What was the greatest earthquake in world history?
The greatest earthquake of recent history is the Chilean earthquake of May 22, 1960, which is estimated at magnitude 9.5. According to the USGS, this earthquake caused the death of more than 2000 people in Chile, in addition to generating a tsunami which propagated around the Pacific, adding several hundreds of victims to the assessment. The greatest world earthquakes since 1900 are described on the USGS site.