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Fast Facts: World's Worst Disasters

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Some of the world's deadliest natural disasters -- including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions -- since the start of the last century:

Dec. 28, 1908 -- A magnitude-7.2 earthquake kills 123,000 people in the Messina-Reggio Calabria area of eastern Sicily and southernmost Italy.

Jan. 13, 1915 -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 leaves 29,980 dead in Avezzano, Italy.

Dec. 16, 1920 -- Gansu, China is hit with an earthquake reaching magnitude 8.6 that kills 200,000 people.

Sept. 1, 1923 -- An temblor of 8.3 magnitude in Japan destroys one-third of Tokyo and most of Yokohama. More than 140,000 are killed.

May 22, 1927 -- An earthquake reaching 7.9 magnitude hits near Xining, China and kills approximately 200,000.

Dec. 25, 1932 -- Approximately 70,000 people are killed after an earthquake reaching 7.6 magnitude hits the Gansu region in China.

May 30, 1935 -- A magnitude 7.5 temblor strikes Quetta, Pakistan, killing more than 30,000 people.

Jan. 24, 1939 -- An earthquake of 8.3 magnitude in Chile kills roughly 28,000 people.

Dec. 27, 1939 -- More than 32,000 die in the Erzincan province in eastern Turkey during a 7.9-magnitude quake.

Oct. 5, 1948 -- An earthquake of 7.3 magnitude in Turkmenistan kills over 110,000 people.

Aug. 15, 1950 -- Up to 30,000 are estimated to have been killed in an earthquake of 8.6 magnitude in Assam, India.

May 31, 1970 -- An earthquake reaching a magnitude of 7.9 in Peru leaves over 60,000 dead.

Nov. 13, 1970 -- A cyclone in the Ganges Delta of Bangladesh kills at least 300,000 people.

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Feb. 4, 1976 -- A series of earthquakes reaching a magnitude of 7.5 in Guatemala leave over 23,000 dead.

July 28, 1976 -- The worst earthquake to hit China in 20th century with an estimated magnitude at between 7.8 and 8.2 leaves more than 240,000 dead in Tangshan.

Sept. 16, 1978 -- An earthquake of 7.7 magnitude in Tabas, Iran kills 25,000 people.

Nov. 14-16, 1985 -- Volcanic eruption of Nevada del Ruiz near Bogota, Colombia, kills approximately 25,000 people.

Dec. 7, 1988 -- A 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Armenia kills nearly 25,000.

June 21, 1990 -- An earthquake of 7.7 magnitude in northwest Iran destroys cities and villages in Caspian Sea area and kills at least 50,000 people.

Sept. 30, 1993 -- As many as 10,000 are killed from an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude that struck the state of Maharashtra in India.

Aug. 17, 1999 -- More than 17,000 are killed as a magnitude-7.4 quake hits western Turkey.

Dec. 26, 2003 -- More than 26,000 killed after an earthquake of 6.5 magnitude strikes the ancient historic city of Bam in southeast Iran.

Dec. 26, 2004 -- A 9.0 earthquake off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island launches tsunami waves that slam shorelines in Asia and Africa, killing more than 117,000 people.