Timeline of Earthquakes
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3600BC The Supe people, a
maritime farming community along the coast of Peru, disappeared
about this time. In 2009 researchers found their disappearance
coincided with earthquakes and landslides followed by massive
flooding.
(SFC, 1/20/09, p.A13)
373BC The Greek city of Helike
was destroyed by an earthquake. Historians recorded that rats,
snakes and weasels had abandoned Helice just days before the quake
struck.
(NH, 10/02, p.78)(WSJ, 5/16/08, p.A6)
360BC Greek philosopher Plato,
in his "dialogues" from about this time, said an island he called
Atlantis "in a single day and night... disappeared into the depths
of the sea." He described Atlantis as "an island situated in front
of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules." In
2011 a US-led research team, using a satellite photo of a suspected
submerged city, suggested a site just north of Cadiz, Spain, as the
site of Atlantis.
(Reuters, 3/12/11)
27BC An earthquake hit Egypt
and devastated the temple of Amenhotep III in Luxor, which dated to
about 1389.
(AP, 4/26/11)
132 Zhang Heng introduced an
earthquake weathercock, a device that could inform the Chinese court
of a distant earthquake.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.28)
363 A devastating
earthquake leveled half the city of Petra, the principal city of
Nabatea.
(AP, 6/21/03)
365 Jul 21, An earthquake,
whose epicenter was in Crete, leveled the Egyptian Port of
Alexandria as well as the Roman outpost of Leptis Magna in Libya.
Some 50,000 people died. The ancient Egyptian city, known as
Leukaspis or Antiphrae, was hidden for centuries after it was nearly
wiped out by the tsunami. When Chinese engineers began cutting into
the sandy coast to build the roads for a new resort in 1986, they
struck the ancient tombs and houses of the town founded in the
second century B.C.
(www.earthscape.org/r2/jos/vol1-1june1997/pg55.html)(AM, Mar/Apr 97
p.18)(AP, 9/8/10)
526 May 29, Antioch, Turkey,
was struck by an earthquake and about 250,000 died. [see May 20]
(AM, 11/00, p.69)(SC, 5/29/02)
1201 Jul 5, An earthquake in
Syria and upper Egypt killed some 1.1 million people.
(www.geohaz.org/member/news/signif.htm)
1365 Basel, Switzerland, was
wrecked by an earthquake.
(AP, 8/4/07)
1382 John Wycliffe’s heresy
hearing was interrupted by an earthquake that toppled the tower of
Canterbury Cathedral.
(WSJ, 12/31/04, p.W6)
1456 Dec 5, Earthquake struck
Naples and 35,000 died.
(MC, 12/5/01)
1531 Jan 26, Lisbon was hit by
an earthquake and some about 30,000 died.
(MC, 1/26/02)
1600 Feb 18, Arequipa, Peru,
was destroyed by an earthquake. Huaynaputina was the site of a
monogenetic silicic eruption that ranks greater than 1883 Krakatau
and 1991 Mt. Pinatubo in magnitude. A 26 hour-long plinian eruption
devastated the socioeconomic fabric of southern Peru and neighboring
Chile and Bolivia.
(SSFC, 6/24/01,
p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/ydmwzba)
1626 Jul 30, An earthquake hit
Naples and some 10,000 died.
(MC, 7/30/02)
1663 Jan 6, There was a great
earthquake in New England.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1700 Jan 26, A magnitude 9.0
earthquake shook Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British
Colombia. It triggered tsunami that damages villages in Japan.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1700 Jan 27, A tsunami hit
Honshu Island, Japan. It was later estimated that wave was triggered
by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in California.
(CW, Spring ‘99, p.32)
1703 Dec 30, Tokyo was hit by
Earthquake and some 37,000 people died.
(MC, 12/30/01)
1727 An earthquake on
Martinique devastated the local cocoa plantations. Landowners
replanted fields with coffee from French Captain Gabriel Mathieu de
Clieu.
(ON, 10/2010, p.12)
1730 Jul 8, A magnitude 8.7
earthquake in Valparasio, Chile, killed at least 3,000 people.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1755 Nov 1, An 8.7 earthquake
hit Lisbon, Portugal, and killed some 70,000 people. Heavy damage
resulted from ensuing fires and tsunami flooding in Morocco and
nearly a quarter of a million people were killed.
(SFEC, 4/26/98, p.T7)(HN,
11/1/98)(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html)
1797 Feb 4, Earthquake in
Quito, Ecuador, some killed 40,000 people. Riobamba was destroyed.
(www.newadvent.org/cathen/13061c.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/btbdc)
1805 Jul 26, Naples and
Calabria were struck by an earthquake and some 26,000 died.
(MC, 7/26/02)
1811 Dec 15-16, A 7.3
earthquake struck the central US on the Mississippi River. It was
centered at New Madrid, Missouri. Aftershocks continued into 1812.
In 1976 James Penick Jr. authored "The New Madrid Earthquakes of
1811-1812." [see Jan 23, Feb 7, 1812]
(HC, 6/7/98)(ON, 10/99, p.5,6)(SFC, 2/24/01,
p.A10)(NH, 3/1/04, p.66)
1812 Jan 23, A 2nd major
earthquake shook New Madrid, Missouri.
(NH, 3/1/04, p.67)
1812 Feb 7, A 3rd major
earthquake shook New Madrid, Missouri, and for a few hours reversed
the course of the Mississippi River. [see Dec 15-16, 1811, Jan 23,
1912]
(NH, 3/1/04, p.67)
1812 Mar 26, Earthquake
destroyed 90% of Caracas; about 20,000 died.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1835 Feb 20, Concepcion, Chile,
was destroyed by earthquake and some 5,000 died.
(MC, 2/20/02)
1837 Jan 22, An earthquake in
southern Syria killed thousands.
(MC, 1/22/02)
1850 Sep 22, An earthquake in
Sichuan, China, killed some 300,000 people.
(www.geohaz.org/member/news/signif.htm)
1854 Dec 23, The 8.4 Ansei
Tokai Quake struck Japan. The epicenter ranged from Suruga Bay to
the deep ocean, but destroyed houses as far away as in Edo. The
accompanying tsunami caused damage along the entire coast from the
Boso Peninsula in modern-day Chiba prefecture to Tosa province
(modern-day Kochi prefecture).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansei_Great_Earthquakes)
1854 Dec 24, The 8.4 Ansei
Nankai Quake struck Japan. Over 10,000 people from the Tokai region
down to Kyushu were killed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansei_Great_Earthquakes)
1855 Nov 11, The 6.9 Ansei Edo
earthquake hit near Tokyo, Japan. Some 8,000 casualties resulted
with about 14,000 structures destroyed.
(www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/g/j/gjs4/2008_Shaken%20and%20Rectified.pdf)(Econ,
7/4/09, p.39)
1857 Jan 9, The Fort Tejon,
Ca., earthquake, estimated at magnitude 8, ruptured ground for 225
miles from Parkfield to Tejon Pass. It killed 2 people and destroyed
the Teyon Army post.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/parkfield/1857.php)(SFC,
5/21/01, p.A4)(SFC, 12/10/04, p.A4)
1862 An earthquake in Russia’s
Lake Baikal region put 200 square km of lakeshore under water.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.41)
1865 Oct 8-1865 Oct 9, An
earthquake hit San Francisco.
(SFC, 4/14/96, p.Z1, p.3)(GenIV, HS)
1865 Oct 21, Another earthquake
hit San Francisco. It lasted for 42 seconds and caused major damage
throughout the city.
(SFC, 4/14/96, p.Z1, p.3)(GenIV, Winter 04/05)
1868 Apr 3, An earthquake
estimated at magnitude 7.9 hit the Big Island of Hawaii. 46 people
were killed in the resulting tsunami at Keauhou and 31 died in a
landslide at Kapapala.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1868_04_03.php)
1868 Aug 13, A magnitude 9.0
quake in Arica, Peru (later Chile), generated catastrophic tsunamis;
more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1868 Oct 21, An major
earthquake, later estimated at magnitude 7, took place on the
Hayward Fault in northern California. It destroyed the top of the
San Mateo County Courthouse. At this time only 265,000 people lived
in the Bay Area.
(SMMB)(SFC, 6/13/96, p.C3)(SFC, 10/18/07, p.A15)
1872 Mar 26, A 7.8 earthquake
shook the Owens Valley, California.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1883 Aug 29, Seismic sea waves,
created by Krakatoa eruption, created a rise in the English Channel
32 hrs after explosion.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1885 Managua, Nicaragua, was
leveled by an earthquake.
(SSFC, 4/10/05, p.F4)
1886 Aug 31, An earthquake
rocked Charleston, S.C., killing 60 people, according to the US
Geological Survey.
(AP, 8/31/07)
1887 A severe earthquake hit
the Ligurian village of Perinaldo, Italy.
(SFCM, 3/17/02, p.29)
1897 Jun 12, Possibly the most
severe quake in history struck Assam, India. Shock waves were felt
over an area size of Europe.
(MC, 6/12/02)
1900 Apr 26, Charles Richter
(1985), seismologist, was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He developed the
Richter Scale for measuring the amplitude of earthquakes.
(AP,
4/26/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Francis_Richter)
1906 Jan 31, A magnitude 8.8
quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia. It generated a tsunami
that killed at least 500 people.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1906 Apr 18, 5:12 a.m. the San
Francisco 8.2 earthquake occurred. Seismologists in 1977
reduced the magnitude to 7.9. 28,000 buildings were destroyed and
498 blocks leveled. One quarter of the city burned. About 700 people
died. The massive earthquake was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles and
as far inland as Nevada. It caused severe damage and loss of life in
the San Francisco Bay area, and a three-day fire spawned by the
shaking reduced 4.7 square miles of the city to blackened ruins.
Military officials estimated $400 million of damage and a total of
700-800 killed. Modern research estimates that closer to 3,000 of
San Francisco's 400,000 inhabitants lost their lives. Sweeney
Observatory in Goldengate Park was destroyed. Some 30,000 people
were left homeless and lived in GG Park for up to a year and a half.
The quake was centered in Olema. Old City Hall at Fulton and Larkin
was destroyed. In 2001 Dan Kurzman authored “Disaster: The Great San
Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906.”
(SFC, 4/4/96, p.A-106)(SFC, 4/8/96, p.A-1)(SFC,
4/14/96, p.Z1, p.3)(AP, 4/18/97)(SFC, 7/29/97, p.A5,7)(SFEC, 3/8/98,
p.W31)(SFC, 1/1/99, p.A13) (HNPD, 4/18/99)(SFC, 4/22/01, BR
p.3)(SFC, 2/15/02, p.G8)
1906 Aug 16, An magnitude 8.6
earthquake in Valparaiso, Chile, left an estimated 20,000 people
dead.
