World’s worst quakes

THE 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia was the world’s fifth most powerful since 1900 and the strongest since a 9.2 quake slammed Alaska 40 years ago, US earthquake experts said.

The globe’s most potent quake since 1900 struck with a 9.5 magnitude in Chile in 1960. The quake in Prince William Sound Alaska occurred in 1964, the US Geological Survey’s website said.

A magnitude 9.1 quake hit Alaska’s Andreanof Islands in 1957, and a 9.0 temblor rumbled on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula in 1952.