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Click on the links to read about earthquakes which have occurred throughout history.

Helice, Greece (373 B.C.)
Strabo, in his Geography, makes the first accurate description of an earthquake. He writes of a city named Achaea (now thought to be Helice), which fell into the Gulf of Corinth as the result of earthquake-caused subsidence or slumping.

Naples, Italy (63 AD)
An earthquake hit the city while Emperor Nero was making his vocal concert debut. Undisturbed, he continued to sing until he was finished.

Pompeii, Italy (64)
Thought Mt. Vesuvius was just a volcano? Think again. The Romans witnessed an earthquake that destroyed half the city as well as the Herculaneum. Unluckily for them, they gave no thought to whether the earthquake were the early warnings of a later volcanic eruption, but instead simply rebuilt their cities. Seventeen years later, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii.

Antioch (526)
The city was destroyed and many thousands killed.

Corinth (856)
45,000 perished in this deadly earthquake.

Shansi, China (1038)
This earthquake killed 23,000 people.

Sicily (1170)
15,000 were killed in this earthquake.

Gulf of Chihli, China (1290)
Although there is little information available on this earthquake, it reportedly took 100,000 lives.

Shensi, China (1556, January 23)
This deadliest earthquake in history killed 830,000. The death toll was so high because the tremors destroyed a number of high loess cliffs in which millions of peasants lived in artificial caves. Loess, or soft clay, formed over millions of years from silt, blown there from the Gobi Desert.

Shemakha, Caucasia (1667, November)
This earthquake killed 80,000 people.

Port Royal, Jamaica (1692, June 7)
Port Royal, known as the Treasury of the West Indies and the Wickedest City in the World, was at the time frequented by pirates, prostitutes, and privateers like Henry Morgan, who stole from the Spanish fleet. On a hot, muggy morning, three earthquakes rocked this Caribbean island, moving two mountains nearly a mile from their original positions. The greatest damage occurred in the British colonial city of Port Royal because it was built on an unstable jut of land, and the city slid into the ocean when the shaking began. Within three minutes it lay beneath fifty feet of water. Almost 2,000 people (1/3 of the population) perished, while 1,800 houses were destroyed. A subsequent seismic sea wave then flooded streets and houses, killing hundreds more people. At the same time, the Swan, a frigate boat, was carried into the city on a large wave. Drowning citizens escaped death by clinging to its dangling ropes. A merchant named Lewis Galdy had been swallowed alive by a fissure that opened beneath his feet, but was shot out like a bottle cork by the force of the third earthquake. Countless more people were buried alive in the cracks, and their decomposing corpses created a noxious odor that permeated the island for months. Another 1,000 people died from disease and injuries after the disaster. The city was abandoned forever, but visitors could still see the higher-story homes covered by up to 40 feet of water for the next hundred years. Layers of silt submerged much of the town, which lay forgotten and intact for centuries before it was dug up in 1959.

Catania, Sicily, and Naples, Italy (1693)
Two different earthquakes hit these two areas. The one in Catania killed 60,000, while the one in Naples took 93,000.

Lisbon, Portugal (1755, November 1)
On All Saints’ Day, a giant earthquake struck and tossed cathedrals, churches, and great stone palaces so that they collapsed. 30,000 people were crushed while another 20,000 were lost in the fires that broke out in the city. 85% of the buildings were destroyed. Forty minutes later, a second tremor destroyed most of the buildings still standing, started fires, and took thousands more lives. Others drowned in fifty-foot-high tsunamis that swept over the land. The tremors were felt over an area of 1.5 million square miles, including one-third of Europe and a large portion of North Africa. Shocks were felt as far away as Finland and Scotland, where rivers flowed wildly. A thousand miles away, in Luxembourg, a military barracks fell, killing 500, while 10,000 Moroccans south of the city died in similar tremors and tsunamis. At Madeira, Spain, fish were washed into the streets. Some believe that this earthquake is the reason for the collapse of many prevailing philosophical assumptions, especially the belief in a just and harmoniously ordered universe. Marquess de Pombal of Lisbon began the first scientific inquiries into the study of earthquakes. An English physicist named John Mitchell examined the earthquake’s effects throughout Europe, creating the first theories of wave motion. A new questioning attitude was also adopted my many philosophers.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA (1755, November 18)
This earthquake occurred merely seventeen days after the devastating Lisbon quake, leading many researchers to believe a relationship existed between the two. This earthquake was the most violent shock ever felt in the area. The epicenter, north of Boston, produced an earthquake at 4:11 a.m. Many witnesses reported a roaring sound like distant thunder. The tremor produced a long, rolling shock wave that forced people to grab stable objects to prevent being thrown to the ground. Treetops swung in large arcs, and the quake shook buildings and cracked house beams. Walls and chimneys in Boston fell, stone fences collapsed, and cisterns cracked. Amazingly, there were no reported deaths.

