Tsunami Warning: Is Russia's 8.8 earthquake among the worst ever? How deadly were history's top 10 disasters?
The quake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula along the coast of Avacha Bay, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said as it revised the magnitude up from 8.0 earlier.
Scary videos on social media showed shaking visuals recorded inside buildings, with damage reported at multiple places.
Is it the worst-ever Tsunami ever? What does 8.8 magnitude on richter scale mean?
The Global Historical Tsunami Database contains information about over 1,200 confirmed tsunamis between 1610 BC and AD 2017.
Of these, at least 250 were deadly. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of Commerce, the deadliest Tsunami in history was reported on December 26, 2004, when an extremely powerful earthquake occurred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean.
This magnitude 9.1 earthquake, the third largest in the world since 1900, generated a tsunami that reached as high as 167 feet (51 meters) and caused flooding up to three miles (five kilometres) inland, the NOAA says.
The ensuing tsunami was as tall as 50 m, reaching 5 km inland near Meubolah, Sumatra while earthquake was estimated to occur at a depth of 30 kilometres.
This tsunami is also the most widely recorded, with nearly one thousand combined tide gauge and eyewitness measurements from around the world reporting a rise in wave height, including places in the US, the UK and Antarctica. An estimated US$10b of damages is attributed to the disaster, with around 230,000 people reported dead, according to reports.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the east coast of Japan's Tōhoku resulted in a Tsunami that caused devastation locally and was observed throughout the Pacific. according to NOAA,
The earthquake was the worst ever recorded in Japan and the tsunami reached as high as 127 feet (39 meters) and travelled up to five miles (eight kilometers) inland.
It caused more than 18,000 deaths and approximately $243 billion (2017 dollars) in damage in Japan alone. And most of the devastation in Japan was attributed the tsunami. At least 500,000 people were displaced, and the disaster also led to an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima.
In 1755, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake generated three deadly waves to strike various towns along the west coast of Portugal and southern Spain. These waves were up to 30 m high, in some places, according to Australian geographic magazine.
The tsunami waves were also reported to as far as Carlisle Bay, Barbados. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed 50,000 in the Portugal, Morocco and Spain, according to media reports.
Deaths
Year
Country
Ocean
Cause
Magnitude 227,889 2004 Indonesia Indian Earthquake 9.1 50,000 1755 Portugal Atlantic Earthquake 8.5 34,417 1883 Indonesia Indian Volcano — 31,000 1498 Japan Pacific Earthquake 8.3 27,122 1896 Japan Pacific Earthquake 8.3 25,000 1868 Chile Pacific Earthquake 8.5 18,453 2011 Japan Pacific Earthquake 9.1 14,524 1792 Japan Pacific Volcano — 13,486 1771 Japan Pacific Earthquake 7.4 8,000 1686 Japan Pacific Earthquake 8.2
The deadliest Tsunami in history was reported on December 26, 2004, when an extremely powerful earthquake occurred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Key Takeaways The recent 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia has raised new concerns about tsunami risks.
Historical context shows that tsunamis can have devastating impacts, as evidenced by the 2004 Sumatra tsunami.
Understanding the scale and effects of past tsunamis can help prepare for future events.
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