< ! -- The energy released on the Earth 's surface ( '' M '' E , which is the '' seismic potential for damage '' ) by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was estimated at . This energy is equivalent to over 1,500 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb , but less than that of Tsar Bomba , the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated ; however , the total physical work done '' M '' W ( and thus energy ) by the quake was , the vast majority underground , which is over 360,000 times more than its '' M '' E , equivalent to 9,600 gigatons of TNT equivalent ( 550 million times that of Hiroshima ) or about 370 years of energy use in the United States at 2005 levels of . The only recorded earthquakes with a larger '' M '' W were the 1960 Chilean and 1964 Alaskan quakes , with and respectively
1960 Chilean
1960 Valdivia earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami