A little Q&A about earthqaukes.
What was the largest magnitude earthquake ever? On may 22nd, 1960 - the largest earthquake ever recorded happened rated 9.5 on the magnitude scale. TheValdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake happened in the early afternoon and its resulting tsunami affected southern Hawaii, Chile, the Philippines, Japan, eastern New Zealand, south east Australia and as far away as the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The epicenter was about 435 miles south of Santiago, although it is remembered as the Valdivia earthquake because Chile was the most affected city. It caused local tsunamis that was reportedly over 80 feet in height. Theresulting tsunami rdashed across the Pacific Ocean and impacted Hilo, Hawaii with disastrous. Waves were estomated to be 35 ft in height, and were recorded more than 6000 miles away from the epicenter. The actual death toll and money & resources lost is at best an estimate - however, various estimates of people killed range from 2000 to 5000 killed with the cost being estimated around $400 to $800 million (which in modern terms would be more than $5 billion dollars.)
What was the deadliest earthquake ever? The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Jiajing earthquake is the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people.. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, China. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected. A 520 mile wide area was destroyed, and in some counties 60% of the population was killed. Most of the population in the area at the time lived in Yaodongs, artificial caves in Loess cliffs, many of which collapsed during the catastrophic occurrence with great loss of life.
What are the top 5 deadliest earthquakes? | Rank | Where? | Magnitude | When? | Death Toll | | 1. | Shaanxi Province , China | 8+ | January 23, 1556 | 800,000+ | | 2. | Tangshan, China | 7.5 | July 28, 1976 | 240,000+ | | 3. | Aleppo , Syria | unknown | August 9 , 1138 | ~230,000 | | 4. | Near Xining , China | 7.9 | May 22 , 1927 | 200,000+ | | 5. | Damghan, Iran | unknown | December 22 , 1856 | ~200,000 | The 2004 tsunami is not listed on here presently***
What is a Megathrust Earthquake? A megathrust earthquake is an inter-plate earthquake where one tectonic plate slips beneath (sub-ducts) another. Due to the size of the tectonic plates and the shallow dip of the plate boundary, these earthquakes are among the world's largest, with moment magnitudes that can exceed 9.0. For the most part they occur in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and are connected to the Ring of Fire. Since these earthquakes deform the ocean floor, they almost always generate a significant tsunami. All five earthquakes since 1900 of magnitude 9 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes. Where have megathrust earthquakes happened? what are some examples of megathrust earthquakes? - 1700 Cascadia Earthquake (magnitude 9.0) — Juan de Fuca Plate subducting under the North American Plate, slip length 1000 km (625 mi).
- 1737 Kamchatka earthquake (magnitude 9-9.3) — Pacific Plate sub-ducting beneath the Okhotsk Plate, duration 15 minutes, depth 40 km.
- 1755 Lisbon earthquake (magnitude ~9) — believed to be part of a young subduction zone.
- 1952 Kamchatka earthquake (magnitude 9.0) — Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Okhotsk Plate, depth 30 km.
- 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake (magnitude 8.6) — Pacific Plate subducting under the North American Plate.
- 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake (magnitude 9.5) — Nazca Plate subducting under the South American Plate, depth 33 km, slip length 1000 km (625 mi), slip width 200 km (125 mi), slip motion 20 m (60 ft).
- 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (magnitude 9.2) — Pacific Plate sub-ducting under the North American Plate, duration 4–5 minutes, depth 25 km, slip length 800 km (500 mi), slip motion 23 m (69 ft).
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (magnitude 9.3) — India Plate sub-ducting under the Burma Plate, duration 8 - 10 minutes, slip length 1600 km (994 mi), slip motion 35 m (108 ft).
Other articles about earthquakes? |
