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/'Waves of Destruction': Top 10 deadliest tsunamis that shook the Earth in last 500 years

'Waves of Destruction': Top 10 deadliest tsunamis that shook the Earth in last 500 years

Edited By Vinay Prasad Sharma

Published: Jul 30, 2025, 16:36 IST | Updated: Jul 30, 2025, 16:53 IST

'Waves of Destruction': Top 10 deadliest tsunamis that shook the Earth in last 500 years

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After a severe earthquake in Russia on Wednesday (July 30) triggered tsunami warnings across the coastal regions of the US and Japan, you might be wondering about the world's deadliest tsunamis. Let's have a look at the top 10 deadliest tsunamis in the last 500 years.

An earthquake of magnitude 8.8 struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday (July 30, 2025), causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) high across the Pacific. The earthquake unleashed powerful tsunami waves that threatened sparsely populated areas across the Pacific, sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

The quake has caused tsunamis to rise to four metres (12 feet). However, the full extent of the damage from the Kamchatka earthquake and tsunami has not been ascertained. This earthquake is the largest since 2004, when one of magnitude 9.1 near Indonesia's Sumatra Island triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed around 220,000 people in 11 nations.

But do you know the top deadliest tsunamis in the last 500 years, which have claimed several lives and devastated several infrastructures? Here is the list of the top 10 deadliest tsunamis.

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S. No	Tsunami	Location	Casualties
1.	Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami (2004)	Sumatra, Indonesia & Indian Ocean countries	Over 230,000 deaths across 13 countries
2.	Japan Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)	North Pacific Coast, Japan	Over 18,500 deaths, Damage to $235 billion USD properties (including Fukushima nuclear disaster damage)
3.	Krakatoa Volcanic Tsunami (1883)	Sunda Strait, Indonesia	Over 36,000 deaths
4.	Peru-Chile Tsunami (1868)	Coast of Peru and Chile	Over 25,000 deaths
5.	1792 Unzen Earthquake and Tsunami	Japan (Shimabara Peninsula)	Over 15,000 deaths
6.	1946 Aleutian Islands Earthquake & Tsunami	Near the Alaskan coast	Over 165 deaths and extensive damage of properties
7.	1700 Cascadia Earthquake & Tsunami	Pacific Northwest, USA/Canada coast	Exact figures are unknown (estimated in the 1,000s)
8.	1960 Great Chilean Earthquake & Tsunami	Chile	Over 1600 deaths
9.	2006 Pangandaran Tsunami	Java, Indonesia	Over 700 deaths
10.	1958 Lituya Bay Megatsunami	Alaska, USA	2 deaths

Historically, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami remains the deadliest in modern history, claiming around 230,000 lives and causing multibillion-dollar property damage. The tsunami was triggered by a massive 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake near Sumatra.

Also read: Top 10 countries most affected by Earthquakes—Where does India stand?

The recent earthquake in Russia has become the strongest since 1952. It was “the world's first recorded magnitude 9 earthquake.”

It is marked as the sixth most severe earthquake in global history, along with the 2010 earthquake in Biobío, Chile, and the 1906 earthquake in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, along with a massive 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake near Sumatra.

Following the tsunami warning in the coastal regions of Russia, Japan, and the US, officials reported that the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated. In addition, several people were injured in Russia by the quake, but none seriously, according to state media Zvezda.

Around 1.9 million people have been also asked to evacuate in Japan, and authorities urged residents to reach higher ground over a possible tsunami.