(SFEC, 6/13/99, Z1 p.5)(AP, 6/22/02)
1908 Dec 28, Some
70,000-100,000 people died in the Messina earthquake in Sicily. The
government hired a number of steamships, including the Florida, to
ship survivors to America.
(WUD, 1994, p.899)(WSJ, 2/8/99,
p.A21)(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html)
1909 Jan 21-22, An earthquake
in Morocco's northern region, near Tetouan, killed up to 100.
(AP, 2/25/04)
1915 Jan 13, An earthquake in
Avezzano, Italy, killed 29,800.
(MC, 1/13/02)
1920 Dec 16, In China an 8.6
earthquake in the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Shanxi caused
massive landslides and the deaths of 100,000- 200,000 people.
(SFC, 1/800,
p.A8)(www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/world.htm)
1923 Sep 1, The Japanese cities
of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by the Great Kanto earthquake
that claimed 99,000-143,000 lives. The 7.9-8.3 quake off Tokyo's
shoreline killed some 99,300 people.
(AP,
9/1/97)(www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/world.htm)
1923 Thomas Jaggar, founder of
the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, warned of a tidal wave
(tsunami) approaching Hilo. At least one fisherman was killed.
(SFC, 3/12/11, p.A5)
1927 Mar 7, Earthquake
measuring 8 on Richter scale struck Tango, Japan.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1927 May 27, An earthquake in
China’s Qinghai (Xining) Province left some 200,000 dead.
(www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/world.htm)
1929 Jan 24, An earthquake in
northern Morocco did material damage in Fez.
(AP, 2/25/04)
1930 Jul 23, Earthquake struck
Ariano, Italy, and some 1,500 were killed.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1930 Nov 25, An earthquake in
Shizouka, Japan, killed 187.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1931
Apr 1, An Earthquake devastated Managua,
Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
(OTD)
1932 Dec 26, Some 70,000 were
killed in a massive earthquake in Kansu, China.
(HN,
12/26/98)(www.disaster-management.net/earthqu1.htm)
1933 Mar 2, Most powerful
earthquake in 180 years hit Japan.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1933 Mar 10, In Long Beach a
6.3-6.4 earthquake killed 115 people.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, p.A3)(WSJ, 6/21/00, p.A1)
1934 Jan 15, An 8.4 earthquake
in India and Nepal killed 10,700. It damaged the Mahabuddha Temple
in Patan, Nepal, one of but 3 in the world.
(WSJ, 1/22/98, p.A17)(MC, 1/15/02)
1935 May 31, In Quetta, India
(later Pakistan), a magnitude 7.5 earthquake killed some 50,000
people. The earthquake flattened Quetta, killing an estimated 26,000
people in the city alone, more than half its population.
(AP, 12/27/03)(AP, 10/15/05)
1939 Jan 24, Some 28-30,000
were killed by magnitude 8.3 earthquake in Chillan, Chile.
(MC, 1/24/02)(AP, 6/22/02)
1939 Dec 26-27, In Turkey a
series of vicious earthquakes in Erzincan province, magnitude 7.9,
took some 33,000 lives in Turkey.
(HN, 12/27/98)(MC, 12/27/01)(SFEC, 8/22/99,
p.A17)(AP, 6/22/02)
1946 Apr 1, Two large
earthquakes shook the Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island,
Alaska. A resulting tsunami washed away the lighthouse. The Aleutian
Islands earthquake also triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami that killed
165 people and caused over $26 million in damages. Tidal waves
struck the Hawaiian islands, resulting in more than 170 deaths. 91
people were killed in Hilo.
(AP, 4/1/98)(Ind, 6/8/02, 5A)(SSFC, 8/25/02,
p.C14)(SFC, 4/1/09, p.D8)
1948 Oct 6, A 7.3 earthquake
hit Ashgebat, Turkmenistan, and killed an estimated 110,000 people.
Stalinist media at the time claimed only 35,000 deaths.
(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html)
1949 The US started a
rudimentary tsunami warning program at Ewa Beach, Honolulu.
(SFC, 3/12/11, p.A5)
1950 Aug 15, A magnitude 8.6
earthquake in Assam, Tibet, killed at least 780 people.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1952 Jul 21, A 7.7 earthquake
destroyed the Kern County town of Tehachapi near Bakersfield, Ca.
and killed 14 people.
(SFEC, 11/14/99, p.B10)(SFC,12/9/97, p.A9)
1952 Nov 4, A magnitude 9.0
quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths, despite
setting off 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves in Hawaii.
(AP, 2/27/10)
1954 Sep 10, A 12 second
earthquake killed 1,460 in Orleansville, Algeria.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1956 Apr 19, In Spain 12 people
died and about 70 were injured following earthquakes in the southern
Granada region.
(AP,
5/12/11)(www.iberianature.com/material/earthquake.htm)
1956 Jun 9, Heavy earthquake
struck Afghanistan and 400 were killed.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1957 Mar 9, An 8.1 earthquake
shook the Andreanof Islands, Alaska.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1959 Mar 3, A SF Bay Area
earthquake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale in Berkeley.
(SSFC, 3/1/09, DB p.50)
1959 Aug 17, A 7.1 quake struck
at Yellowstone National Park.
(SC, 8/17/02)
1959 Aug 18, A magnitude 7.3
quake near Hebgen Lake, Montana, just west of Yellowstone National
Park triggered a landslide that killed 28 people.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1959_08_18.php)
1960 Feb 29, An 5.7 earthquake
in Morocco's southwest Atlantic coast killed as many as 12,000. The
town of Agadir destroyed.
(AP, 2/25/04)
1960 May 22, Chile experienced
a 9.5 earthquake. A slow earthquake was detected just before the big
one. It caused tsunamis in every coastal town between the 36th and
44th parallels with a death toll of some 1000 people.
(PCh, 1992, p.977)(SFC, 9/6.96, p.A11)
1960 May 23, A tidal wave, due
to a 9.5 earthquake off Chile, hit Hilo, Hawaii. It killed 61
people, wiped out the beaches and destroyed 537 buildings. It went
on to hit Japan.
(PCh, 1992, p.977)(SFEC, 4/2/00, p.T4)(SSFC,
8/25/02, p.C14)
1962 Sep 1, Some 10,000 died in
an earthquake in western Iran.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1963 Jul 26, Skopje,
Yugoslavia, was destroyed by earthquake and over 1,000 were killed.
(MC, 7/26/02)
1964 Mar 27-1964 Mar 28, Good
Friday, Valdez, Alaska, in Prince William Sound was rocked by an 8.6
earthquake, the largest ever recorded in North America. In 1977
seismologists pegged the quake at 9.2. It lasted 4 minutes and was
followed by tsunamis and fires and 131 people were killed. Survivors
moved 4 miles west to solid bedrock and rebuilt the town. Much of
Crescent City, Ca., was demolished by a resulting tsunami and 11
people were killed.
(AP, 3/27/97)(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.T5)(SFEC, 4/5/98,
Z1 p.8)(SFEC, 10/17/99, p.A3)(SFC, 11/26/99, p.C21)(WSJ, 9/13/01,
p.B11)(SFC, 2/15/02, p.G8)(AP, 3/11/11)
1965 Apr 29, Seattle
experienced an earthquake. 7 people were killed and damage was
estimated at $12.5 million.
(http://neic.usgs.gov)
1965 An earthquake on
Alonissos, Greece, leveled Alonissos Town.
(SSFC, 3/14/04, p.D6)
1966 Aug 19, An earthquake
struck Varko, Turkey, and some 2,400 were killed.
(MC, 8/19/02)
1968 Aug 31, In northeast Iran
some 7-12 thousand people died in the 7.8 Dasht-e Bayaz earthquake,
which also destroyed 60,000 buildings.
(WUD, 1994,
p.1687)(www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/5/1751)
1969 Feb 28, An earthquake in
Morocco's Atlantic coast killed about a dozen people and injured
200.
(AP, 2/25/04)
1970 Jan 5, In China a 7.7
earthquake in Yunnan province killed over 15,000 people and was
covered up by authorities amid the chaos of the cultural revolution.
(SFC, 1/800, p.A8)
1970 Mar 28, 1,086 died when
7.4 quake destroyed 254 villages in Gediz, Turkey.
(MC, 3/28/02)
1970 May 31, A 7.7 slab
earthquake and debris flow in Peru killed 67,000, injured 50,000 and
destroyed 186,000 buildings.
(AP,
5/31/97)(http://landslides.usgs.gov/html_files/landslides/slides/slide5.htm)
1971 Feb 9, In San Fernando,
Ca., a 6.5 earthquake killed 65 people.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, p.A3)
1971 May 12, A 6.3 earthquakes
in western Turkey killed about 100 people.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1971_05_turkey.php)
1971 May 22, A 6.9 earthquake
in eastern Turkey killed about a thousand people.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1971_05_turkey.php)
1972 Apr 10, A 6.9 earthquake
in the Iranian province of Fars killed over 5,000 people.
(http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/6-1/2071)
1972 Dec 23, A 6.25 earthquake
struck Managua, Nicaragua, and over 12,000 were killed. Pres.
Somoza was later believed to have pocketed millions of dollars in
foreign aid. The diversion of funds undermined his government and
helped pave the way for the 1979 revolution.
(SFC, 10/15/96, p.A12)(SFEC, 11/8/98,
p.A26)(http://tinyurl.com/58jfg)
1973 Aug 28, More than 600
people died as an earthquake shook central Mexico.
(AP, 8/28/08)
1974 Dec 28, The 6.0 Patan
earthquake in Pakistan killed some 5,300 people.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1974_12_28.php)
1975 Sep 6, A 6.8 quake along
the Anatolian Fault kills over 2,000 in Lice, Turkey.
(MC, 9/6/01)
1976 Feb 4, A 7-5-7.9
earthquake hit Guatemala and Honduras. Some 23,000 Guatemalans,
mostly Mayan Indians, were killed. It destroyed 58,000 houses in the
capital and 300 villages.
(NG, 6/1988, p.785,797)(SFEM, 6/13/99, p.8)(AP,
2/4/01)(AP, 6/22/02)
1976 Jul 28, In China a 7.8-8.2
earthquake in the northern city of Tangshan killed at least 242,000
people, according to an official estimate.
(AP, 7/28/97)(SFC, 1/8/00,
p.A8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangshan_earthquake)
1977 Mar 4, A 7.4 earthquake in
Romania killed about 1,570 people and was felt across southern and
eastern Europe.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Bucharest_Earthquake)(AP,
3/4/98)(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A15)
1978 Jan 14, In Japan the 7.0
Izu-Oshima earthquake damaged nine railway and four road tunnels in
a limited area. 25 people were killed.
