable overall chile suffered 5
700 deaths and today's equivalent to nearly 18 billion dollars in damages earthquakes happen
every day all across the world although 99 of them have absolutely no effect on us the other
one percent are reminders that we are powerless to stop anything that our planet may unleash if
you enjoyed this video then be sure to click the link on screen to check out the five worst natural
disasters in human history as always thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next one