Largest Earthquakes Ever Recorded

About This Dataset

The most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, measured by moment magnitude scale (Mw). The 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded at Mw 9.5, releasing energy roughly equivalent to 25,000 atomic bombs and generating a tsunami that caused damage across the Pacific Ocean.

Analysis

Valdivia, Chile 1960 (9.50), Alaska (Prince William) 1964 (9.20) and Indian Ocean (Sumatra) 2004 (9.10) take the top three in Magnitude (Mw) in 2011. Values run from 9.50 at the top to 8.70 at the bottom in Magnitude (Mw), a spread of 0.80. First and second are separated by 0.30, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Below the top two the field is tightly packed: the remaining 6 run from 9.10 down to 8.70 Magnitude (Mw).

Source: Wikipedia

Key Findings

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Valdivia, Chile 1960 leads in Magnitude (Mw) with 9.50 in 2011.

📅

1960 recorded the highest combined total across all categories.

↔️

Gap in 2011: Valdivia, Chile 1960 is 1.1× larger than Alaska (Rat Islands) 1965.

Largest Earthquakes Ever Recorded

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Table

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

8 categories · 8 years

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Top Value

9.50

Valdivia, Chile 1960

Magnitude (Mw) · 1960

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Metrics

Magnitude (Mw)

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Period

1906 – 2011

8 years of data

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 1906–2011 (8 years) · 8 observations
Measure: Magnitude (Mw)
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
Missing years are left empty rather than estimated — no interpolation, no carrying a previous year forward.
Change is measured between the first and last year in which an entity actually reported a value, so a series that starts late is not penalised for the years before it existed.
The compound annual rate is (last ÷ first)^(1 ÷ years) − 1, using those same two reported years.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2011.
An entity that reported nothing in the latest year is still listed — it follows the ranked entities in the table rather than being dropped.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Magnitude (Mw) · ranked by 2011

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	1906	1952	1960	1964	1965	2004	2010	2011	Change
🥇	Valdivia, Chile 1960	—	—	9.50	—	—	—	—	—	—
🥈	Alaska (Prince William) 1964	—	—	—	9.20	—	—	—	—	—
🥉	Indian Ocean (Sumatra) 2004	—	—	—	—	—	9.10	—	—	—
4	Tōhoku, Japan 2011	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.10	—
5	Kamchatka, Russia 1952	—	9	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Ecuador-Colombia 1906	8.80	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	Bio-Bio, Chile 2010	—	—	—	—	—	—	8.80	—	—
8	Alaska (Rat Islands) 1965	—	—	—	—	8.70	—	—	—	—