The 7 most devastating earthquakes of the 21st century

About a year ago, in April 2015, an earthquake occurred in Nepal that caused thousands of deaths and enormous destruction, including valuable historical monuments. This is one of the most powerful earthquakes in history. A cataclysm of this magnitude was already the seventh in a row in the 21st century. Recall about each of them:

Bam, 2003

An earthquake of 6.3 points occurred on December 26, 2003 in the ancient city of Bama in Iran. On that terrible day 35 thousand people lost their lives, another 22 thousand were injured. And this despite the fact that the population of the city is only 200 thousand inhabitants.

Indian Ocean, 2004

Exactly one year after the Iranian tragedy in the Indian Ocean, an underwater earthquake occurred that caused the most deadly tsunami in modern history. The magnitude of the tremors was 9.1-9.3 points. The tsunami struck several countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and others, which were closest to the epicenter. Its destructive power was so great that even in Port Elizabeth (South Africa), located 6900 kilometers from the epicenter, a huge number of inhabitants died. The total number of deaths during the disaster reached 225-300 thousand.

Sichuan, 2008

Haiti 2010

The date of the tragedy was January 12, 2010. Previously, such a devastating earthquake was recorded on the island in 1751. The death toll during the tragedy 6 years ago exceeded 200 thousand people, and material damage amounted to 5.6 billion euros.

Chile 2010

In the same year, February 27, one of the strongest earthquakes in the last half century occurred in Chile. Oscillations of the earth with a magnitude of 8.8 points led to enormous destruction, the victims of which were about a thousand people.

Japan 2011

The earthquake off the coast of the Japanese island of Honshu on March 11, 2011, went down in history as the Great East Japan Earthquake. The strongest earthquake in the history of the country caused an equally terrible tsunami, the wave height of which reached 40 meters. One of the consequences of the disaster was the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The element destroyed three nuclear reactors, because of which there was a strong radioactive release into the atmosphere. The number of deaths exceeded 15 thousand people, about 3 thousand are reported as missing.

Nepal, 2015

On April 25 and 26, 2015, powerful tremors began in Nepal, with a magnitude of 4.2-7.8 MW. According to the government, the death of 4 thousand people has been confirmed, and the damage is estimated at 5 billion dollars. In addition, the earthquake triggered the avalanche on Everest, which killed more than 80 climbers.