The Valdivia earthquake is the largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Chile on May 22, 1960, and had a magnitude of 9.5. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 82 feet in some areas, and it caused widespread damage and loss of life.
The Great Alaska earthquake is the second largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Alaska on March 27, 1964, and had a magnitude of 9.2. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 67 feet in some areas, and it caused widespread damage and loss of life.
The Tōhoku earthquake was the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Japan on March 11, 2011, and had a magnitude of 9.0. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 133 feet in some areas, and it caused widespread damage and loss of life in Japan.
The Kamchatka earthquake is the fifth largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Russia on November 4, 1952, and had a magnitude of 9.0. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 40 feet in some areas, but it caused relatively little damage and loss of life because it struck in a remote area.
The Ecuador–Colombia earthquake is the seventh largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Ecuador and Colombia on January 31, 1906, and had a magnitude of 8.8. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 50 feet in some areas, and it caused widespread damage and loss of life.
The Rat Islands earthquake is the eighth largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck Alaska on February 4, 1965, and had a magnitude of 8.7. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that reached as high as 20 feet in some areas, but it caused relatively little damage and loss of life because it struck in a remote area.
The Assam–Tibet earthquake is the ninth largest earthquake ever recorded. It struck India and Tibet on August 15, 1950, and had a magnitude of 8.6. The earthquake triggered landslides and caused widespread damage, but it caused relatively little loss of life because it struck in a remote area.