Here is a factbox showing the 10 strongest earthquakes recorded since 1900, by order of magnitude as Indonesia issued a tsunami warning after a huge 8.7 magnitude earthquake struck off its westernmost province of Aceh on Wednesday.
May 22, 1960, Chile: An earthquake of magnitude 9.5 struck Santiago and Concepcion, triggering tidal waves and volcanic eruptions. Some 5,000 people were killed and 2 million made homeless.
March 28, 1964, Alaska: An earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed 125 people and caused about $310 million in property loss. The magnitude 9.2 quake buffeted a large area of Alaska and parts of western Yukon Territory and British Columbia in Canada.
December 26, 2004, Indonesia: A magnitude 9.1 quake struck off the coast of Aceh province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, setting off a tsunami that killed more than 226,000 people in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, India and nine other countries.
November 4, 1952, Russia: An earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 generated a tsunami that reached the Hawaiian islands. No lives were lost.
March 11, 2011, Japan: A 9.0 magnitude quake struck Japan, causing many injuries. The US Geological Survey verified the quake at a depth of 15.1 miles and located it at 81 miles east of Sendai, on the main island of Honshu. The quake was the strongest in Japan on record, and a big tsunami followed, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in the 25 years since Chernobyl. More than 15,000 people died from the combination of the earthquake and tsunami.
The Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia all issued tsunami alerts, reviving memories of the giant tsunami which struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries as far away as Colombia and Peru.
February 27, 2010, Chile: An 8.8 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami in Chile killed more than 500 people and caused some $30 billion in damage, wrecking hundreds of thousands of homes and mangling highways and bridges.
January 31, 1906, Ecuador: An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 struck off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia, generating a tsunami that killed up to 1,000 people. It was felt all along the coast of Central America and as far north as San Francisco and west to Japan.
April 11, 2012, Aceh: A huge 8.7 magnitude quake struck Indonesia's Aceh province some 308 miles southwest of the province's capital Banda Aceh. The quake was felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand and India.
February 4, 1965, Alaska: An earthquake of magnitude 8.7 generated a tsunami reported to be about 35 feet (10.7 metres) high on Shemya Island.
March 28, 2005, Sumatra: A magnitude 8.6 quake off Sumatra was estimated to have killed 1,300 people, many on Nias island off Sumatra's west coast.
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