Other strong earthquakes:

April 11, 2012: A magnitude-8.6 quake off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia triggers tsunami warnings in more than two dozen nations.

October 23, 2011: An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocked eastern Turkey, leaving more than 600 dead and at least 4,150 injured.

Feb 27, 2010: A magnitude-8.8 quake shakes Chile, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.

Sept 12, 2007: A magnitude-8.5 quake near Sumatra in Indonesia kills at least 25 people.

March 28, 2005: An earthquake on Indonesia's Nias island off Sumatra left 900 dead.

October 20, 1991: A quake measuring 6.6 hit the Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh state in India, killing 768.

August 20, 1988: A magnitude 6.8 quake hit eastern Nepal, killing 721 people in Nepal and at least 277 in the neighboring Indian state of Bihar.

Feb 4, 1965: A magnitude-8.7 quake strikes Alaska's Rat Islands, causing an 11-meter (35-foot) -high tsunami.

March 28, 1964: A magnitude-9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, kills 131 people, including 128 from a tsunami.

Nov 4, 1952: A magnitude-9.0 quake in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East causes damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.

Aug 15, 1950: A magnitude-8.6 earthquake in Tibet kills at least 780 people.

Feb 3, 1923: A magnitude-8.5 quake in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East triggers a tsunami.

Nov 11, 1922: A magnitude-8.5 quake along the Chile-Argentina border triggers a tsunami that causes damage along Chile's coast.

Jan 31, 1906: A magnitude-8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador generates a tsunami that kills at least 500 people.