World's 20 deadliest earthquakes to hit this century

Disastrous quake in Turkey brought brought back memories of August 1999 when more than 17,000 people were killed

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Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey

The earthquake in Turkey and Syria has killed more than 7,000 people since it hit on Monday, with countless more injured and missing

The death toll from the quake could reach up to 20,000, according to the World Health Organisation, which said up to 23 million people had been affected by the quake.

Syria's White Helmets civil defence organisation said time is running out to rescue hundreds of people trapped beneath debris since Monday.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was the strongest in Turkey for about a century in a region that straddles seismic fault lines.

Here is a look at the 20 deadliest earthquakes since 2000.

For some, Monday's quake brought back memories of August 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck near the Turkish city of Izmit — killing more than 17,100 people and injuring 50,000.

More than 500,000 homes were destroyed, due largely to the widespread use of poor-quality building materials.

It was one of the most destructive quakes of the century — but was not close to being the deadliest.

Twenty years of deadly earthquakes

Two of the biggest killer quakes hit Pakistan, one in 2005 and another in 2015.

One of the most recent disasters with a death toll above 1,000 was in Afghanistan in June 2022 when a 5.9-magnitude earthquake killed more than 1,100 and injured more than 6,000.

In August the previous year, 7.2-magnitude quake struck in Haiti, killing more than 2,200.

A 6.0-magnitude quake hit Italy in August 2016, leaving 299 dead.

In October 2015, Pakistan was devastated by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake that killed 86,000 people.

A 7.8-magnitude quake killed more than 8,900 people across Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh in April 2015.

In China, an earthquake shook the country's south-west in August 2014, killing several hundred people.

In Pakistan, a 7.7-magnitude quake struck in September 2013, killing more than 820 people and injuring hundreds more.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan in March 2011. More than 15,500 people died.

In Chile in February 2010, a 8.8-magnitude quake shook the country, causing 521 deaths with 46 missing and presumed dead.

In May 2008, a 7.9-magnitude quake struck eastern Sichuan in China, resulting in more than 87,500 deaths.

More than 5,700 people died when a 6.3-magnitude quake hit the island of Java, Indonesia, in May 2006.

In October 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 80,000 people in Pakistan’s Kashmir region.

It followed an 8.6-magnitude quake in northern Sumatra in Indonesia that killed about 1,300 people in March of that year.

In December 2004, a quake with a magnitude of 9.1 in Indonesia triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing at least 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

A 6.6-magnitude quake hit south-eastern Iran in December 2003, resulting in more than 20,000 deaths.

More than 2,200 people were killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Algeria in May 2003.

Two years previously, in January 2001, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck Gujarat in India, killing as many as 20,000 people.

August 1999 was when the 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Izmit in Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

In May of the previous year, more than 4,000 people were killed when a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.

The National reports from Adana, 200km from earthquake epicentre in Turkey

The National reports from Adana, 200km from earthquake epicentre in Turkey
Updated: February 08, 2023, 4:36 AM