This page last updated Oct. 6, 2000.

This page is a database of vital statistics, humourous anecdotes and anything else I feel like saying about some of the earthquakes that have occured in the past.

Several people nearly died when one of the reservoir dams almost failed.  In addition several new freeway overpasses and modern hospitals were damaged.  A major boost in earthquake engineering research started after this earthquake produced economic losses of $750 million.

Most of the fatalities of this earthquake were caused by the failure of several dams and the flooding that resulted.

Considered by some to be the most powerful earthquake to hit the United States.   Damage was estimated at $500 million.  The tsunami destroyed Seward, AL and also killed people in Oregon and Cresent City, CA.

This earthquake is most famous for the tsunami that it produced.  The tsunami killed 60 people in Hilo, Hawaii and then travelled on to Japan  and the Phillipines where another 438 people were killed.  Reaction to this tsunami was a major boost in development of a Pacific Ocean tsunami alert system.

Worst earthquake to hit Ecuador since the Spanish Conquest 400 years before.

The tsunami that swept thru the Inland Sea washed away 50 villages and several thousand small boats.

Ground motions lasted up to three minutes.

This earthquake was one of the first to initiate serious work at hazard mitigation in California.  More engineering code work was initiated after this quake than the 1906 SF quake because the response to the '06 quake was fire prevention.

Ritchie (p.36) tells an interesting tale about this being Albert Einstein's introduction to earthquakes.  Apparently he was visiting one of the universities in LA and discussing earthquakes with one of the school's geologists.  As they walked about campus, deeply involved in their discussion, they were surprized to see students come running out of the buildings.  Apparently they were so deeply involved in discussion that they failed to notice the ground shaking.

14,000 buildings were destroyed in this earthquake that was nearly the size of the Kanto earthquake.

Almost all the fatalities were caused by the firestorm ignited during the earthquake.   Japan holds earthquake drills every year on September 1 to commemorate the earthquake.

The earthquake moved so much soil and rock, forming new dikes and natural dams, that work had to be quickly done before flooding killed even more.

Damage estimates are placed at $500 million dollars (Ritchie, p.35).

This earthquake also destroyed 6000 buildings.

The city was destroyed by an earthquake and fire, only to be hit again when Tacana Volcano exploded later in the day.

This is one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Alaska, possibly bigger than the 1964 Good Friday quake.

The ground shaking lasted for half a minute.

Krakatoa, one of the largest volcano explosions in historical records.  Caused a tsunami that travelled around the world twice.  Raised the water level of the English Channl by two inches.

One of the first Northern California earthquakes after settlement by the U.S.

Several charcoal fires started a firestorm in the capital city that caused most of the fatalities.

A portion of this mountain range was raised 10 feet by the earthquake.  An area approximately 90 miles long and 20 miles wide.

Minor foreshocks saved the lives of many people by scaring them and forcing them to run outside before this earthquake struck and destroyed the capital city.

The two cities were virtually leveled.  The tsunami that also formed raised several ships and left them stranded on the sea.

Raised the shoreline by 4 feet and exposed several sunken ships.

Although this page is earthquakes, I can't help but place some of the incredible volcanos in here.  A 13,000 foot tall volcano spewed out 36 cubic miles of solid material.

This earthquake was seen as a warning from God that the revolution against Spain was unwise.  It allowed the ruling Spaniards to maintain control longer.

As the volcano of Unsen erupted several earthquakes destroyed the island completely.   Pumice thick enough to walk on covered the sea.

This earthquake struck after a series of moderate quakes.  A mountain was split in half and a depression formed that was 6 miles wide and 15 miles long, approximately the size of Manhattan.

A tsunami wiped out half the city and also injured about 10,000.

This earthquake struck during church, many of the fatalities were killed by the cathedrals collapsing.  Many survivors were those who skipped church.   Afterward, the clergy had a hard time convincing people of the need for worship, as it appeared to many that the faithful had been rewarded by death.

One church that collapsed was Igreja do Carma, built in 1389-1423 (Cowan, p. 130).   The ceilings of the vaults collapsed but the slender arches that formed the ribs of the vaults still stand today.

The earthquake also spawned a massive tsunami, that hit Lisbon, but also killed 10,000 people in Morocco.  Lisbon was then engulfed by a massive fire adding to the complete catastrophy.

After Lisbon, the enlightened rulers began to develop building guidelines requiring seismic resistant design.

According to Ritchie, the tsunami produced by this earthquake was over 200 feet high when it broke.

Fatalities were caused by a tsunami that destroyed the island of Uryu-Jima.

The earthquake weakened the fortress walls defending the city.  This allowed the Turks to attack from Asia Minor and establish their first hold on European soil.

This earthquake caused partial collapse of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (San Sophia or Hagia Sofia).  The Church was built from 531 to 537 from the designs of Anthemios and Isidorus.  The span of the dome is 33 meters and through the use of four pendentives, sits on two semi-domes and four buttressed columns.

The Roman emperor Hadrian visited Thebes and Aldred tells this story of the impact of an earthquake about 50 years later.

Thus not all recovery and repair can replace the losses from earthquakes!

Assumptions

The number of homeless is double the number of homes destroyed, if no better number is available.

References:

Aldred, Cyril, (1984).  The Egyptians. Thames and Hudson.   SJSU/Clark DT83.A65.

Cowan, Henry J. (1977).  The Master Builders.  John Wiley & Sons.  ISBN 0-471-02740-5.  SJSU/Clark TH15.C62

Oakeshott, Gordon B. (1976).  Volcanoes and Earthquakes: Geologic Violence.   McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-047492-3.  SJSU/Clark/LOC QE521.O2.

Ritchie, David, (1981).  The Ring of Fire. Atheneum.  New York.   ISBN 0-689-11150-9.  SJSU/Clark/LOC QE524.R57 1981.

Wood, Robert Muir, (1987).  Earthquakes and Volcanoes.  Weidenfeld & Nicolson, NY.  ISBN 1-55584-083-3.    SJSU/Clark/LOC QE521.2.W66