A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey on Monday night, February 6, the strongest in the country since 1939. Here's a look at the biggest earthquakes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Messina earthquake (Italy, December 28, 1908). Magnitude 7.2 to 7.5. Tsunami up to 6-12 m high.

Epicenter of the largest earthquake in Europe was located in the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Apennine Peninsula. Cities Messina, Reggio Calabria, Palmi and about 20 cities were destroyed. Seventy-two thousand people were killed.

Haiyuan earthquake (China, December 16, 1920). Magnitude 7.8.

Landslides and rockslides, giant trenches and cracks led to the destruction in the area of 67.5 thousand km2. 200,000-240,000 people were killed.

"The Great Kanto Earthquake" (Japan, 1 September 1923). Magnitude 7,9. Tsunami up to 12 m high.

The epicenter was located in the sea, 90 km south-west from Tokyo. Yokohama and Yokosuka were also devastated. Totally 143 thousand people were killed and 542 thousand missing. 694 thousand houses were burnt out. The losses were estimated at $4.5 billion.

Ashkhabad earthquake (Turkmenistan, October 5, 1948). Magnitude 7.3.

Almost all the buildings of Ashgabat - the capital of the Turkmen SSR, the cities of Batir and Bezmen were destroyed. The death toll was 176 thousand inhabitants of the republic. 

Ancash earthquake (Peru, May 31, 1970). Magnitude 7.9.

The epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean in the Peruvian-Chilean deep trench. The glacier and mudflow that tore down from the Huascaran Mountain (elevation 6,768 m) destroyed the towns of Yungay, Karaz and Ranrahirca. About 70,000 people were killed and missing. 157 thousand people were injured. 800 thousand people were left homeless. The damage was 260 million US dollars.

Tangshan earthquake (China, July 27, 1976). Magnitude from 7,5 to 8,2.

The epicenter was in the area of Tangshan mining city in Hebei province, 150 km east of Beijing. More than 242 thousand people were killed. The damage was 2 billion dollars.

Spitak earthquake (Armenia, December 7, 1988). Magnitude 7.2.

25 thousand people were killed and 150 thousand wounded. Half million inhabitants of the republic were left homeless. Powerful underground shocks destroyed almost the whole northern part of the republic within half a minute, covering the territory with a population of about 1 million people. In the epicenter of earthquake - Spitak - the intensity of tremors reached 10, in Leninakan - 9, in Kirovakan - 8 points (by 12-point scale MSK-64). A large part of the republic was subjected to an earthquake of magnitude 6, earth tremors were felt in Yerevan and Tbilisi. The wave caused by the earthquake went around the planet 2 times and was registered by scientific labs in Europe, Asia, America and Australia. Aftershocks spread to a depth of 110 km

Sumatra earthquake (Indonesia, December 26, 2004). Magnitude from 9.1 to 9.3. Tsunami with height up to 10 m.

Epicenter was located in Indian Ocean at 160 km to the west from Sumatra island at the depth of 30 km. The tsunami reached the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia. Sri Lanka, India and the coast of Africa. From 225 to 300 thousand inhabitants of 14 countries were killed and nearly 2,2 million people suffered. The economic damage to Thailand was estimated at 5, India at 1.6, the Maldives at 1.3, Indonesia at 4.4 and the island of Sumatra at 0.7 billion dollars.

Sichuan earthquake (China, May 12, 2008). Magnitude 7.9.

Epicenter was in Wenchuan county, 80 km to the north-west from provincial capital Chengdu. The shocks were felt in Beijing and Shanghai. More than 370 thousand of people were wounded and 87,6 thousand people were killed. More than 5 million people became homeless. Totally 45,3 mln. inhabitants of 10 provinces were affected. A total of 5,360,000 buildings were completely destroyed. The total damage was estimated at 86 billion dollars.

Haitian earthquake (January 12, 2010). Magnitude 7.0.

Epicenter was in the sea, 25 km south-west of the capital Port-au-Prince, which was completely destroyed. 316 thousand of people died and more than 300 thousand were wounded. Some 1.3 million people became homeless. The damage amounted to 7.9 billion dollars.

The Great East Japan Earthquake (March 11, 2011). Magnitude 9.

Epicenter of this earthquake was located 373 km to northeast of Tokyo (origin place at a depth of 24 km). The height of the tsunami wave in the area of Miyako was 40.5 m. Sixty-two cities and villages were destroyed, and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant was damaged. (About 20 thousand people died and were missing. About 126,000 buildings were destroyed and 260,000 were damaged. Damage totaled $215 billion.

The Great Chilean (Valdivian) earthquake (May 22, 1960). Magnitude 9.3 to 9.5. Tsunami up to 10 m high.

The epicenter was located near Valdivia, 435 km south of Santiago (origin at 35 km depth). One fifth of the country's industrial potential was destroyed. About 5,700 people died. One hundred thousand people were left homeless. The tsunami with speed of 800 km/h reached the city of Hilo in Hawaii.

Chilean earthquake (February 27, 2010). Magnitude 8.8.

The epicenter was located 150 km south-west of the city of Santiago (origin at a depth of 59.4 km). 45 repeated shocks were registered. 800 people were killed and 1200 people were missing. Homeless were left 2 million people. The city of Concepcion moved 3 meters to the west. The tsunami reached Kamchatka.