Top 25 Deadliest earthquakes in history (With Pictures)

15. Kanto, Japan

The Great Kanto earthquake was a magnitude 7.9 disaster that hit the Kanto plain, a main island of Honshu in Japan on September 1, 1923. This was once considered the deadliest earthquake in the history of Japan as it caused ‘the Great Tokyo Fire’ though the duration of the quake was only between 4 and 10 minutes. However, its record was surpassed by the 2011 Tohuku earthquake at a magnitude of 9.0. The fire alone claimed the lives of 140,000 people and destroyed 447,000 houses. This does not include those who died from landslides, tsunamis, and 57 aftershocks, which had estimated deaths of 93,000 people and 43,500 missing.