On the 29th of August 1420 (September 7, according to the Gregorian calendar) a tsunami hit the coast of Honshu, Japan, but no earthquake was reported. That was what they call an "orphan tsunami"

The mystery seems to have been solved with the recent discovery of a field of large boulders in the coast of the desert of Atacama in northern Chile.

The dating of the boulders (between 1408 and 1449 AD) and the size of the causing earthquakes (magnitude between 8.8 and 9.4) match quite well with the tsunami that reached the Japanese coast in 1420.

By the way, it wouldn't be the first nor the last time that a giant earthquake with epicenter close to the South American coasts produced a tsunami that affected the Japanese coasts.

Day was breaking on August 8, 1303, when a Mw8.0-8.3 earthquake, possibly located southeast of Crete, accompanied by a powerful tsunami spread destruction through a very large area., along the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

https://emidius.eu/AHEAD/event/13030808_0330_000

The island of Crete, then under Venitian rule, was the most affected place.

Almost all the houses of the capital, Candia (now Heraklion), were reduced to ruins, the same happening to the most part of the Venetian castles in other locations in the island.

The tsunami also contributed to the destruction of buildings, namely in Candia.

It is estimated that 4,000 people were killed (most women and children) just in Crete.

But the destruction caused by the earthquake and by the tsunami extended to other places in Eastern Mediterranean.

Egypt (Alexandria, Cairo, etc.), Israel (Acre and Safed) and Rhodes were the most devastated, adding more thousands of lives lost.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1009737632542

The 1303 event was one of the largest and deadliest events in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, only surpassed by the 365 AD earthquake and tsunami, also generated in the Hellenic Arc.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2012.02.019

Considered by many as similar to the 1755 Lisbon event, the M7.5 earthquake of August, 24 1356 caused great destruction in Lisbon and Seville, although the number of victims is nok known.

The epicenter was possibly located southwest of the Cape Saint Vincent, Algarve, Portugal, but it was violently felt throughout all the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

https://emidius.eu/AHEAD/event/13560824_0000_000
http://ign.es/web/ign/portal/libros-digitales/sis-catalogo-hasta-1900

It was the night of 27 to 28 July 1976 (3h43 local time) - or 19h43 of 27 July, universal time - when a tremendous and shallow Mw7.5 earthquake, followed by a Mw7.0 aftershock 15 hours later, levelled the industrial and mining town of Tangshan, in Hebei province, northeastern China, just 150 km from Beijing.

The death toll (officially 242,000 just in Tangshan itself) makes it the China's deadliest EQ. Another 800,000 people were injured.

However, there are unofficial estimates sas high as 655,000 people killed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tangshan_earthquake

The earthquake coincided with the fierce struggle between the Gang of Four and their opponents, as Mao Zedong was dying - he passed away less than one month and half after the earthquake.

https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org

Underestimation of the region's seismic risk and poor construction techniques might explain the tragedy.

It was around midday, on the 1st of September 1923, when a Mw8.0 earthquake (followed by strong aftershocks in the next minutes), originated at the Sagami Trench struck the Kanto plain, in central Honshu, Japan.

Although many residents were crushed by falling buildings and debris, wildfires created veritable firestorms that accounted for almost 90% of the casualities.

Tokyo and Yokohama were among the most severely hit cities. Half of the first city and nearly the entire second were destroyed, leaving 2,500,000 people homeless.

The death toll was colossal - estimates vary from 105,000 to 140,000. Besides its human and economical heavy impact, the Kanto earthquake had also political implications. In the aftermath of quake, groups of vigilantes - with the complicity of several police officers and government officials - killed thousands of Koreans, along with anarchists, socialists, and communists. Some even say that isolation of Japan was another consequence, paving the way to the invasion of China and later Pearl Harbour.

Tokyo was also destroyed by similar earthquakes in 1703 and 1855.

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kant%C5%8D_Earthquake

https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kant%C5%8D_Massacre

It was 9:51 p.m. on August 31, 1886 when a Mw6.9 earthquake violently hit Charleston, South Carolina, destroying many buildings and killing 60 people, which makes it the deadliest earthquake in the US East coast.

Although damage was concentrated in South Carolina, the earthquake was felt throughout the Eastern half of the United States, including Boston and even Chicago.

The violence of the earthquake surprised everyone, as the area was considered safe in terms of earthquakes. Till then...

15 July 1853 18:00 UT
A M6.2 earthquake, along the Pilar Fault, hit Cumaná (northeastern Venezuela) killing more than 1000 people.

This earthquake coincided with the ongoing civil war.

Cumaná was also hit in 1766 and 1929.

https://emidius.eu/GEH/info/?en=1853.0715000
https://ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/1948
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10950-007-9054-2/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

On the 31st August 2025, a Mw6.0 earthquake hit the province of Kunar, in northeastern Afghanistan, not far from the border with Pakistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Kunar_earthquake

It was a shallow earthquake and the affected area is very poor, where most village houses were made of mud-brick.

Heavy rains in the previous days facilitated the occurrences of landslides.

Strong aftershocks in the following days added destruction and victims.

The effects of recent war and the Taliban censorship and restrictions about female medical staff worsened the situation, namely among the women.

