26 January 2001:
An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale devastates 
much of Gujarat state in northwestern India, killing an 
estimated 30,000 people and making more than a million 
homeless. Bhuj and Ahmedabad are among the towns worst hit.

13 January 2001:
El Salvador is devasted by an earthquake measuring between
7.6 and 7.9 on the Richter scale. More than 700 people die.

16 November 2000:
An earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale shakes Papua
New Guinea, triggering at least one tidal wave.

6 October 2000:
An earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, injured 30
peopleand damaged about 200 homes in Japan.

21 September 1999:
Taiwan is hit by a quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale,
killing nearly 2,500 people and causing damage to every town
in the island.

7 September 1999:
The northern suburbs of the Greek capital Athens are hit by
an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale.

17 August 1999:
An earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale rocks the
Turkish cities of Izmit and Istanbul, leaving more than 17,000
dead and many more injured.

March 1999:
Uttar Pradesh in northern India is hit by two earthquakes in as 
many days, killing more than 100.

January 1999:
A shock measuring 6.0 kills up to 1,000 in the Colombian town
of Armenia.

July 1998:
More than 1,000 are killed after a tsunami or sea wave, caused 
by an undersea earthquake, wipes out communities on the 
north-western coast of Papua New Guinea.

June 1998:
Adana in south-eastern Turkey is shaken by an earthquake 
measuring 6.3 which claims 144 lives. 
A week later the same area suffers two strong aftershocks, 
leaving more than 1,000 people injured.

May 1998:
Northern Afghanistan is hit by a major earthquake, killing 4,000 
people.

May 1995:
The far eastern island of Sakhalin is hit by a massive earthquake,
measuring 7.5, which claims the lives of 1,989 Russians.

January 1995:
The Hyogo quake hits the city of Kobe in Japan, killing 6,430 
people.

June 1994:
Around 1,000 people are killed by an earthquake and ensuing 
landslide in Colombia.

September 1993:
About 10,000 villagers are killed in western and southern India.

1990:
More than 40,000 people die in a tremor in the northern Iranian 
province of Gilan.

October 1989:
The Loma Prieta earthquake hits California, killing 68 people.

December 1988:
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastates 
northwest Armenia, killing 25,000 people.

September 1985:
Mexico City is shaken by a huge earthquake which razes 
buildings and kills 10,000 people.

1980:
Hundreds are killed by tremors which ripple through southern 
Italy.

1976:
The Chinese city of Tangshan is reduced to rubble in a quake 
that claims up to 500,000 lives.

1964
An earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter Scale kills 25 
people in Prince William Sound in Alaska, and triggers a 
tsunami killing a further 110 people.

1960:
The world's strongest recorded earthquake devastates Chile, 
with a reading of 9.5 on the Richter scale. A tsunami 30ft 
(10m) high eliminates entire villages in Chile and kills 61
hundreds of miles away in Hawaii.

1950:
A violent land earthquake hits Assam in north-eastern India. 
The shock sent needles off seismographs but was officially 
logged as a 9.0 on the Richter scale.

1948:
The Fukui quake, centred in the East China Sea, devastates 
western Japan, killing 3,770.

1935:
Taiwan is hit by a tremor measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, 
which kills 3,276 people.