(SFC, 9/6.96, p.A11)(http://tinyurl.com/2uz9wg)
1978 Sep 16, In northeast Iran
a magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed some 25,000 people.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(AP, 6/22/02)
1979 Nov 3, Raffaele Bendandi
(b.1893), Italian seismologist, died. he believed earthquakes were
the result of the combined movements of the planets, the moon and
the sun and were perfectly predictable. In 1923 he forecast a quake
would hit the central Adriatic region of the Marches on January 2
the following year. He was wrong by two days.
(Reuters,
5/9/11)(http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaele_Bendandi)
1979 The US Geological Survey
installed an array of seismic monitors in the Geysers region of
northern California. Since 1960 small earthquakes in the region had
increased due to geothermal development.
(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.A1)
1979 Scientists developed the
moment magnitude scale. It succeeded the Richter scale for measuring
earthquakes.
(SSFC, 1/21/07, p.M3)
1979 In Montenegro an
earthquake destroyed much of the Old Town beach resort of Budva.
(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.C6)
1980 Jan 23, A rolling
earthquake hit northern California and measured 5.5 in Contra Costa.
It destroyed 25,000 gallons of wine at the Livermore winery of Wente
Brothers. A leak of radioactive tritium was reported from the
weapons lab at Livermore.
(SFC, 1/21/05, p.F2)
1980 Jan 24, A 2nd earthquake,
centered 8-miles north of Livermore, hit the Bay Area and measured
5.6.
(SFC, 1/21/05, p.F2)
1980 Oct 10, Some 4,500 died
when a pair of earthquakes struck NW Algeria. In 1983 the “El-Asnam
Algeria Earthquake of October 10, 1980 a Reconnaissance and
Engineering Report” was published.
(http://tinyurl.com/2ud4vh)
1980 Nov 23, Some 2,600 people
were killed by a series of earthquakes that devastated southern
Italy.
(WSJ, 6/17/96, p.A12)(AP, 11/23/07)
1981 Jun 11, Earthquake in
southeast Iran killed at least 1,500 people.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A9)(AP, 6/11/03)
1982 Jan 9, A 5.9 earthquake
hit New England & Canada; the 1st since 1855.
(http://tinyurl.com/32vvon)
1983 Mar 31, Earthquake in
Colombia killed some 5,000 people. A disastrous earthquake hit
Popayan.
(SFEC, 11/10/96, p.T10)(MC, 3/31/02)
1983 May 2, A 6.4 earthquake
injured 94 people in Coalinga, Ca., and caused an estimated $10
million in damages.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1983_05_02.php)
1983 Dec 30, A 7.2 earthquake
killed 26 people in Afghanistan (14) and Pakistan (12).
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A10)
1984 Apr 26, An earthquake hit
the SF Bay Area. It measured 6.2 on the Richter scale and was
centered in Morgan Hill.
(SSFC, 4/19/09, DB p.54)
1985 Sep 19, The Mexico City
area was struck by the first of two devastating quakes (8.1) that
officially claimed 9,500 lives. Some 40,000 people were injured.
(HFA, '96, p.38)(SFC, 12/31/96, p.C9)(AP,
9/19/97)(SSFC, 4/16/06, p.F4)
1985 Sep 30, Charles Richter
(b.1900), seismologist, died. He developed the Richter Scale for
measuring the amplitude of earthquakes. In 2007 Susan Elizabeth
Hough authored “Richter’s Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure
of a Man.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Francis_Richter)(SSFC,
1/21/07, p.M3)
1987 Oct 1, Eight people were
killed when an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale and an
aftershock measuring 5.3 struck the Los Angeles area. In 1999
researchers reported that data revealed a new active fault system,
christened the Punete Hills fault, under Los Angeles that probably
caused the Whittier Narrows earthquake.
(AP, 10/1/97)(SFC, 3/5/99, p.A7)
1988 Aug 21, More than 1,000
people were killed in an earthquake on the Nepal-India border.
(AP, 8/21/98)
1988 Nov 25, An earthquake
centered in eastern Canada and measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale
was felt widely across Canada and in the northeastern United States.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1988 Dec 7, A magnitude 6.9-8.0
earthquake devastated Spitak in northern Armenia; an estimated
25,000 people died with some $14 billion in losses.
(AP, 12/7/97)(AP,
6/22/02)(www.who.int/archives/inf-pr-1997/en/pr97-08.html)
1989 Oct 17, The 7.1 Loma
Prieta earthquake [Watsonville] hit the Bay Area minutes before the
start of a World Series game at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. 67
people died and 3,000 were injured. It caused $7 billion worth of
damage. The Spreckel’s Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park was
damaged and later restored. 28,000 structures were damaged and
several freeways ruined. 42 people died on the Cypress Freeway. At
the train station in SF Dr. Margaret McChesney commandeered a tour
bus to take frightened passengers home and navigated the driver
safely through barricades of cars and gangs of marauding youths on
3rd St. In 1999 new measuring methods changed the magnitude to 6.9.
(SFC, 4/15/96,A-6)(SFC, 10/17/96, A15)(SFC,
7/23/97, p.A13)(AP, 10/17/97)(AR,9/12/98)(HN, 10/17/98)(SFC,
10/7/99, p.A21)
1989 Dec 25, In Canada a 6.3
earthquake, the Ungava event, struck northern Quebec and was later
attributed to retreating ice sheets from 10,000 years earlier.
(WSJ, 6/9/06, p.A11)
1990 May 30, A 6.3 earthquake
in northern Peru killed 137 people. [see May 29]
(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.A16)
1990 May 29, Northern Peru was
struck by an earthquake that claimed as many as 200 lives.
(www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/OCHA-64C3R8?OpenDocument)
1990 Jun 21, An estimated
50,000 Iranians were killed in a magnitude 7.3 to 7.7 earthquake.
The earthquake killed some 35,000 people in Gilan and neighboring
Zanjan province.
(SFC, 3/1/97, p.C1)(AP, 6/21/00)(AP, 6/22/02)
1990 Jul 16, A 7.7 earthquake
in Philippines killed some 5,000 people.
(www.drj.com/drworld/content/w1_116.htm)
1991 Feb 1, Afghanistan and
Pakistan were hit by an earthquake and 1,200 died.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1991 Apr 22, Sixty people were
killed when a strong earthquake shook Costa Rica and neighboring
Panama, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
(AP, 4/22/01)
1991 Jun 28, Two people were
killed when the Sierra Madre earthquake, magnitude 5.8, shook
Southern California.
(AP,
6/28/01)(www.data.scec.org/chrono_index/sierrama.html)
1992 Mar 13, Some 498 died in
an earthquake at Erzincan, Turkey.
(www.uwm.edu/Dept/Geosciences/qketour/qkexampl/qk990817.html)
1992 Apr 13, An earthquake
rocked Germany and the Netherlands.
(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/sig_1992.html)
1992 Apr 22, A 6.0 earthquake
in California.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1992 Apr 25, An earthquake
measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale shook northern California.
(AP, 4/25/97)
1992 May 25, A 7.0 earthquake
on the Caribbean Plate hit Cuba.
(WSJ, 1/21/97,
p.A18)(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/sig_1992.html)
1992 Jun 28, The 7.3 Landers
earthquake hit Southern California. One person was killed and 402
injured.
(AP,
6/28/97)(www.data.scec.org/chrono_index/landersq.html)
1992 Oct 12, A 5.8 earthquake
hit Cairo and at least 510 people died.
(AP,
10/12/97)(http://io.ingrm.it/amminist/annali/elenean433.htm)
1993 Jan 15, A 7.5 earthquake
struck northern Japan and 2 people died.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1993 Jul 12, 196 people were
killed when an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.8 struck
northern Japan.
(AP, 7/12/98)
1993 Sep 30, An estimated
10,000 (28,000) people were killed when an earthquake measuring a
magnitude of 6.0-6.4 struck Latur in southern India. Its epicenter
was about 350 miles southwest of Jabalpur.
(SFC, 5/22/97, p.C4)(AP, 9/30/98)(SFC, 3/30/99,
p.F2)(AP, 6/22/02)
1994 Jan 17, A 6.7 magnitude
earthquake struck Southern California, killing at least 61 people
and causing $20 billion worth of damage. Northridge quake hit the
Los Angeles area. It killed 72 people. Insurance losses totaled
$17.8 billion.
(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A3)(SFC, 5/3/97, p.B1)(AP,
1/17/98)(Econ, 9/17/05, p.73)
1994 Feb 16, At least 217
people were killed when a powerful earthquake shook Indonesia's
Sumatra island.
(AP, 2/16/00)
1994 Jun 5, At least 264
Indonesian villagers in East Java were killed by an earthquake.
(AP, 6/5/99)
1994 Jun 6, A 6.0 earthquake
and avalanche destroyed Toez, Colombia. Some 1000 people were
killed. The earthquake hit the southern state of Cauca.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A9)(MC, 6/6/02)
1994 Jun 9, An earthquake of
8.2 magnitude hit Bolivia.
(HFA, '96, p.32)
1995 Jan 17, A magnitude 7.2
earthquake hit the port city of Kobe, Japan. It measured 7.2 and
early reports listed 1600 dead. Death toll increased to 6,000
(5,372).
(WSJ, 1/18/95, p.A1)(AP, 1/17/98)(MC,
1/17/02)(AP, 6/22/02)
1995 Feb 8, A 6.4 earthquake at
Trujillo, Colombia, killed over 46 people.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1995 May 28, An earthquake with
a magnitude of seven-point-five devastated the Russian town of
Neftegorsk, killing at least 2,000 people.
(AP, 5/28/00)
1996 Jan 1, A 7.0 earthquake
struck offshore near the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. Seismologist
in Japan and Hong Kong measured it at 7.7. A tidal wave killed eight
after the quake.
(WSJ, 1/2/96, p. A-1)(WSJ, 1/3/96, p.A-1)
1996 Feb 3, A 7.0 earthquake
hit Lijiang region of Yunnan province in China. Some 231 people were
killed and 14,000 injured.
(WSJ, 2/5/96, p.A-1)(NH, 4/97, p.44)
1996 Feb 17, A powerful 7.5
earthquake and subsequent tidal waves hit eastern Indonesia in the
region of Irian Jaya and killed at least 62 people. Tidal waves
killed more than 100 people in Indonesia.
(WSJ, 2/20/96, p.A-1)(AP, 2/17/01)
1996 Mar 29, An earthquake in
central Ecuador killed 29 people.
(SFC, 4/6/96, p.A-13)
1996 May 3, A
6.4 earthquake struck Inner Mongolia in northern China. At least 14
people were killed and 266 injured.
(SFC, 5/4/96, p.A-8)
1997 Jan 11, An earthquake of
magnitude 7.3 shook Mexico City, the western and central areas, and
the southern part of Mexico, but no deaths were reported.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.A2)(AP, 1/11/98)
1997 Feb 4, In northeastern
Iran 2 earthquakes with aftershocks killed at least 72 people. Some
43 villages were damaged. Another quake followed the next day.