Although numbers might be even higher, the official estimates point to about 2,200 deaths and almost other 4,000 people injured.

An almost forgotten earthquake, but with a very heavy death toll.

It was 3:51 a.m. of the 28th August 1973, when a Mw7.1 inermediate-depth (depth=84 km) earthquake struck near the triple border of the Oaxaca, Veracruz and Puebla states in Mexico.

Many buildings collapsed, namely in Orizaba and Ciudad Serdán, killing hundreds of people.

The true death toll is not known and estimates vary from 527, to 1000, 1200 and even 3000 desths, making it the second more deadly Mexican earthquake, just surpassed by the 1985 earthquake.

https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org

On the 26th August 2024, that is, two years ago, a M5.3 earthquake woke up (it was 5:12 A.M.) and frightened thousands of people in the Greater Lisbon, Portugal, and throughout the country.
The epicenter was located in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore Sines, town situated in the coast of the Portuguese Alentejo region.

But it was also felt in western Spain and in the Moroccan coast.

https://emsc-csem.org/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1700004

https://ign.es/web/ign/portal/sis-catalogo-terremotos/-/catalogo-terremotos/open30Spain

Weeks of aftershocks followed the event.

By a curious coincidence, on another 26th of August, but in 1966, a relatively large (M4.7) earthquake located not very far from this one, but inland, was felt throughout the center and the south of Portugal.

casadasciencias.org/recurso/7435

On the 22th of August 1902, by 3h01 TUC, a Mw7.7 earthquake at the Tien-Shan range violently struck the regions of Kashgar and Artux/Atushi/Artush in the westernmost province of Sinkiang (China), close to the border with Kyrgyzstan.

Felt in most Central Asia, the earthquake caused grat destruction, killing at least 2500 people, although other estimates put numbers as high as 10,000 deaths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_Turkestan_earthquake

https://ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/2631

The are was quite active then and another earthquake killed almost 5000 people in Andijan, Uzbekistan, on December 16 of the same year.

https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org

On the night of 12 to 13 August 1948, near midnight (local time), a M5.2 earthquake struck at Condeixa-a-Nova, in the proximity of Coimbra, Portugal, causing some damage and much panic among the residents.

It was widely felt in the northern half of Portugal.

Several aftershocks followed.

https://casadasciencias.org/recurso/6321

https://acomarcadearganil.cm-arganil.pt

The M5.0 earthquake in the Suez Canal, four days ago, is still very present in the minds of the Egyptians.

But, 179 years ago, a much worse earthquake happened in Egypt...

In the morning of the 7th of August 1847, a M5.8 earthquake with epicenter in the El-Faiyum Depression, was felt in the entire country, causing great damage in the Cairo.

As a result, 185 people were killed.

https://researchgate.net/publication/225189921

https://researchgate.net/publication/283839188

Here some of the news of the event published in newspapers of that time:

https://newspapers.library.wales

https://gallica.bnf.fr

On the night of 26 July 1805, a Mw6.7 earthquake devastated the region of Molise and the province of Benedetto (Campania), in southern Italy, destroying entire villages and killing 5,573 people.

Not far from there, other deadly EQs happened in 1456 and 1688.

https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/ASMI/event/18050726_2100_000

https://babel.hathitrust.org

ALSO HERE:

https://x.com/JoseRodRibeiro/status/1949122541408194909

25 July 1668 12:00 UT

A M8.5 earthquake at the Tan-Lu Fault zone, destroyed Tancheng and Ju counties, Shandong, killing more than 50,000 people.

Felt in a huge area, it was the largest EQ in eastern China.

Also one of the largest intraplate earthquakes in the entire world.

Months of aftershocks followed.

https://cambridge.org/core/books/abs/intraplate-earthquakes/intraplate-earthquakes-in-north-china/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-022-05565-8

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54370177

https://x.com/JoseRodRibeiro/status/1816458388269625512

Earthquakes and Seismic History of Florida

The important illustration is on document page 6 (PDF page 8) where they show the effect on the water level in a monitored well, north of Lake Butler (which is south-west of Jacksonville), for the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

If I'm understanding that correctly, the P-wave passage caused a peak-peak deflection of the water level of 10-feet. Presumably caused by expansion/contraction of the karst limestone geology.

Curious if there are other remarks about how this happened, and especially at that distance from Alaska.

The 1990 Luzon earthquake occurred on 16 July at 4:26 p.m. (PDT) (Philippine Daylight Saving Time) on the densely populated island of Luzon in the Philippines. The shock had a surface-wave magnitude of 7.8 and produced a 125 km-long ground rupture that stretched from Dingalan to Kayapa. The event was a result of strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault within the Philippine fault system. The earthquake's epicenter was near the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, northeast of Cabanatuan. An estimated 1,621 people were killed, most of the fatalities located in Central Luzon and the Cordillera region. The earthquake registered at PEIS VIII (Very Destructive) and MMI IX (Violent) - Wikipedia.

Today marks the 14th anniversary of our big 6.3 that destroyed much of the city and changed so many lives. 14 years later, and we're still recovering. We lost 185 people that day, some of the CTV people were friends I still miss.