The following is a chronology of massive earthquakes around the world since 2003:

2003:

Feb. 24 -- A quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale left 268 people dead in Jiashi and Bachu counties of China's western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

May 21 -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale struck northern Algeria, killing some 2,300 people and injuring over 10,000 others.

Dec. 26 -- An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale rocked the ancient city of Bam in Kerman province of southeastern Iran, killing some 26,000 people.

2004:

Feb. 24 -- A strong quake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit the Al Hoceima region of northern Morocco, leaving 628 people dead and 926 injured.

Dec. 26 -- A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's Sumatra and caused a tsunami, leaving more than 200,000 people dead or missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.

2005:

Feb. 22 -- A quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted the Zarand region of Kerman province in southeastern Iran, killing more than 600 people and injuring nearly 1,000.

March 28 -- A major earthquake, measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale, struck off Indonesia's Sumatra, killing more than 900 people.

Oct. 8 -- A quake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale shocked Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, leaving more than 73,000 people dead and millions of people homeless.

2006:

May 27 -- An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, leaving at least 6,000 people dead, about 20,000 injured and 200,000 homeless.

July 17 -- At least 654 people were killed and 978 injured, with 329 missing and about 100,000 made homeless in the tsunami triggered by a quake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale that hit off Indonesia's Java island.

2008:

May 12 -- A major earthquake measuring?8.0 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan county in China's southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday, leaving about 70,000 people dead.