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A9)(SFC, 2/6/97, p.A1)
1997 Feb 28, A 6.1 earthquake
at Ardebil in northwest Iran struck at 4:27 p.m. local time. The
quake damaged 83 villages and killed at least 500 people.
(SFC, 3/1/97, p.C1)(SFEC, 3/2/97, p.A15)
1997 Mar 1, Rescue teams fought
snow, high winds and wild dogs as they tried to bring help to an
earthquake-devastated region in northwest Iran, where the death toll
was estimated at 3,000.
(AP, 3/1/98)
1997 Apr 22, A 6.5 earthquake
hit Tobago. There were no reported injuries.
(SFC, 4/23/97, p.A4)
1997 May 10, A 7.1 earthquake
hit in northeastern Iraq centered on the town of Qaen. More than
2,400 people were reported killed. The death toll was reduced to
1,560 with 60,000 left homeless.
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/12/97, p.A1)(SFC,
5/14/97, p.A10)
1997 May 21, In India an
earthquake killed at least 27. Its epicenter was near Jabalpur City,
about 400 miles southeast of New Delhi.
(SFC, 5/22/97, p.C4)
1997 Jul 9, In Venezuela a 6.7
earthquake hit the northeast coastal region and killed at least 59
people including 27 students trapped inside a collapsed school
building.
(SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)(SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)
1997 Aug 16, Scientists
reported that an underground seismic event occurred in Russia.
Inquiries were being made about nuclear testing. Russian scientists
claimed a magnitude-2 earthquake near the Novaya Zemlya test range
triggered the event.
(SFC, 8/29/97, p.A18)(WSJ, 9/3/97, p.A1)
1997 Communities around Clear
Lake began diverting millions of gallons of treated waste water to
the Geysers region and pumped underground to replenish steamfields.
The water was soon suspected of causing increased regional
earthquakes.
(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.A23)
1998 Jan 10, In China a 6.2
earthquake hit Zhangbei County in northern Hebei province and 50
people were reported killed and over 11,440 injured. The quake
reportedly left cracks in the Great Wall.
(SFEC, 1/11/98, p.A15)(SFC, 1/12/98, p.A12)(SFC,
1/22/98, p.E3)
1998 Feb 4, In Afghanistan a
5.9 earthquake hit the province of Takhar in the northeast at the
junction of the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges where hills
collapsed into each other making a huge crater. The number dead was
later reported to be 2,300 with 8,000 left homeless.
(SFC, 2/7/98, p.A10)(SFC, 6/1/98, p.A1)(AP,
2/4/99)(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A14)
1998 Mar 14, In Iran a 6.4
earthquake hit in the southeast and at least 5 people were killed
and thousands left homeless.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.A22)(AP, 3/14/99)
1998 Apr 10, In Iran an
earthquake in the northeast killed 12 people and left 1,500 homeless
in the Khorasan province.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.A16)
1998 May 22, In Bolivia
earthquakes destroyed hundreds of homes in central remote mountain
towns and at least 60 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)
1998 May 30, An estimated 6.9
earthquake hit northern Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Shari Basurkh
was hit hardest and some estimates put the death toll up to 3,000.
The estimated deaths later reached 5,000.
(SFEC, 5/31/98, p.A2)(SFC, 6/1/98, p.A1)(AP,
6/22/02)
1998 Jun 27, In southern Turkey
a 6.3 earthquake around Adana and Ceyhan killed at least 144 people
and injured about a 1,000.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.A21)(WSJ, 6/29/98, p.A1)(SFC,
7/4/98, p.A7)
1998 Jul 9, A 5.8 earthquake
hit the Azores Islands and killed 10 people and injured about a 100.
Some 1000 were left homeless.
(SFC, 7/10/98, p.A18)
1998 Jul 17, In Papua New
Guinea a tidal wave followed a 7.0 earthquake at the Solomon Islands
and killed at 2,500-3,000 people. The villages of Malol, Arop, Otto,
Warupu and Sissano were turned into barren strips of sand.
(SFC, 7/18/98, p.A10)(SFEC, 7/20/98, p.A1)(SFC,
8/4/99, p.A10)
1998 Jul 17, A 6.2 earthquake
in Taiwan triggered falling rock that killed 4 people and injured
19.
(SFC, 7/18/98, p.A14)
1998 Aug 5, In Ecuador 2
earthquakes struck the coast at Bahia de Caraquez and killed 3
people.
(SFC, 8/6/93, p.A14)
1998 Sep 9, A 5.5 earthquake
hit Italy between the towns of Castelluccio Inferiore and Laino
Borgo where the regions of Calabria and Basilicata meet.
(SFC, 9/10/98, p.C2)
1998 Nov 13, In Iran a village
was leveled in Fars province and 5 people were killed after 5 strong
earthquakes hit the area.
(SFC, 11/21/98, p.A6)
1998 Nov 29, In Indonesia a 7.6
earthquake was centered near Taliabu Island in the Maluku Sea. At
least 25 people were killed on Mangole Island and some 89 were
injured.
(SFC, 11/30/98, p.B10)(SFC, 12/1/98, p.A11)
1998 Dec 12, In Afghanistan a
5.4 earthquake hit Kabul and killed at least 5 people.
(SFEC, 12/13/98, p.A36)
1999 Jan 25, In Colombia a 6.0
earthquake hit in western Valle del Cauca state and at least 273
people were killed and 900 injured. The cities of Armenia, Pereira,
and Calarca were hardest hit. The death toll went up and it was
predicted that 2,000 died in Armenia alone.
(SFC, 1/26/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/26/99, p.A1)(SFC,
1/27/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 29, In India at least
51 people were killed following a 6.8 earthquake in the Kumaon Hills
in Uttar Pradesh. The quake struck just after midnight and the death
toll rose to at least 87. The toll was raised to 110 at Chamoli on
the Alaknanda River.
(SFC, 3/29/99, p.A8)(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)(SFC,
3/30/99, p.F2)(SFC, 3/31/99, p.A10)
1999 May 7, A series of
earthquakes hit southern Iran and at least 26 people were killed in
Fars province.
(SFC, 5/8/99, p.C14)
1999 Aug 17, A 7.4 earthquake
hit western Turkey with many killed and thousands injured. Over
17,000 were later reported killed. The quake was centered under the
Sea of Armara on the North Anatolian fault. It was later reported to
have pushed Turkey 4 feet closer to Europe.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A1)(SFC, 8/18/99, p.A1,13)(WSJ,
8/18/99, p.A1)(SFC, 8/20/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A17)(AP,
8/17/03)
1999 Aug 20, In Turkey
officials reported that over 10,000 bodies had been recovered from
the quake and the injured list had risen to 34,000. Prime Minister
Ecevit ordered that the dead be buried as soon as found.
(SFC, 8/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 21, In Turkey the
death toll from the Aug 17 earthquake reached 12,000. Governors in 3
of 9 stricken provinces called off searches for survivors. US
President Clinton urged Americans to contribute to the relief
effort. The death toll from the massive earthquake eventually
reached 17,000.
(SFEC, 8/22/99, p.A1)(AP, 8/21/00)
1999 Aug 24, The death toll in
Turkey’s August 17 earthquake was raised to near 18,000.
(SFC, 8/25/99, p.A14)
1999 Aug 26, The Turkey quake
death toll was lowered to 13,040 with 26,630 injured. The parliament
passed a law to give amnesty to Kurdish rebels with no criminal
record. The death toll was later raised to over 17,000.
(SFC, 8/27/99, p.A14)(SFC, 10/15/99, p.A19)
1999 Sep 7, In Greece a 5.9
earthquake hit Athens and 64 people were killed, 650 injured and 50
missing. The death toll later reached 143.
(SFC, 9/8/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
9/16/99, p.A1)(AP, 9/7/00)
1999 Sep 20, In Taiwan a 7.6
earthquake killed an estimated 2,161 people and injured over 3,500.
2,600 people were believed to be buried alive. Aftershocks the next
day registered at 6.8 and 100,000 people were homeless.
(SFC, 9/21/99, p.A1)(SFC, 9/22/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
9/22/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A1)
(http://nisee.berkeley.edu/taiwan/)
1999 Sep 21, In Taiwan the
12-story Sungshan hotel collapsed and at least 73 people were killed
as numerous after shocks followed the previous day’s 7.6 earthquake.
Prosecutors later charged 5 people with negligence in the design and
construction of the building. [see Sep 20]
(SFC, 11/9/99, p.A14)(AP, 9/21/00)
1999 Oct 16, A 7.0 earthquake,
centered near Joshua Tree, Ca., struck in the Mohave Desert. An
Amtrak train was derailed, but there were no deaths.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/18/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 12, In Turkey a 7.2
[7.1] earthquake was centered at Duzce. At least 834 people were
killed and 3000 injured. Damage from the last 2 quakes was later
estimated at $10-25 billion.
(SFC, 11/13/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 11/14/99, p.A1)(SFC,
11/15/99, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/17/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/28/00, p.D6)(AP,
11/12/00)
1999 Dec 22, In Algeria a 5.8
earthquake struck near Oran and at least 20 people were killed and
75 injured.
(SFC, 12/23/99, p.C7)
2000 Jan 15, In China 5.9 and
6.5 earthquakes hit in Yunnan province and 4 people were killed.
(SFEC, 1/16/00, p.A25)
2000 May 4, In Indonesia a 6.5
earthquake was centered in the Maluku Sea off Pelang Island and at
least 17 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A18)
2000 May 17, In Taiwan a wave
of earthquakes left 3 people dead in Taichung County of the central
mountain region.
(SFC, 5/18/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun 4, In Indonesia a 7.3
earthquake hit Sumatra and over 100 people were killed with
relentless aftershocks.
(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)(SFC, 6/6/00, p.A13)
2000 Jul 6, In Nicaragua a 5.9
earthquake was centered in Laguna de Apoyo. At least 4 children
died.
(SFC, 7/7/00, p.D6)(SFC, 7/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 7, In Nicaragua
another earthquake struck and at least 2 people were killed.
(SFC, 7/8/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 21, In China an
earthquake in Wuding county, Yunnan province, left 177,000 people
homeless and 211 injured.
(SFC, 8/26/00, p.A9)
2000 Sep 3, In California 5.2
earthquake was centered in Napa and injured over 40 people.
(SFC, 9/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 5, In western Japan a
7.3 earthquake struck and at least 106 people were injured.
(SFC, 10/6/00, p.D6)(SFC, 10/7/00, p.A8)(SFEC,
10/8/00, p.A18)
2000 Nov 16, In Papua New
Guinea a tidal wave followed a magnitude 8.0 earthquake and left at
least one person dead and at some 5,000 people homeless.
