-
Aug 9, 1138
Aleppo, Syria
Contemporary accounts said the walls of Syria’s second-largest city crumbled and rocks cascaded into the streets. Aleppo’s citadel collapsed, killing hundreds of residents. Although Aleppo was the largest community affected by the earthquake, it likely did not suffer the worst of the damage. European Crusaders had constructed a citadel at nearby Harim, which was leveled by the quake. A Muslim fort at Al-Atarib was destroyed as well, and several smaller towns and manned forts were reduced to rubb -
Jan 23, 1556
Shensi, China
This earthquake occurred in the Shaanxi province (formerly Shensi), China, about 50 miles east-northeast of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi. More than 830,000 people are estimated to have been killed. Damage extended as far away as about 270 miles northeast of the epicenter, with reports as far as Liuyang in Hunan, more than 500 miles away. Geological effects reported with this earthquake included ground fissures, uplift, subsidence, liquefaction and landslides. Most towns in the damage area repor -
Canada and USA
This earthquake, the largest known to have occurred in the "lower 48" United States, rocked Cascadia, a region 600 miles long that includes northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia. The earthquake set off a tsunami that not only struck Cascadia's Pacific coast, but also crossed the Pacific Ocean to Japan, where it damaged coastal villages. Written records of the damage in Japan pinpoint the earthquake to the evening of January 26, 1700 -
Arica, Chile
- 13 August, at 16:45 (local time). Intensity XI earthquake accompanied by a tsunami. The historian Dr. J. Y. Polo refers to this shock as one of the strongest that has been verified in Peru since the Conquest. Macroseismic observations indicate that the center of the earthquake was in the port of Arica. Along the coast it caused much havoc, being felt some 1400 km to the northwest (Samanco, Peru) and at an equal distance to the south (Valdivia, Chile). In Bolivia it was felt 224 km away eas
-
Off the Coast of Ecuador
A catastrophic magnitude 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generated a strong tsunami that killed 500 to 1500 there. It was observed all along the coast of Central America and as far north as San Francisco and west to Japan.....The wave arrived in Hilo at about 12.5 hours after the earthquake. It covered the floor of the old wharf at the end of Waianuenue Street and the railroad tracks between there and Waiakea. The range of oscillations in water level was 3.6 m and the period -
Haiyuan, Ningxia , China
This earthquake brought total destruction to the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area. Over 73,000 people were killed in Haiyuan County. A landslide buried the village of Sujiahe in Xiji County. More than 30,000 people were killed in Guyuan County. Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. About 125 miles of surface faulting was seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to Jingtai. There were large numbers of landslides and ground cracks throughout the epicentral area. Some rivers -
Chile-Argentina Border
1922, November 11, 04:33. A magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurred in the southern part of Atacama Province, central Chile. Locally, the tsunami caused extensive damage. The tsunami arrived at Hilo, Hawaii in 14.5 hours. The period of oscillations was 20 minutes, and the height of the tsunami was 2.1 m; many boats were washed away, and some damage was done. The wave reached Honolulu in 15.0 hours. The period of oscillations of the waves was 23 minutes, the height of the wave 0.3 m. -
Kanto, Japan
This earthquake brought extreme destruction in the Tokyo-Yokohama area, both from the temblor and subsequent firestorms, which burned about 381,000 of the more than 694,000 houses that were partially or completely destroyed. Although often known as the Great Tokyo Earthquake (or the Great Tokyo Fire), the damage was most severe in Yokohama. Nearly 6 feet of permanent uplift was observed on the north shore of Sagami Bay and horizontal displacements of as much as 15 feet were measured on the Boso -
Banda Sea, Indonesia
The shock was felt on the Banda and Kai islands. At Tual glassware was broken, a pendulum clock stopped. On Banda Island and also on Kai Island great damage was caused by tsunamis. Intensity VII. -
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
7.3 magnitude, 110,000 deaths.
