The 10 earthquakes with the highest number of deaths of the 21st century

He earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, which left more than 11,000 deada figure that is still provisional and that continues to rise, is among the ten deadliest of the 21st century.

2001: 20,000 deaths in India

On January 26, 2001, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing more than 20,000 people. The city of Bhuj was destroyed.

2003: 31,000 dead in Bam, Iran

On December 26, 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the southeastern Iranian city of Bam, killing more than 31,000 people, nearly a quarter of the population. The old adobe city, registered in the world heritage, was destroyed.

2004: 230,000 deaths in Southeast Asia

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) It triggered a gigantic tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people on the coasts of ten Southeast Asian countries, 170,000 of them in Indonesia.

The gigantic waves, at 700 km/h, reached a height of up to 30 meters.

2005: 75,000 killed in Kashmir

On October 8, 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 kills more than 73,000 people and leaves 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. The medical infrastructure was almost completely destroyed.

2006: 6,000 dead on the island of Java

On May 26, 2006, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on the island of Java killed nearly 6,000 people. Around 38,000 were injured and more than 420,000 left homeless.

2008: 87,000 dead in Sichuan

On May 12, 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 caused more than 87,000 deaths and 4.45 million injuries and devastated large areas of Sichuan province (southwest China). Among the victims were thousands of students who died in the collapse of poorly built schools.

2010: 200,000 deaths in Haiti

On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake killed more than 200,000 people in Haiti and left 1.5 million homeless. The earthquake turned the capital, Port-au-Prince, into a field of ruins.

Following the earthquake, the country was affected by a cholera epidemic in October 2010, introduced into the country by the Nepalese Blue Helmets who arrived after the earthquake. The epidemic left more than 10,000 people until January 2019.

2011: 18,500 deaths in Japan

On March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake. Less than an hour later, a gigantic wave of more than 20 meters at some points hit the coast of the Tohoku region (northeast), destroying everything in its path.

Water invaded the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where the cores of three reactors went into meltdown, causing the worst civil nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986.

The catastrophe left some 18,500 dead and missing and forced the evacuation of more than 165,000 residents of Fukushima Prefecture due to radioactive emissions.

2015: 9,000 dead in Nepal

On April 25, 2015, Nearly 9,000 people died in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck central Nepal. The capital, Kathmandu, and the regions near the epicenter, 80 kilometers away, were devastated.

2023: More than 11,200 deaths in Turkey and Syria

On February 6, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern Turkey and neighboring Syriafollowed by a very strong aftershock of magnitude 7.5.

The balance of victims was still very provisional at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, when more than 11,200 deaths were counted. (YO)