(WSJ, 11/22/00, p.A1)(SFC, 11/25/00, p.D8)
2000 Nov 25, In Azerbaijan an
earthquake hit Baku and at least 3 people were killed. 20 people
died of heart attacks.
(SSFC, 11/26/00, p.D6)(WSJ, 11/27/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 15, In Turkey an
earthquake killed 6 people including 5 men praying at the mosque of
Yasarlar village.
(SSFC, 12/17/00, p.11)
2001 Jan 13, In El Salvador a
7.6 earthquake hit near San Salvador. Some 1200 people were not
accounted for in the buried Las Colinas neighborhood. The “slab
earthquake” originated 24-36 miles below the surface. The earthquake
death toll later climbed to over 840. Damages were estimated at $1
billion.
(SSFC, 1/14/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.D1)(AP,
1/13/06)
2001 Jan 26, A 7.9 (7.7)
earthquake hit India and Pakistan as India prepared to celebrate
Republic Day. It was an intraplate earthquake along a thrust fault
300 miles south of the boundary between the Indo-Australian and
Eurasian Plates. Some 20,000-50,000 people were killed and over
14,000 injured across Gujarat state. 10 people were reported killed
in Pakistan. The quake caused an underground river, either the
Saraswati or Indus, to reappear that had disappeared in a 19th
century quake. [see Jan 31]
(SFC, 1/26/01, p.A16)(SFC, 1/27/01, p.A1)(WSJ,
1/29/01, p.A1)(SFC, 2/17/01, p.D8)(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.R12)
2001 Jan 31, The death count
from the 7.7 earthquake reached 12,000 and an additional 13,000 were
believed still buried. The final death count was set to 15,537 in
June.
(SFC, 2/1/01, p.A9)(SFC, 6/14/01, p.C3)
2001 Feb 1, The India
earthquake death toll estimates rose to between 35-50 thousand with
injuries to over 60,000. the damages in Gujarat state were estimated
at $4.5 billion.
(WSJ, 2/2/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 2/4/01, p.A14)
2001 Feb 13, In El Salvador a
6.6 earthquake killed at least 127 people. It was centered between
San Vicente and San Salvador. The death toll soon rose to 402 with
2432 injured. It struck one month to the day after another quake
killed more than 800 people.
(SFC, 2/14/01, p.A1)(SFC, 2/15/01, p.A12)(AP,
2/13/02)
2001 Mar 24, In Japan a 6.4
earthquake near Hiroshima killed 2 people and injured at least 160.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C1)
2002 Feb 3, A 6.0-6.2
earthquake hit Turkey and as least 45 people were killed. The
epicenter was about 135 miles southwest of Ankara.
(SFC, 2/4/02, p.A3)(WSJ, 2/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 3, A 7.2 earthquake
was centered in northeast Afghanistan and at least 100 people were
killed.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 5, In the Philippines
a 6.8 earthquake struck about 10 miles under the sea some 147 miles
southwest of General Santos and 4 people were killed.
(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A8)
2002 Mar 25, In Afghanistan a
5.8-6.1 earthquake was centered 105 miles north of Kabul and early
reports of deaths reached to 1,800. The city of Nahrin was reported
destroyed. Deaths in Baghlan province were reduced to 600-800 with
100,000 left homeless.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A6)(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A1)(SFC,
3/29/02, p.A9)(SFC, 3/30/02, p.A10)(AP, 6/22/02)
2002 Mar 31, In Taiwan a
6.8-7.1 earthquake hit and 5 construction workers were killed in
Taipei when 2 construction cranes fell from the 60th floor of a new
building projected to be the tallest in the city.
(SFC, 4/1/02, p.A7)(WSJ, 4/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 12, An earthquake hit
northern Afghanistan and at least 59 people were killed, mostly in
Doabi.
(SFC, 4/13/02, p.A10)(SFC, 4/20/02, p.A24)
2002 Apr 25, An earthquake in
Tbilisi, Georgia, killed at least 3 people.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A15)
2002 May 13, A 5.2 earthquake
hit the Bay Area centered near Gilroy.
(SFC, 5/14/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 22, A powerful
earthquake in northern Iran killed at least 500 people and injured
1,500, razing dozens of mountain villages whose mud-brick homes
crumbled to dust.
(Reuters, 6/22/02)(Reuters, 6/23/02)(AP, 6/22/03)
2002 Sep 9, An earthquake
struck just off Papua New Guinea's north coast, killing 3 people and
causing a tidal wave that washed away at least 40 homes.
(AP, 9/9/02)
2002 Sep, In Sicily the
strongest earthquake in 20 years caused some $500 million in damage.
(SFC, 9/14/02, p.A20)
2002 Oct 31, A strong
earthquake rocked central and southern Italy, trapping about 50
children in a school in San Giuliano di Puglia after the building's
roof collapsed. 27 children and a teacher were killed.
(AP, 10/31/02)(AP, 11/1/07)
2002 Nov 2, In Indonesia a
powerful earthquake struck near Sumatra island and killed at least
two people, injured scores and left more than 5,000 people on a
nearby island homeless.
(Reuters, 11/3/02)
2002 Nov 3, A moderate
earthquake jolted northern Pakistan, killing seven people and
injuring 30, many of them critically.
(AP, 11/3/02)
2002 Nov 3, A 7.9 earthquake
hit Alaska 90 miles south of Fairbanks.
(SFC, 11/4/02, p.A2)
2002 Nov 21, In northern
Pakistan a 5.5 earthquake hit the Gilgit region and at least 25
people were killed.
(SFC, 11/22/02, p.A18)
2003 Feb 24, A
devastating earthquake shook western China, killing at least 266
people, injuring some 2,000 and flattening homes, schools and other
buildings near the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar. The death toll soon
rose to at least 266 people, with another 2,000 injured.
(Reuters, 2/24/03)(AP, 2/25/03)(SFC, 2/26/03, A8)
2003 May 1, A 6.4 magnitude
earthquake rumbled through southeastern Turkey. 177 people were
killed and 390 injured including 80 students were trapped in the
debris of their school dormitory in Bingol.
(AP, 5/1/03)(SFC, 5/1/03, A16)(SFC, 5/2/03,
p.A3)(AP, 5/4/08)
2003 May 21, In Algeria a 6.7
earthquake struck near Algiers. More than 2,200 people were killed
and thousands injured. Thenia, 40 miles east of Algiers, was worst
hit.
(SFC, 5/22/03, p.A1)(AP, 5/25/03)(SFC, 5/27/03,
p.A12)
2003 May 26, A 7.0 earthquake
hit Japan's main island of Honshu. At least 54 people were injured.
(SFC, 5/27/03, p.A3)
2003 Jul 21, In southwest China
a magnitude-6.2 earthquake toppled thousands of mud-brick houses in
a mountainous area, killing at least 16 people and injuring more
than 300 others.
(AP, 7/22/03)
2003 Jul 26, Across northern
Japan 3 powerful earthquakes knocked out power grids, collapsed
buildings and set off mudslides. At least 268 people were hurt.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Sep 25, In northern Japan
an 8.3 earthquake, the world's most powerful in 2 1/2 years, injured
at least 589 people and knocked out power on Hokkaido.
(http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2003/eq_030925/)
2003 Oct 25, In northwestern
China powerful twin tremors, minutes apart, killed nine people and
leveled houses in Gansu province.
(AP, 10/26/03)
2003 Dec 1, A strong earthquake
rumbled through a swath of western China's mountainous Xinjiang
region, killing at least 11 people and collapsing hundreds of homes
in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture near the border with Kazakhstan.
(AP, 12/1/03)
2003 Dec 22, A 6.5 earthquake
jolted the central California coast. Marilyn Zafuto (55) and
Jennifer Myrick (20) were killed in Paso Robles when the 1892
Mastagni Building and its 15-foor clock tower collapsed. Damages
from the San Simeon quake were estimated at some $100 million.
(AP, 12/23/03)(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A1)(SFC,
12/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 25, A strong
earthquake shook the border of Costa Rica and Panama, killing an
infant and leaving dozens of others with mainly minor injuries.
(AP, 12/26/03)
2003 Dec 26, A 6.6 earthquake
devastated the southeastern Iranian city of Bam, 630 miles southeast
of the capital Tehran. It leveled more than half the city's houses
and its historic mud-brick fortress. At least 26,000 people were
killed and over 10,000 injured. Iran appealed for international help
and promised to waive visas for foreign relief workers.
(AP, 12/27/03)(SFC, 12/30/03, p.A3)(AP,
1/2/04)(AP, 12/26/04)
2004 Feb 6, In Indonesia
powerful earthquakes hit Indonesia's remote Papua province,
flattening houses and leaving at least 26 people dead and hundreds
injured.
(AP, 2/6/04)
2004 Feb 24, An earthquake
shook Burundi, killing three people and destroying at least two
dozen homes.
(AP, 2/24/04)
2004 Feb 24, A 5.1 earthquake
struck northern Morocco near Al Hoceima, toppling houses and killing
629 people.
(AP, 2/25/04)(SFC, 2/25/04, p.A3)(AP, 3/5/04)
2004 May 28, An earthquake
damaged homes in northern Iran. The toll from a 6.2 earthquake
reached 35 dead with 250 people injured.
(AP, 5/28/04)(AP, 5/29/04)
2004 Aug 10, In southwest China
a 5.6 earthquake killed four and injured nearly 600 in Yunnan
province. More than 125,000 people were left homeless and cracked
walls in reservoirs posed a threat to villages downstream.
(AP, 8/12/04)
2004 Sep 28, A 6.0 earthquake
shook central California, cracking pipes, breaking bottles of wine
and knocking pictures from walls. The quake was centered about seven
miles southeast of Parkfield, a town of 37 people known as
California's earthquake capital.
(AP, 9/28/04)
2004 Oct 23, Several
earthquakes, the largest measuring 6.8, hit northwestern Japan,
toppling homes, causing blackouts, cutting water and gas and
derailing a bullet train. 40 people were killed and as many as 1,900
injured.
(SFC, 10/28/04, p.A12)(Econ, 10/30/04, p.50)(AP,
10/23/05)
2004 Nov 12, A strong
earthquake rocked parts of eastern Indonesia, killing six people,
injuring 40 and damaging hundreds of buildings.
(AP, 11/12/04)
2004 Nov 20, An early morning
6.2 earthquake jolted San Jose, Costa Rica, and killed 8 people.
Leaders of 21 nations were gathered there for the Ibero-American
Summit.
(AP, 11/20/04)
2004 Nov 29, A powerful
earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan's
northern island of Hokkaido, injuring at least 24 people.
(AP, 11/29/04)
2004 Dec 24, The world's
biggest earthquake in almost four years, measuring 8.1 on the
Richter scale, struck off the coast of Australia's southern island
state of Tasmania, but caused no damage or injury.
