![Comparison of recent and historic earthquakes by energy release](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Comparison_of_recent_and_historic_earthquakes_by_energy_release.png)
This is a list of megathrust earthquakes that have occurred.
Megathrust earthquakes
Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthq ...
are large seismic events that take place along
convergent plate boundaries
A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a ...
, particularly at
subduction zones. Examples of subduction zones include the
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
trenches,
Nankai Trough
The is a submarine trough located south of the Nankaidō region of Japan's island of Honshu, extending approximately offshore. The underlying fault, the ''Nankai megathrust,'' is the source of the devastating Nankai megathrust earthquakes, wh ...
and
Peru–Chile Trench
The Peru–Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about off the coast of Peru and Chile. It reaches a maximum depth of below sea level in Richards Deep () and is approximately long; ...
which are frequent sources of these earthquakes.
List
''The inclusion criteria in this list is any notable subduction earthquake of at least magnitude 8.0.''
Pre-11th century
11th–18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century
See also
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Lists of earthquakes
Earthquakes are caused by movements within the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They range from events too weak to be detectable except by sensitive instrumentation, to sudden and violent events lasting many minutes which have caused some of ...
*
Megathrust earthquake
Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthqua ...
References
Sources
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{{refend
Lists of earthquakes
Megathrust earthquakes
Lists of events lists
Lists of natural disasters