Calabria, Italy (1783, February 4-5)
A series of earthquakes struck the tip of Italy’s toe for eight years, including more than 1,700 tremors in four years. The worst was in February of 1783, when a massive quake tore many fissures in the earth, some as wide as 150 feet and as deep as 225 feet. Deep springs of boiling water were tapped, and hundreds of animals and people fell into the cracks only to be shot back out through the surface on hot geysers of gaseous mud. The survivors were crippled by burns. 180 towns were destroyed. More than 30,000 died in the building collapses, while another 30,000 perished in aftershocks, seismic sea waves, and subsequent epidemics, famine, and fires. A geologist by the name of Dolomiev, while overlooking the ruins at Polistena, said, “The scene of horror almost deprived me of my faculties; nothing had escaped, all was leveled with the dust; not a single house or piece of wall remained; on all sides were heaps of stone so destitute of form they gave no conception of there ever having been a town on the spot. The stench of the dead still rose from the ruins. I conversed with many persons who had been buried [alive] for three, four, or even five days. Of all the physical evils they endured, thirst was the most intolerable; and their agony was increased by the idea that they were abandoned by their friends.”

Quito, Ecuador (1797, February 4)
This earthquake killed 41,000 people.

New Madrid, Missouri, USA (1811-12, winter)
Naturalist John James Audubon was riding down a road when he saw what looked like a tornado far in the distance. Hoping to outrun the impending storm, he spurred his horse faster. Instead of breaking into a run, the steed slowed to a walk, then stopped and spread its legs as if to brace itself for something. At that very moment, the ground began to shake. The United States’ most violent and drawn out series of earthquakes began at 2 a.m. on December 6, 1811. Creaking, cracking noises woke up residents as chimneys and stone walls collapsed to the ground. Aftershocks continued through the night and into the next day as shock waves split the earth and trees swayed and snapped. Landslides occurred and the Mississippi River overturned boats. The earthquake was felt as far away as Boston, where clocks stopped, and Virginia, where bells were set ringing. The Mississippi River’s course was changed in several places, swamps were drained, and some states saw the creation of new lakes. 150,000 acres of timberland and prairie were ruined by flooding and subsidence. “Sand blows” also covered farmland with mud. The devastation was so great that Congress passed the first national disaster relief act, giving ruined property owners equal amounts of land elsewhere. The death toll is unknown but thought to be small because of the region’s low population density. The earthquake was caused by friction between the fluid mantle and a previously unknown fault in the continental plate. Scientists believe that another similar event could occur in the area, so their worst danger today is the ignorance of earthquakes.

Arica, Chile (1868, August 8)
This earthquake caused a very bizarre occurrence. Apparently, the city’s cemetery buried the dead standing upright in concentric circles. The bodies were preserved like mummies because of the soil’s high nitrate content. The earthquake caused sand on the hillside cemetery to slip, and the bodies were uncovered to stand as row upon row of figures. Imagine how frightening it must have seemed for the earthquake survivors! The story is feasible, but some think of doubtful certainty.

Southern Peru (1868, August 13)
25,000 people were killed by a number of earthquakes that caused $300 million damage in Arequipa, Tacna, and Chincha.

Owens Valley, California, USA (1872, March 26)
One of California’s largest earthquakes fractured a 100-mile-long line, displacing 23 feet of earth vertically and 20 feet horizontally. The first one-minute shock was followed by over 1,000 aftershocks in the next three days. 60 people died in the earthquake, and many of the buildings in the 125,000-square-mile collapsed.

Venezuela and Colombia (1875, May 16)
16,000 people died.

Charleston, South Carolina, USA (1886, August 31)
A huge earthquake began at 9:50 p.m. and continued for eight minutes, killing 27 people. 83 later died from injuries, and there was more than $5 million damage. People in a 2 million square mile area felt the tremor, and aftershocks continued over the next year. Pluton, a dense mass of solidified molten rock that flows into the earth’s crust and creates stresses, is believed to have caused this earthquake.

Mino-Owari, Japan (1891, October 28)
This highly populated central Japanese rice-growing area experienced one of the most powerful seismic shocks in history when an earthquake hit at 6:37 a.m. Almost every building was destroyed, and entire forests fell down mountains into valleys. 7,300 people died and 200,000 houses and 10,000 bridges were destroyed. Scientist B. Koo interviewed survivors after the quake and found the land had moved along a 60-mile-long line, sometimes moving as much as 40 feet. He made the first proposals that earthquakes might be caused by faults, challenging the idea that faults were caused by earthquakes.

