Aug 11, 2012: Twin earthquakes with a magnitude 6.3 and 6.4 leave 306 dead and more than 3,000 injured near the Iranian city of Tabriz.

March 11, 2011: Nearly 19,000 are killed when a tsunami triggered by a massive magnitude 9.0 undersea quake slams into the northeast coast of Japan, triggering a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant.

Oct 23, 2011: An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocks eastern Turkey, leaving more than 600 dead and 4,150 injured.

Jan 12, 2010: Magnitude 7.0 quake hits Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 dead.

April 14, 2010: A 6.9-magnitude quake hits Yushu county, in northwest China’s Qinghai province, leaving 3,000 people dead and missing.

May 12, 2008: A quake measuring 8.0 hits China’s southwest province of Sichuan, leaving more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

May 27, 2006: A powerful quake in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta region kills 6,000 and leaves 1.5 million homeless.

Oct 8, 2005: An earthquake of 7.6 kills more than 75,000 people in Pakistan. Some 3.5 million are displaced.

March 28, 2005: An earthquake on Indonesia’s Nias island off Sumatra leaves 900 dead.

Dec 26, 2004: A massive undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra island triggers a tsunami which kills 220,000 in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

Dec 26, 2003: A quake measuring 6.7 hits the Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 31,884 people and injuring 18,000.

Jan 26, 2001: A massive 7.7 earthquake hits the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing 25,000 people and injuring 166,000.

September 30, 1993: A 6.3-magnitude quake hits the western Indian state of Maharashtra, killing 7,601.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play