Editing Earthquake (section)

==Major examples==
{{Main|Lists of earthquakes}}

[[File:Map of earthquakes 1900-.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Earthquakes (M6.0+) since 1900 through 2017]]
[[File:USGS magnitude 8 earthquakes since 1900.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 and greater from 1900 to 2018. The apparent 3D volumes of the bubbles are linearly proportional to their respective fatalities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/mag8/magnitude8_1900_date.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414014457/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/mag8/magnitude8_1900_date.php|url-status=dead|title=USGS: Magnitude 8 and Greater Earthquakes Since 1900|archivedate=April 14, 2016}}</ref>]]

One of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history was the [[1556 Shaanxi earthquake]], which occurred on 23 January 1556 in [[Shaanxi]], China. More than 100,000 people died, with the region losing up to 830,000 people afterwards due to emmigration, plague, and famine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/most_destructive.php |title=Earthquakes with 50,000 or More Deaths |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101175733/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/most_destructive.php |archive-date=November 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref> Most houses in the area were [[yaodong]]s—dwellings carved out of [[loess]] hillsides—and many victims were killed when these structures collapsed. The [[1976 Tangshan earthquake]], which killed between 240,000 and 655,000 people, was the deadliest of the 20th century.<ref>Spignesi, Stephen J. (2005). ''Catastrophe!: The 100 Greatest Disasters of All Time''. {{ISBN|0-8065-2558-4}}</ref>

The [[1960 Valdivia earthquake|1960 Chilean earthquake]] is the largest earthquake that has been measured on a seismograph, reaching 9.5 magnitude on 22 May 1960.<ref name="usgsfacts"/><ref name="wp100414"/><!----url does not contain box statistics that print edition does and is included for info only----> Its epicenter was near Cañete, Chile. The energy released was approximately twice that of the next most powerful earthquake, the [[Good Friday earthquake]] (27 March 1964), which was centered in [[Prince William Sound]], Alaska.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gps.caltech.edu/uploads/File/People/kanamori/HKjgr77.pdf |title=The Energy Release in Great Earthquakes |author=Kanamori Hiroo |publisher=Journal of Geophysical Research |access-date=2010-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723182215/http://www.gps.caltech.edu/uploads/File/People/kanamori/HKjgr77.pdf |archive-date=2010-07-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/how_much_bigger.php |title=How Much Bigger? |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=2010-10-10 |archive-date=2011-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607144219/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/how_much_bigger.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The ten largest recorded earthquakes have all been [[megathrust earthquake]]s; however, of these ten, only the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]] is simultaneously one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.

Earthquakes that caused the greatest loss of life, while powerful, were deadly because of their proximity to either heavily populated areas or the ocean, where earthquakes often create [[tsunamis]] that can devastate communities thousands of kilometers away. Regions most at risk for great loss of life include those where earthquakes are relatively rare but powerful, and poor regions with lax, unenforced, or nonexistent seismic building codes.