This quake brought extreme damage in Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) and nearby villages, where almost all the brick buildings collapsed, concrete structures were heavily damaged and freight trains were derailed. Damage and casualties also occurred in the Darreh Gaz area in neighboring Iran. Surface rupture was observed both northwest and southeast of Ashgabat. Many sources list the casualty total at 10,000, but a news release from the newly independent government on Dec. 9, -
Assam - Tibet
At least 780 people killed and many buildings collapsed in the Nyingchi-Qamdo-Zhamo (Rima, Zayu) area of eastern Tibet. Sandblows, ground cracks and large landslides occurred in the area. In the Medog area, the village of Yedong slid into the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) River and was washed away. The quake was felt at Lhasa and in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China. Severe damage (X) also occurred in the Sibsagar-Sadiya area of Assam, India and in the surrounding hills. About 70 villages were -
Kamchatka, USSR November 4, 1952
A severe and locally damaging tsunami generated on Kamchatka by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck the Hawaiian Islands at 1:00 P.M. Property damage from these waves was estimated at $800,000 to $1,000,000; however, no lives were lost. The waves beached boats, caused houses to collide, destroyed piers, scoured beaches, moved road pavement, etc. A farmer on Oahu reported 6 cows killed. In Honolulu harbor, waves tore a cement barge from its moorings and hurled it against the freighter Hawaiian Pack -
Valdivia, Chile
Approximately 1,655 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States. -
Prince William Sound, Alaska
This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 128 lives (tsunami 113, earthquake 15), and caused about $311 million in property loss. Earthquake effects were heavy in many towns, including Anchorage, Chitina, Glennallen, Homer, Hope, Kasilof, Kenai, Kodiak, Moose Pass, Portage, Seldovia, Seward, Sterling, Valdez, Wasilla, and Whittier. -
Prince William Sound, Alaska
This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 128 lives (tsunami 113, earthquake 15), and caused about $311 million in property loss. Earthquake effects were heavy in many towns, including Anchorage, Chitina, Glennallen, Homer, Hope, Kasilof, Kenai, Kodiak, Moose Pass, Portage, Seldovia, Seward, Sterling, Valdez, Wasilla, and Whittier. Anchorage, about 120 kilometers northwest of the epicenter, sustained the most severe damage to property. About 30 blocks of dwellings and commercial buildings -
Sumatra, Indonesia December 26, 2004
A minute before 8 o'clock in the morning local time, a colossal earthquake began to shake the northern part of Sumatra and the Andaman Sea to its north. Seven minutes later a stretch of the Indonesian subduction zone 1200 kilometers long had slipped by an average distance of 15 meters. The moment magnitude of the event was eventually estimated as 9.3, making it the second-largest earthquake since seismographs were invented around 1900. (See a location map and focal mechanisms on the Sumatra eart -
Sumatra, Indonesia
This was the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska temblor. In total, 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa. (In January 2005, the death toll was 286,000. In April 2005, Indonesia reduced its estimate for the number missing by over 50,000.) -
Haiti, Jan 12, 2010
According to official estimates, 300,000 were also injured, 1.3 million displaced, 97,294 houses destroyed and 188,383 damaged in the Port-au-Prince area and in much of southern Haiti. This includes at least 4 people killed by a local tsunami in the Petit Paradis area near Leogane. Tsunami waves were also reported at Jacmel, Les Cayes, Petit Goave, Leogane, Luly and Anse a Galets -
Damghan, Iran
This earthquake struck a 200-mile stretch of northeast Iran, with the epicenter directly below the city of Demghan, which was at that point the capital city. Most of the city was destroyed as well as the neighboring areas. Approximately 200,000 people were killed. -
Ardabil, Iran
The memories of the massive Damghan earthquake (see above) had barely faded when only 37 years later, Iran was again hit by a huge earthquake. This time it cost 150,000 lives and destroyed the largest city in the northwestern section of the country. The area was again hit by a fatal earthquake in 1997.
