The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 were the most powerful to hit contiguous United States in its history. The intra-plate quakes of 1811 and 1812 were accompanied by numerous aftershocks and both the main shocks and those that followed were felt over most of the continental United States.

November 18, 1755, Two hundred miles off the coast of Massachusetts An earthquake of magnitude eight occurred offshore from Gloucester and damaged coastal areas; it was the largest earthquake experienced in Massachusetts up to that time.

Port Royal was a city on a sand spit in the harbor of Jamaica, Kingston. It was hit with an earthquake and tsunami and the whole city sank into the ocean.

An offshore earthquake of magnitude 9, followed by a tsunami destroyed Lisbon, Portugal. The combination of the earthquake and the tsunami, especially with little understanding of the nature of tsunamis, caused almost universal destruction in Lisbon.