The biggest earthquakes in history

Lisboa, 1755

It was All Saints’ Day, November 1, 1755, when night fell in the neighboring Portuguese city. The earthquake, (according to estimates of magnitude 8.4 on the Richter scale), was characterized by its long duration, and caused the death of between 60,000 and 100,000 people. It was followed by a tsunami, which led to the almost complete destruction of Lisbon.

San Francisco, 1906

On the morning of April 18, 1906, the land roared on the west coast of the United States. An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale razed the city of San Francisco at dawn.

Kanto, 1923

It was on September 1, 1923, at 1:58 in the morning, when the tragedy broke out in the Kanto region of Japan. It was 11:58. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, destroyed Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Tokyo and the fire lasted for days. The reason that so many fires appeared throughout the country was due to the fact that at that time in many houses food was being prepared. At least 105,385 people died and another 37,000 were left missing, around 570,000 homes were destroyed.