(AP, 12/24/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most
powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that
slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and
southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose
to some 230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake
was the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2
temblor hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was
located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh
province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian
Ocean. In Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths:
thousands were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman
and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed
on Sumatra island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1
killed. Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of
foreign tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were
killed. Sri Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and
rebel controlled areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190
low-lying coral islands and a tiny population of 280,000, at least
82 people were killed and missing. At least 42 islands were
flattened in the low-lying atoll nation. Somalia: At least 298 were
killed. Tanzania: At least 10 killed. Thailand: The confirmed death
toll for Thailand reached 5,322, but many suspected Myanmar migrants
were not counted.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05,
p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)
2004 Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and
Donald Theodore Sanders authored “Earthquakes in Human History.
(WSJ, 12/31/04, p.W6)
2004 David Ulin authored “The
Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction and the Fault Line
Between Reason and Faith.”
(SSFC, 7/25/04, p.M1)
2005 Feb 22, In central Iran’s
Kerman province a 6.4 earthquake flattened villages and collapsed
mud-brick homes, killing over 500 people and injuring nearly 1,000.
(AP, 2/23/05)(SFC, 2/24/05, p.A11)
2005 Mar 20, A magnitude 7.0
earthquake struck off the coast of southern Japan, killing one
person and injuring at least 381 others.
(AP, 3/20/05)
2005 Mar 28, An 8.7 earthquake
occurred in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, in what technically was
considered an aftershock to the Dec 26 quake. At least 330 people
were killed in collapsed buildings on Nias Island. No major tsunami
followed. The UN raised its toll to 624.
(AP, 3/29/05)(SFC, 3/29/05, p.A1)(AP, 3/31/05)
2005 Jun 14, A 7.9 earthquake
rattled cities in Bolivia and Peru and heavily damaged mountain
villages in northern Chile, killing at least 11 people including a
family of 6.
(WSJ, 6/14/05, p.A1)(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 14, The 7.0-magnitude
quake struck northern California about 90 miles southwest of the
coastal community of Crescent City, where a 1964 tsunami killed 11
people.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jul 24, A 7.2 earthquake
hit India's southern Andaman and Nicobar Islands and part of
Indonesia. No tsunami came, and no injuries or damage were reported.
(AP, 7/25/05)
2005 Jul 21, Prof. Bruce Bolt
(75), UC Berkeley seismologist, died. His books included
“Earthquakes: A Primer” and “Inside the Earth: Evidence from
Earthquakes.”
(SFC, 7/26/05, p.B5)
2005 Aug 16, A 7.2 earthquake
shook northeastern Japan, triggering landslides, sending a shower of
ceiling debris into a crowded indoor swimming pool and shaking
skyscrapers as far away as Tokyo. At least 59 people were reportedly
injured.
(AP, 8/16/05)(WSJ, 8/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Oct 8, A 7.6-magnitude
earthquake hit Kashmir near the Pakistan-India border reaching to
Afghanistan. It reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and
flattened an apartment building, killing thousands of people in
India and Pakistan. Pakistani officials said the death toll ranged
between nearly 20,000 and 30,000. The newly reopened "Peace Bridge"
linking the Indian and Pakistani portions of disputed Kashmir nearly
collapsed during the earthquake. The death toll from the quake
reached 73,000. The UN estimated that 3 million people were left
homeless by the earthquake.
(AP, 10/9/05)(SSFC, 10/9/05, p.A1)(AP,
11/8/05)(Econ, 5/6/06, p.44)
2005 Nov 27, In southern Iran
an earthquake measuring at least magnitude-5.9 shook a sparsely
populated area, flattening seven villages and killing 10 people.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2006 Mar 31, In western Iran 3
strong earthquakes and several aftershocks reduced villages to
rubble, killing 70 people and injuring about 1,200 others.
(AP, 3/31/06)(AP, 3/31/07)
2006 May 27, A powerful
earthquake flattened homes and hotels in central Indonesia as people
slept, killing at least 3,000 and injuring thousands more in the
nation's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
(AP, 5/27/06)
2006 Dec 8, In Basel,
Switzerland, a 3.4 magnitude tremor was accidentally triggered by
engineers drilling deep into the Earth's crust to tap its inner
heat, in the world's search for new sources of energy.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Feb 21, A 5.7 magnitude
earthquake shook southeastern Turkey. A five-story apartment
building collapsed in Istanbul, killing at least two people and
injuring more than two dozen others.
(AP, 2/21/07)
2007 Jul 16, A 6.8 earthquake
struck northwestern Japan, destroying hundreds of homes, buckling
seaside bridges and causing a fire at one of the world's most
powerful nuclear power plants. 11 people were killed and hundreds
were injured. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant suffered a
slew of problems, including spilled waste drums, leaked radioactive
water, fires and burst pipes.
(AFP, 7/16/07)(WSJ, 1/17/07, p.A1)(Econ, 7/21/07,
p.41)(AP, 7/16/08)
2007 Aug 2, A 6.4-magnitude
quake struck on the southern tip of Sakhalin island, just north of
Japan. At least 2 people were killed and some 2,000 in Nevelsk moved
to tent camps after the powerful earthquake left apartment buildings
in ruins.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 15, A magnitude-8.0
trembler rocked Peru's coast, toppling buildings leaving some 610
people dead and 36,000 homes damaged. State doctors called off a
national strike to handle the emergency. Two prisons collapsed and
600 prisoners escaped. About a third gave themselves up over the
next week. Tremors destroyed 80% of Pisco, where 148 people died
when the city cathedral collapsed.
(AP, 8/16/07)(Econ, 8/25/07, p.35)(SSFC, 4/6/08,
p.A14)(Econ, 8/16/08, p.37)
2007 Sep 12, A massive 8.4
earthquake struck Indonesia, killing at least 10 people, injuring
dozens and triggering a tsunami that hit one city on the island of
Sumatra.
(AP, 9/12/07)(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 13, Three powerful
earthquakes jolted Indonesia in less than 24 hours, triggering
tsunami alerts and sending panicked residents fleeing to high
ground. At least 10 people were killed in the tremors.
(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 14, Powerful
earthquakes struck Indonesia for a third day, terrorizing thousands
of people who slept outside in fear of tsunami and falling debris.
The death toll reached 13 and seismologists warned that the
worst may be yet to come.
(AP, 9/14/07)
2007 Oct 30,
The San Francisco Bay area's largest earthquake in nearly two
decades rattled homes and nerves. The magnitude-5.6 temblor on the
Calaveras Fault caused no serious damage or injuries.
(AP, 10/31/07)(SFC, 10/31/07, p.A1)
2008 Apr 18, A magnitude 5.2
earthquake hit southern Illinois in the Ozark Dome region and was
felt across the Midwest.
(SFC, 4/19/08, p.A5)
2008 May 12, Initial reports
said a 7.8 earthquake struck central China, killing over 9,000
people and trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their
school. 80% of the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in
Sichuan province. The death toll soon exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan
province alone. 18,645 were reported buried in debris in the city of
Mianyang, near the epicenter of the quake, whose magnitude was
raised to 7.9. The Sichuan quake ended up killing some 80,000
people. Scientists in 2009 linked the quake to the Zipingu Dam, 5.5
km from the epicenter. In 2009 an official tally said 5,335 students
were left dead or missing.
(AP, 5/1208)(AP, 5/13/08)(WSJ, 2/7/08, p.A6)(AP,
5/7/09)
2008 May 14, China’s Xinhua
News Agency said that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the
Zipingku Dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province as the
death toll from the May 12 earthquake approached 15,000.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 22, China said the
toll of dead and missing from last week's powerful earthquake jumped
to more than 80,000, while the government appealed for millions of
tents to shelter homeless survivors.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 Jun 8, In southwestern
Greece a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5
struck near the port city of Patras, killing at least two people and
injuring more than 200.
(AP, 6/8/08)(SFC, 6/10/08, p.A10)
2008 Jun 14, In northern Japan
a magnitude-7.2 earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields,
killing at least 13 people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted
buildings and shook nuclear power plants. 10 people remained
missing.
(SFC, 6/17/08, p.A8)(AP, 6/18/08)(AFP, 7/10/08)
2008 Aug 5, A magnitude 6.0
earthquake rocked the western Chinese provinces of Sichuan and
Gansu, killing one person and injuring 23 near the site of May's
devastating quake that killed at least 70,000 people.
(Reuters, 8/5/08)
2008 Aug 30, A 6.1 earthquake
hit southwest China's Sichuan province, killing least 36 people and
turning tens of thousands of homes into rubble and cracked
reservoirs.
(Reuters, 8/30/08)(AP, 8/31/08)(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 10, A strong
earthquake rocked southern Iran sending tremors across the Persian
Gulf to the skyscrapers of Dubai. Iranian state television reported
that seven people were killed and 40 others were injured.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Oct 5, A 6.6-magnitude
earthquake struck the mountains of Central Asia, destroying Nura
village in Kyrgyzstan and killing at least 75 people including 41
children.
(AP, 10/6/08)(AP, 10/7/08)(SFC, 10/11/08, p.B6)
2008 Oct 6, A magnitude 6.6
earthquake killed at least 30 people in Tibet with a number of
people buried in debris.
(Reuters, 10/6/08)
2008 Oct 11, A strong
earthquake hit Chechnya and other parts of Russia's North Caucasus,
killing at least 13 people and damaging scores of hospitals, schools
and other buildings.
(AP, 10/11/08)(SFC, 10/18/08, p.B6)
2008 Oct 29, In southwestern
Pakistan a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck before dawn, killing at
least 215 people and turning mud and timber homes into rubble. An
estimated 15,000 people were left homeless, and rescuers were
digging for survivors in a remote valley in Baluchistan province.
Officials later feared the death toll would pass 300.
(AP, 10/29/08)(AP, 10/30/08)(AP, 10/31/08)
2008 Nov 17, In eastern
Indonesia a 7.5 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sulawesi
killed at least 6 people, damaged hundreds of homes and briefly
triggered a region-wide tsunami warning.
(AP, 11/17/08)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.A3)(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 10, George W. Housner
(b.1910), known in his profession as the father of earthquake of
engineering, died.
(WSJ, 11/22/08, p.A11)
2008 Dec 29, Yellowstone
National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third
straight day, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more
than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come.
(AP, 12/30/08)
2009 Jan 4, In eastern
Indonesia a series of powerful earthquakes toppled or badly damaged
more than 100 buildings and left one person dead and dozens injured.
(AP, 1/4/09)(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 8, A magnitude 6.1
earthquake rocked Costa Rica killing at least 20 people with dozens
still missing.
