The human race has been able to develop technology that can predict almost all natural calamities, such as floods, cyclones, thunderstorms, typhoons, snowstorms, etc. Though, this cannot prevent the disasters themselves, it enables us to take precautionary measures to lessen loss of life and property. But unfortunately we have not yet devised any method to accurately predict earthquakes. There are faulty lines and earthquake belts designated around the world, but predicting when and where an earthquake will actually strike is still a distant dream away. The largest earthquake ever recorded was in the year 1960 on May 22 in Chile. It was of a magnitude of 9.5, something that is just unbelievable. There have surely been much more deadlier earthquakes thousands of years ago, but this is the largest earthquake on record.
It is said that there are earthquakes going on continuously on the Earth, and that is something normal. The Earth's layers are shifting underground all the time. But they just become deadly when the shift is a huge one and the magnitude is closer to the surface of the Earth. Destruction and loss of life is more when the epicenter is located in densely populated areas like big cities and towns. That is why, in the earthquake prone belts, man has been forced to build earthquake resistant buildings and houses with appropriate material to tackle such earthquakes.
Major Earthquakes in History
In this grid, we will have a glance at some of the major earthquakes in the last 100 years or so.
The earthquakes mentioned above have been rated according to the magnitude that they have been recorded at. However, as mentioned earlier, destruction and loss of life depends on various other factors like epicenter and population density. So ahead we will have a look at 5 of the major earthquakes in the last 100 years in terms of destruction and loss of human life put together.
Major Earthquakes in the Last 100 Years
The Indian Ocean Earthquake: This 2004 earthquake was an undersea quake, with the epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It had a magnitude of 9.3, the second largest ever recorded. It also was the longest ever recorded, with a duration of nearly 10 minutes. It set off the worst tsunami ever known to man, striking in numerous Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, to name a few. Indonesia was the worst affected. The result of this devastating earthquake and tsunami was a loss of nearly 300,000 lives.
The Tangshan Earthquake: This was a magnitude 8 earthquake that occurred in Tangshan, China, in 1976. It lasted for just around 10 seconds, but 2 reasons contributed to the huge loss of human life. One, the magnitude was very high. Second, this was not an earthquake prone area, as a result of which, buildings and houses were not built accordingly. Around 270,000 perished in this calamity.
The Haiti Earthquake: The images of destruction will still be fresh in our minds of this earthquake that struck the Caribbean country of Haiti just a couple of weeks ago. Its location, and the fact that construction was very poor, led to the huge loss of life. It is believed that at least 200,000 people have died in this natural disaster. Though there is a lot of mess to be cleaned up as we speak, and the number could be anything, in its final tally. Read about Haiti shaken by massive quake.
The Great Kanto Earthquake: In 1923, the island of Honshu in Japan was struck by an earthquake that was of a magnitude of 8.3. The earthquake was so powerful, that it managed to destroy parts of Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. Destruction was widespread and it led to the loss of around 40,000 lives.
The Great Chilean Earthquake: This earthquake was also known as the Valdivia earthquake, and struck Chile in 1960. It is the largest earthquake in the world, which measured 9.5 on the scale. It was such a huge tremor that it affected countries as far as Hawaii, Japan, Philippines, New Zealand, Australia and even Alaska. It even generated a tsunami. Around 6,000 people are said to have lost their lives in this disaster.
Read more on: The Great Chilean Earthquake is of course the largest earthquake ever recorded, and there have been so many more devastating ones around, but what mankind can do is to try and construct earthquake resistant structures, and have trained relief and rescue teams on standby to minimize the destruction and loss of lives as a result of this deadly occurrence. Because the Earth is prone to Earth-quakes.
By Clifford AGA
Tsunami Facts, Tsunami Information, Tsunami Videos, Tsunami Photos
It is said that there are earthquakes going on continuously on the Earth, and that is something normal. The Earth's layers are shifting underground all the time. But they just become deadly when the shift is a huge one and the magnitude is closer to the surface of the Earth. Destruction and loss of life is more when the epicenter is located in densely populated areas like big cities and towns. That is why, in the earthquake prone belts, man has been forced to build earthquake resistant buildings and houses with appropriate material to tackle such earthquakes.
Major Earthquakes in History
In this grid, we will have a glance at some of the major earthquakes in the last 100 years or so.
| RANK | MAGNITUDE | DATE | LOCATION |
| 1 | 9.5 | May 22, 1960 | Chile |
| 2 | 9.2 | March 28, 1964 | Alaska |
| 3 | 9.1 | March 9, 1957 | Alaska |
| 4 | 9.0 | November 4, 1952 | Russia |
| 5 | 9.0 | December 26, 2004 | Indonesia |
| 6 | 8.8 | January 31, 1906 | Ecuador |
| 7 | 8.7 | February 4, 1965 | Alaska |
| 8 | 8.7 | March 28, 2005 | Indonesia |
| 9 | 8.6 | August 15, 1950 | India & China |
| 10 | 8.5 | February 3, 1923 | Russia |
The earthquakes mentioned above have been rated according to the magnitude that they have been recorded at. However, as mentioned earlier, destruction and loss of life depends on various other factors like epicenter and population density. So ahead we will have a look at 5 of the major earthquakes in the last 100 years in terms of destruction and loss of human life put together.
Major Earthquakes in the Last 100 Years
The Indian Ocean Earthquake: This 2004 earthquake was an undersea quake, with the epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It had a magnitude of 9.3, the second largest ever recorded. It also was the longest ever recorded, with a duration of nearly 10 minutes. It set off the worst tsunami ever known to man, striking in numerous Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, to name a few. Indonesia was the worst affected. The result of this devastating earthquake and tsunami was a loss of nearly 300,000 lives.
The Tangshan Earthquake: This was a magnitude 8 earthquake that occurred in Tangshan, China, in 1976. It lasted for just around 10 seconds, but 2 reasons contributed to the huge loss of human life. One, the magnitude was very high. Second, this was not an earthquake prone area, as a result of which, buildings and houses were not built accordingly. Around 270,000 perished in this calamity.
The Haiti Earthquake: The images of destruction will still be fresh in our minds of this earthquake that struck the Caribbean country of Haiti just a couple of weeks ago. Its location, and the fact that construction was very poor, led to the huge loss of life. It is believed that at least 200,000 people have died in this natural disaster. Though there is a lot of mess to be cleaned up as we speak, and the number could be anything, in its final tally. Read about Haiti shaken by massive quake.
The Great Kanto Earthquake: In 1923, the island of Honshu in Japan was struck by an earthquake that was of a magnitude of 8.3. The earthquake was so powerful, that it managed to destroy parts of Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. Destruction was widespread and it led to the loss of around 40,000 lives.
The Great Chilean Earthquake: This earthquake was also known as the Valdivia earthquake, and struck Chile in 1960. It is the largest earthquake in the world, which measured 9.5 on the scale. It was such a huge tremor that it affected countries as far as Hawaii, Japan, Philippines, New Zealand, Australia and even Alaska. It even generated a tsunami. Around 6,000 people are said to have lost their lives in this disaster.
Read more on: The Great Chilean Earthquake is of course the largest earthquake ever recorded, and there have been so many more devastating ones around, but what mankind can do is to try and construct earthquake resistant structures, and have trained relief and rescue teams on standby to minimize the destruction and loss of lives as a result of this deadly occurrence. Because the Earth is prone to Earth-quakes.
By Clifford AGA
Tsunami Facts, Tsunami Information, Tsunami Videos, Tsunami Photos
