Every day of January and what happened on it, in any year, with the month’s most significant events.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. With the tsunami it caused, it killed 316,000 people, injured 300,000, destroyed 97,294 houses and did $8 billion in damage.
Tsunamis
A tsunami with a source recorded as earthquake and landslide struck Haiti & Dominican Republic, with a maximum water height of 3.21 meters. It killed 316,000 people, injured 300,000, destroyed 97,294 houses and did $8 billion in damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 8 earthquake struck Shaanxi Province, China. It killed 830,000 people and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Chillan, Chile. It killed 30,000 people and did $920 million in damage. It caused a tsunami.
Tsunamis
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Central Chile. It killed 30,000 people and did $920 million in damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, Japan. It killed 6,434 people, injured 43,792, destroyed 186,175 houses and did $100 billion in damage. It caused a tsunami.
Tsunamis
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, with a maximum water height of 0.34 meters. It killed 6,434 people, injured 43,792, destroyed 186,175 houses and did $100 billion in damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Bhuj, Ahmadabad, Rajokot, Pakistan, Gujarat, India. It killed 20,005 people, injured 166,836, destroyed 339,000 houses and did $2.6 billion in damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Marsica, Avezzano, Abruzzi, Italy. It killed 29,978 people and did $60 million in damage.
Winter storms and snow
The Blizzard of 1996 was ranked category 5, Extreme, on NOAA’s Regional Snowfall Index, strongest in the Southeast. It lasted from January 6, 1996 to January 9, 1996.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Sicily, Calabria, Italy. It killed 54,000 people and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage. It caused a tsunami.
Tsunamis
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Island of Sicily, Italy, with a maximum water height of 12 meters. It killed 54,000 people and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Sicily, Calabria, Catania, Italy. It killed 60,000 people, destroyed 972 houses and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage. It caused a tsunami.
Tsunamis
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake struck Eastern Sicily, Italy. It killed 60,000 people, destroyed 972 houses and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage.
Earthquakes
A magnitude 8 earthquake struck Ningxia, China. It killed 50,000 people and did extreme (about $25 million or more) damage.
Gathered from this site’s archives: the tornado record (NOAA SPC, and Grazulis before 1950), IBTrACS and the National Hurricane Center, NOAA NCEI’s Storm Events Database, Regional Snowfall Index, billion-dollar disasters list, State Climate Extremes Committee and hazard databases, USGS, NIFC, GFZ Potsdam’s Kp index (CC BY 4.0), the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, and Wikidata (CC0), with article leads from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0, each credited where it appears. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.