(AP, 1/9/09)(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 21, Haydar Al-Shukri,
the director of the Arkansas Earthquake Center at the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, said a previously unknown fault, could
trigger a magnitude 7 earthquake with an epicenter near a major
natural gas pipeline.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 25, In China a Richter
scale 5.0 earthquake hit an area inhabited by the Xibe people. It
destroyed nearly 200 homes and damaged nearly 3,000 buildings. The
community, originally from Manchuria, had established a frontier
garrison in Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty.
(Reuters, 1/26/09)
2009 Feb 12, In Indonesia at
least 42 people were injured and hundreds of homes and buildings
damaged when a major earthquake struck off Sulawesi island near the
Philippines.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Mar 31, Bernardo De
Bernardinis, deputy chief of Italy’s Civil Protection Department,
told the people in the L'Aquila region that recent tremors over the
last 4 months posed no danger. He and 6 others were later indicted
following the April 6 earthquake that left 308 people dead. Their
trial began in 2011.
(Econ, 9/17/11, p.86)
2009 Apr 6, In central Italy a
magnitude 6.3 earthquake knocked down whole blocks of buildings as
residents slept, killing 308 people in L'Aquila, capital of the
Abruzzo region, which was near the epicenter. It was the country's
deadliest quake in nearly three decades. Tens of thousands were
homeless and 1,500 were injured. 8 students were killed when their
dorm collapsed in L'Aquila. Investigations into shoddy
construction soon followed.
(AFP, 4/6/09)(AP, 4/6/09)(AP, 4/9/09)(AP,
10/19/09)(Econ, 9/17/11, p.86)
2009 Apr 17, In Afghanistan two
earthquakes shook eastern Nangarhar province, collapsing mud-brick
homes on top of villagers while they slept and killing at least 21
people. Two suicide bombers on foot tried to attack the office of
the minister of refugees in southern Nimroz province. Guards shot
and killed one bomber at the scene of the attempted attack. While
fleeing the 2nd bomber detonated his explosives, killing 3
civilians. A Norwegian intelligence officer serving with the
nation's peacekeeping force was killed by a roadside bomb near the
northern city of Maymana.
(AP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 27, In Mexico an
earthquake of magnitude 5.6 was centered near Chilpancingo, about
130 miles (210 km) southwest of Mexico City. 2 women aged 67 and 75
died of heart attacks during or shortly after the earthquake, and
four homes and a perimeter wall collapsed in and around the resort
of Acapulco.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 May 28, In Belize and
Honduras a magnitude 7.1 earthquake collapsed more than two dozen
homes, killing at least 6 people and injuring 40 others as terrified
people ran into the streets in towns across much of Central America.
(AP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jul 9, In China a 6.0
earthquake rocked Yunnan province, killing one person and destroying
thousands of houses. More than 400,000 people left their homes
following the tremor that left at least one person dead.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Sep 2, A powerful 7.0
earthquake rattled southern Indonesia, killing at least 64 people
crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands
fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day. More than
10,000 buildings were severely damaged.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 19, In Indonesia a
strong earthquake shook the popular resort island of Bali, injuring
at least seven people and sending panicked tourists and residents
fleeing out of homes and hotels.
(AP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 21, A strong
6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the remote Himalayan kingdom of
Bhutan, killing at least 12 people and damaging monasteries and
other buildings.
(AP, 9/21/09)(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Sep 29, A magnitude
8.0-8.3 earthquake struck about 120 miles south of the islands of
Samoa, which has about 180,000 people, and American Samoa, a US
territory of 65,000. Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6
meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile
(1.5 kilometers) inland. At least 136 were killed in Samoa and at
least 32 on American Samoa and leaving dozens missing. Authorities
in Tonga, south of the Samoas, confirmed at least 9 dead.
(AP, 9/30/09)(AFP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/5/09)
2009 Sep 29, A magnitude
8.0-8.3 earthquake struck about 120 miles south of the islands of
Samoa, population about 180,000 people, and American Samoa, a US
territory of 65,000. Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6
meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile
(1.5km) inland. At least 142 were killed in Samoa and at least 32 on
American Samoa and leaving dozens missing. Authorities in Tonga,
south of the Samoas, confirmed at least 9 dead.
(AP, 9/30/09)(AFP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/5/09)(SSFC,
10/11/09, p.A14)
2009 Oct 1, In Indonesia rescue
workers used excavators to pull out victims from the heavy rubble of
buildings felled by the previous day’s 7.6 earthquake. The death
toll was expected to rise. The region was jolted by another powerful
earthquake, causing damage but no reported fatalities.
(AP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Nov 4, A 4.9-magnitude
earthquake struck Bandar Abbas, a key port city in southern Iran,
injuring at least 700 people and cutting power and telephone lines.
(AP, 11/4/09)
2009 Nov 9, In central
Indonesia 6.7 undersea earthquake killed one person, injured dozens
and damaged hundreds of houses on remote Sumbawa Island. Local
officials said torrential rains have triggered a series of
landslides on Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 residents and
burying many more.
(AP, 11/9/09)
2009 Dec 19, A 6.4-magnitude
quake was centered off the eastern coast of Taiwan. 14 people were
injured and with minor damage in Taipei as well as near the
epicenter.
(AP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 20, In Malawi a 6.0
earthquake destroyed several buildings in the southeastern Karonga
district, killing at least three people and injuring about 200.
(AP, 12/20/09)
2010 Jan 2, In Tajikistan a
magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the Pamir Mountains. Some 783 people
were left homeless. 98 houses were completely destroyed and nearly
1,000 others damaged by the quake that hit several villages in the
Gorno-Badakhshansky region.
(AP, 1/3/10)(AP, 1/5/10)
2010 Jan 4, A tsunami unleashed
by an earthquake plowed into the Solomon Islands with the crashing
waters devastating at least one village, leaving over a thousand
people homeless. The US Geological Survey recorded 8 earthquakes in
the region since late Jan 3. The magnitude 7.2 was centered 64 miles
(103 km) southeast of Gizo, and followed a 6.5 tremor less than two
hours earlier centered 54 miles (90 km) southeast of Gizo at a depth
of 6 miles (10 km).
(AP, 1/4/10)(AP, 1/5/10)
2010 Jan 12, A powerful 7.0
earthquake hit Haiti and crushed thousands of structures, from
schools and shacks to the National Palace. Thousands of people were
believed dead and untold numbers were trapped. An estimated 3
million people were in need of emergency aid. The quake left over
200,000 people dead. Some 4,500 prison inmates escaped during the
earthquake. By April they were terrorizing neighborhoods and
fighting turf battles. The UN later estimated 222,570 people were
killed and 300,572 injured. In 2011 a report commissioned by USAID
contended that between 46,000 and 85,000 people were killed by the
quake, far below the Haitian government's death toll of 316,000.
(AP, 1/13/10)(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)(SFC, 4/8/10,
p.A2)(Econ, 3/19/11, p.46)(AFP, 6/1/11)
2010 Jan 18, The European Union
said some 200,000 people may have been killed in the magnitude-7.0
quake, quoting Haitian officials who also said about 70,000 bodies
have been recovered so far.
(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 20, A 6.1 aftershock
struck Haiti, shaking more rubble from damaged buildings and sending
screaming people running into the streets eight days after the
country's capital was devastated by an apocalyptic quake.
(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Feb 25, In China at least
29 people were injured and hundreds of buildings damaged in a
magnitude 5.4 earthquake in southwestern Yunnan province.
(AP, 2/26/10)
2010 Feb 27, A magnitude 8.8
earthquake struck Chile, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and
plunging trucks into the fractured earth. Interior Minister Edmundo
Perez Yoma said it was the most powerful quake to hit the country in
a half-century. Authorities the next day put the death toll from the
earthquake at over 700. The death toll was later revised to 486 with
79 missing. Some 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 150,000
people were left homeless. A tsunami caused by the quake swept
across the Pacific and killed several people on a Chilean island. It
devastated coastal communities near the epicenter, but caused little
damage in other countries. Damages were later estimated at $30
billion. By the end of March Chilean officials confirmed 432 people
dead and 98 still missing in the earthquake and tsunami.
(AP, 2/27/10)(AP, 2/28/10)(SFC, 3/17/10,
p.A2)(AP, 3/19/10)(Econ, 3/20/10, p.43)(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Mar 4, Chile’s government
said it had identified 279 dead, dropping the confirmed official
death toll from 802. The Feb 27 magnitude-8.8 quake, one of the
strongest on record, and the tsunami that followed ravaged a 700-km
(435-mile) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast.
(AP, 3/5/10)
2010 Mar 4, In Taiwan a
powerful 6.4 earthquake and more than a dozen aftershocks jolted
southern Taiwan, injuring 96 people, toppling farm houses and
derailing a carriage on a high-speed train.
(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 5, In Chile 3 strong
aftershocks shook the center of the country, sending panicked
residents rushing out of their homes and leveling more buildings in
an area already hard hit by the Feb 6 monster earthquake.
(AFP, 3/5/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Turkey a 5.9
magnitude, pre-dawn earthquake struck near the village of Basyurt in
the remote, sparsely populated area of eastern Elazig province. 51
people were killed as it knocked down stone and mud-brick houses and
minarets in at least six villages.
(AP, 3/8/10)(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 21, A small earthquake
struck northern Haiti, collapsing an apartment building and killing
at least three people.
(AP, 3/21/10)
2010 Apr 4, A 7.3 magnitude
earthquake centered just south of the US border near Mexicali killed
two people in Mexico and injured at least 100.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 7, In Indonesia a
magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Indonesia's northwest island of
Sumatra, triggering a small tsunami, snapping power lines and
sending panicked residents rushing for higher ground.
(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Apr 14, In western China a
series of strong earthquakes struck a mountainous area of Tibet,
killing some 2,064 people and injuring more than 10,000, as houses
made of mud and wood collapsed. 5 days later 3 people were pulled
alive from the rubble. On May 31 the toll was raised to 2,698 with
270 still missing.
(AP, 4/14/10)(AP, 4/15/10)(AP, 4/16/10)(AP,
4/19/10)(AP, 5/31/10)
2010 Apr 16, In Iran cleric
Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, the acting prayer leader of Tehran, said
women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously are to
blame for earthquakes.
(SFC, 4/20/10, p.A4)
2010 May 9, In Indonesia an
earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 rattled the North
Sumatra province, prompting a brief local tsunami watch, knocking
out power and damaging some homes.
(AP, 5/9/10)
2010 May 14, In Algeria a
moderate earthquake killed two people and injured 43 others.
(AFP, 5/15/10)
2010 Jun 16, Indonesia was hit
by a series of powerful earthquakes. At least 17 people were killed
and more than 4,600 others left homeless.
(AP, 6/16/10)(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 30, In Mexico a 6.2
earthquake, centered in Oaxaca, killed at least one man.
(SFC, 7/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 21, Southern Iran was
shaken by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake killing one person.
(AFP, 7/21/10)
2010 Jul 30, In northeastern
Iran an earthquake injured 274 people. A slightly stronger tremor
struck central Iran the next day.
