In 1960, a huge earthquake occurred off the coast of Chile. Fifteen minutes later, a tsunami hit the Chilean coast. Fifteen hours later, another tsunami hit Hilo, Hawaii. Seven hours after that, another tsunami hit Japan. Thousands of people died because of the tsunamis that occurred after the Chilean earthquake. However, the deadliest series of tsunamis happened on December 26, 2004, when a powerful earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean. The earthquake caused tsunamis that hit a dozen countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The tsunami killed more than 250,000 people and destroyed hundreds of towns.