Here is a chronology of some earthquakes in recent years: Dec 12, 1992 - INDONESIA - A magnitude 6.8 quake killed at
least 2,200 people on a string of islands in the province of
East Nusa Tenggara.
Sept 30, 1993 - INDIA - A series of quakes killed almost
10,000 people in western and southern India. The first tremor
was of magnitude 6.4.
June 6, 1994 - COLOMBIA - A quake brought down buildings and
triggered mudslides, killing about 1,000 people in the Paez
River valley in southwestern Colombia.
Jan 17, 1995 - JAPAN - A magnitude 7.2 quake, the country's
worst in half a century, rocks Kobe, killing 6,430 people.
May 28, 1995 - RUSSIA - Russia's worst earthquake, magnitude
7.5, kills 1,989 people in the oil-producing Far East.
Feb 28, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 5.5 quake kills about
1,000 people in northwestern Iran.
May 10, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 7.1 quake kills 1,560
people in rural areas of eastern Iran near the Afghan border.
Feb 4, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 4,500 people are killed
in Takhar province in a quake of magnitude 6.1.
May 30, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - A magnitude 6.9 quake kills up
to 4,000 people in northern Takhar province.
July 17, 1998 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA - An undersea quake of
magnitude 7.1 creates three tsunami waves, killing at least
2,100 people.
Aug 17, 1999 - TURKEY - More than 17,800 people are killed
by a magnitude 7.4 quake.
Sept 21, 1999 - TAIWAN - At least 2,000 people are killed
and hundreds of thousands made homeless by a magnitude 7.6 quake
in central Taiwan.
Jan 26, 2001 - INDIA - An earthquake of magnitude 7.7
strikes the western state of Gujarat killing at least 19,700
people and causing damage in neighbouring Pakistan. The quake
affected 15.9 million people in 7,904 villages.
March 26, 2002 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 1,500 people are
killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude five and six
strike northern Afghanistan
May 21, 2003 - ALGERIA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes
Algiers and nearby towns to the east, killing 2,251 and injuring
10,243.
Dec 26, 2003 - IRAN - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the
historic city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran.
30,948 were killed in the quake.
Dec 26, 2004 - ASIA - The number of dead and missing in an
Asian earthquake and tsunami is almost 230,000. The wave crashed
into Sri Lanka and India, drowning thousands and swamping
tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives. The quake measured
9.15 in magnitude.
March 28, 2005 - INDONESIA - Nearly 1,000 people are killed
after a quake of magnitude 8.7 struck the coast of Sumatra.
Oct 8, 2005 - PAKISTAN - At least 73,000 people are killed
by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles)
northeast of Islamabad. The quake also rocked Indian Kashmir,
killing 1,244 there.
March 31, 2006 - IRAN - An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the
Richter scale hits the area of Doroud and Boroujerd in the
western Lorestan province, killing at least 70 people.
March 6, 2007 - INDONESIA - A 6.4 magnitude quake and
another measuring 6.3 in Sumatra kill more than 70 people.
July 16, 2007 - JAPAN - A 6.8 magnitude quake killed 10
people in northwestern Japan and shut the world's largest
nuclear power plant.
Aug 15, 2007 - PERU - An 8.0 magnitude quake killed more
than 500 people and destroyed about 34,000 homes on central
coast.