(Reuters, 7/31/10)
2010 Aug 28, In Iran three
people died in the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that shook the country's
remote northeast. Forty others were injured.
(AP, 8/28/10)
2010 Sep 4, In New Zealand
chimneys and walls crumbled to the ground, roads cracked in half and
residents were knocked off their feet as a powerful magnitude-7.1
earthquake rocked the South Island. No one was killed.
(AP, 9/4/10)
2010 Oct 25, In western
Indonesia a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off Sumatra’s coast triggered a
10-foot (3m) tsunami that pounded remote island villages, killing at
least 113 people and leaving scores more missing.
(AP, 10/26/10)
2010 Nov 3, Serbia declared a
state of emergency in the area around Kraljevo after a 5.3
earthquake rattled its central region, killing at least two people
and injuring 50 others.
(AP, 11/3/10)
2010 Dec 20, In southeastern
Iran a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck a remote area late at night,
killing at least 11 people and injuring 40 people.
(AP, 12/21/10)(SFC, 12/22/10, p.A3)
2010 Dec 30, In southwestern
Poland 3 miners were killed by falling rocks after a minor
earthquake at a copper mine.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2011 Jan 18, In Pakistan a 7.2
magnitude earthquake was centered in Baluchistan province.
(SFC, 1/19/11, p.A3)
2011 Feb 22, Christchurch, New
Zealand, lay in ruins after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake toppled tall
buildings and churches. The earthquake left at least 166 dead,
including 21 Chinese students. The earthquake also caused some 30
million tons of ice to break off from New Zealand's biggest glacier.
The final death toll was later estimated at about 240. On Feb 3
rescuers officially gave up hope of finding more survivors. On May
16 nine final victims of the earthquake were declared dead, ending
an agonizing wait for families of people whose remains have never
been identified in the wreckage.
(AFP, 2/23/11)(AP, 2/24/11)(AFP, 2/25/11)(AP,
3/4/11)(AP, 3/5/11)(AP, 5/16/11)
2011 Mar 10, In China a
magnitude 5.8 earthquake toppled more than 3,600 houses and
apartment buildings in the southwest near the border with Myanmar,
killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 200.
(AP, 3/10/11)(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 11, A ferocious
tsunami spawned by an 8.9 earthquake, one of the largest ever
recorded, slammed Japan's eastern coast, killing hundreds of people
as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned
out of control. At least 574 people were killed including 74
elementary school students and 10 teachers at the Okawa primary
school. Estimates put the toll as high as 1300. At least 10,000
people were missing. Japan declared states of emergency for five
nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling
ability in the aftermath of the earthquake. The quake (the
fourth-largest recorded since 1900) was caused when the Pacific
tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted
Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet.
(AP, 3/11/11)(AP,
3/12/11)(http://tinyurl.com/5sphrbr)(SFC, 1/25/12, p.A3)
2011 Mar 11, In Santa Cruz,
Ca., a tsunami from the earthquake off Japan caused at least $17.1
million in damage to the harbor, and another $4 million to private
boats. Gov. Jerry Brown issued an emergency declaration for the
harbor. A series of powerful surges generated by the quake arrived
about 7:30 a.m. and pounded the Crescent City harbor in northern
California. Eight boats were believed sunk and dozens of others
damaged.
(AP, 3/13/11)
2011 Mar 18, The Japanese
government acknowledged that it was overwhelmed by the scale of last
week's twin natural disasters. The earthquake and tsunami has now
officially left more than 6,900 dead and more than 10,700
missing. Japanese engineers conceded that burying a crippled
nuclear plant in sand and concrete may be a last resort to prevent a
catastrophic radiation release. Authorities raised the rating of the
nuclear crisis to a Level 5 from a Level 4 on a seven-point
international scale.
(AP, 3/18/11)(Reuters, 3/18/11)
2011 Mar 19, One of Japan's six
tsunami-crippled nuclear reactors appeared to stabilize but the
country suffered another blow after discovering traces of radiation
in food and water from near the stricken power plant. Crews fighting
to cool reactors managed to connect a power line. Japan halted sales
of food products near Fukushima because of contamination by a
radioactive element which can pose a short-term health risk. Japan's
police agency said 7,348 are dead and 10,947 are missing after last
week's earthquake and tsunami.
(AP, 3/19/11)(AFP, 3/19/11)(Reuters, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 24, In Myanmar a 6.8
earthquake struck the northeast, shaking buildings as far away as
Bangkok. The next day Myanmar state radio announced that 73 people
had been killed and 111 injured.
(AP, 3/24/11)(Reuters, 3/24/11)(AP, 3/25/11)
2011 Apr 7, Japan was rattled
by a strong 7.1 magnitude aftershock and tsunami warning nearly a
month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the
northeastern coast. At least 4 people died in the aftershock, the
worst since the March 11 9.0 quake.
(AP, 4/7/11)(AFP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 11, In Japan a strong
7.0 earthquake rattled the northeast as the government urged more
people living near a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant to leave, citing
concerns about long-term health risks from radiation.
(AP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 12, In Japan a
powerful 6.0 earthquake struck near the crippled Fukushima nuclear
plant, shaking buildings in Tokyo. No tsunami warning was issued and
no damage immediately reported.
(AFP, 4/12/11)
2011 Apr 16, A strong
earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hit central Japan.
(AP, 4/16/11)
2011 May 11, In Spain a pair of
temblors, with magnitudes of 4.4 and 5.2, killed nine people and
caused extensive damage in Lorca.
(AP, 5/12/11)
2011 May 20, In western Turkey
a 5.9-magnitude earthquake damaged buildings in Simav. At least
three people were killed in the region.
(AP, 5/20/11)
2011 Jun 13, In New Zealand
strong aftershocks rattled Christchurch. Thousands of aftershocks
have followed the 6.3 quake that killed 181 people on Feb 22.
(SFC, 6/14/11, p.A2)
2011 Jun 23, In Japan a 6.7
earthquake rattled the northeast, that same area of march 11 quake,
which triggered a massive tsunami.
(SFC, 6/23/11, p.A2)
2011 Jul 10, In Japan a 7.1
earthquake hit the northeastern coast. There were no reports of
immediate damage.
(SSFC, 7/10/11, p.A6)
2011 Jul 20, A magnitude-6.1
temblor centered in Kyrgyzstan hit shortly after midnight in a
mountainous area some 20 miles (35 km) away from the eastern Uzbek
city of Ferghana, which has a population of more than 200,000. The
earthquake killed at least 14 people, including 13 in Uzbekistan and
one in Tajikistan.
(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Aug 23, The most powerful
earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years shook buildings and
rattled nerves from South Carolina to Maine. Frightened office
workers spilled into the streets in New York, and parts of the White
House, Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated. The magnitude 5.8
earthquake and was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. The
Washington Monument obelisk closed indefinitely due to earthquake
damage.
(AP, 8/23/11)(SFC, 9/27/11, p.A7)
2011 Sep 6, In Indonesia 3
people were killed when a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra
island.
(AFP, 9/6/11)
2011 Sep 18, In India a
magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit Sikkim state in the northeast near the
border with Nepal. Some buildings collapsed in Sikkim's state
capital of Gangtok. At least 108 people were killed with more than
100,000 homes damaged. The confirmed deaths included 6 in Nepal and
7 in Tibet.
(AP, 9/19/11)(AP, 9/20/11)(AP, 9/23/11)
2011 Sep 19, In Guatemala 4
earthquakes struck the southeastern part of the country in less than
two hours, causing at least one death. At least three people were
reported missing.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Oct 13, In Indonesia a 6.0
earthquake jolted the island of Bali, injuring dozens of people and
causing panic as hundreds of tourists fled violently shaking
buildings.
(AFP, 10/13/11)
2011 Oct 20, Two small
earthquakes hit the San Francisco area, jolting residents on the
same day many Californians took part in an annual earthquake
preparedness drill. A 3.8 evening quake came nearly six hours after
a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit in the same area.
(AP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 21, A 7.6 earthquake
struck off the coast of Tonga, but there were not immediate reports
of damage or injuries.
(SFC, 10/22/11, p.A2)
2011 Oct 23, A powerful
7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, collapsing about 45
buildings. It was estimated that up to 1,000 people could have been
killed. The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis, in the
mountainous eastern province of Van where 80 multi-story buildings
collapsed with people trapped in 40 of them. By Oct 30 the death
toll reached 596 with some 2500 injured and thousands homeless.
(AP, 10/23/11)(AP, 10/24/11)(AP, 10/30/11)
2011 Oct 28, A 6.9-magnitude
quake just off the central coast of Peru. Peruvian authorities said
134 homes were destroyed and 103 people treated at hospitals for
injuries.
(AP, 10/29/11)
2011 Nov 2, UK shale gas firm
Cuadrilla Resources said exploration work triggered small tremors at
its drill site near Blackpool in northwest England earlier this
year, as activists scaled a rig protesting against its gas recovery
methods.
(Reuters, 11/2/11)
2011 Nov 3, In China rescuers
began battling against the clock to rescue 50 coal miners trapped
underground in Henan province after a sudden explosion of rocks
killed four of their colleagues. The rock burst in Henan happened
moments after a 2.9 magnitude earthquake shook Sanmenxia city, where
the mine is located.
(AP, 11/4/11)
2011 Nov 5, In Oklahoma a
5.6-magnitude earthquake hit the state with the epicenter located 44
miles east of Oklahoma City. It was felt as far away as Wisconsin
and South Carolina, but there were no serious injuries. The largest
earthquake previously recorded in Oklahoma was a 5.5-magnitude
tremor in 1952.
(Reuters, 11/6/11)
2011 Nov 9, In eastern Turkey
another earthquake, measuring 5.7, struck 9 miles (16km) south of
Van. A Japanese aid worker was among 39 people killed by the
earthquake. All the fatalities occurred in the Bayram Hotel and the
low-budget Aslan Hotel. It hit the same region slammed by an Oct. 23
temblor that left 600 people dead.
(AP, 11/10/11)(AP, 11/11/11)(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 15, A magnitude-5.2
quake shook eastern Turkey, already devastated by two powerful
tremors.
(AP, 11/15/11)
2011 Dec 10, In Mexico a
magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck western Guerrero state, shaking
buildings and causing panic in the nation's capital and the Pacific
resort of Acapulco. Officials said at least three people died.
(AP, 12/11/11)
2011 Dec 23, New Zealand's
Christchurch was rocked by a fresh series of powerful earthquakes,
sending terrified people fleeing into the streets 10 months after a
devastating quake claimed 181 lives. Two shallow quakes of magnitude
5.8 and 5.9 and a series of aftershocks struck as malls were packed
with afternoon Christmas shoppers.
(AFP, 12/23/11)
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