Assam, India (1897, June 12)
The Great Assam Quake had a negligible death toll, but is regarded as one of history’s most severe. The shock waves covered an area the size of Europe, making rice paddies rise and fall as if at sea. People reported nausea resulting from severe land motion. Telegraph poles were moved 10 to 12 feet laterally. One railroad track segment shifted 7 feet.

Displacement Bay, Yakutat Bay, Alaska, USA (1899, September 3 and 10)
The largest vertical surface displacement caused by a single event occurred in this uninhabited region. The second of two earthquakes thrust underwater rocks 47 feet 4 inches (14 meters) above the sea. The Yakutat Glacier, which had been sliding downhill for almost 50 years, suddenly went in the opposite direction. The Hubbard Glacier broke and sent huge ice chunks into the bay. 150 miles away, the Muir Glacier shattered and began to retreat.

Kangra, India (1905, April 4)
20,000 people were killed. Other reports claim that several villages in central India were also destroyed, killing 370,000.

San Francisco, USA (1906, April 18)
Two violent tremors on the San Andreas Fault rocked northern California at 5:12 a.m., collapsing sea cliffs, 500-year-old redwood trees, and other buildings. Roads, fences, and streams were cut, severed, and displaced. A slab of land 430 kilometers (267 miles) long was moved 6 meters (20 feet) north. In the city of San Francisco, buildings were destroyed and 700 people killed as explosive fires raged through the city for three days. A man running from the house where his wife had been crushed thrust his two baby children into suitcases to take them to safety. When he opened them later, both had suffocated. Drunken looters roasted sausage over the burning flames of the city fire. Outside the Palace Hotel, Enrico Caruso, a famous Italian opera star, was ordered to sing by his conductor to calm the panicked residents. Thousands of rats fled the city along with running citizens, carrying the bubonic plague that continued to afflict the city for the next year. When the fires were finally put out, they had destroyed 520 city blocks and 28,188 buildings. More than $500 million were lost in damages, and many insurance companies went bankrupt as a result. Many banks were also lost inside the flames, but Amadeo Peter Giannini, president of the fledging Bank of Italy, fled the earthquake with his entire store of $80,000 in sacks. Soon afterwards, he began loaning money to the survivors, and his small institution has become today’s Bank of America. Soldiers joined together to save the U.S. Mint building, which was storing $200 million in bold bullion. Members of the Bohemian Club saved the home of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson from the great fires. Italian families fought flames with brooms, blankets, buckets of water, and even barrels of red wine. When the fire was finally put out, over 75% of the city was gone. 300,000 people were dislocated, and the San Francisco coroner reported 315 people dead, 352 missing, 6 shot for crimes, and one person shot by mistake. More current estimates place the death toll at 700 to 800. One resident mourned, “The old San Francisco is dead. It is as though a pretty, frivolous woman had passed through a great tragedy. She survives, but she is sobered and different.” 600 perished.

Messina, Sicily (1908, December 28)
Messina, Italy’s eighth largest port and tourist magnet, was shaken for more than thirty seconds by two earthquakes and a series of aftershocks. In that time, the entire city collapsed in a wild jumble of mortar, bricks, chimneys, roofs, and walls. Water released by broken dams then flooded the town from above, while a tsunami rushed in from the sea. 86,000 people died in the quake, while thousands more were trapped for days in the ruins, trying vainly to attract help. One witness wrote, “Several died gnawing their arms and hands, evidently delirious from pain and hunger. One woman’s teeth were firmly fixed in the leg of a dead babe.” 5,000 were able to escape, while 750 convicts were set loose in the chaos from nearby Cappuccini Prison. These prisoners stole jewelry from the dead. Carrion birds, wild dogs, and rats were soon feeding on the deceased. People began to call the seaport Citta di Morte, “City of the Dead.” Engineers who studied the disaster blamed the city’s architects and builders for the majority of the destruction. Many imposing buildings had been carelessly built of river stones, brick, and mortar, covered by ornamental but delicate stone facades. The only house that was left intact had been built from reinforced concrete and iron, by a merchant whom the townsfolk called eccentric.

Messina, Italy (1915, December 28)
30,000 people perished in the earthquake.

Kansu, China (1920, December 16)
More than 180,000 people died when an earthquake struck the China-Tibet border. It was felt across 1.5 million square miles and caused destruction in a 15,000 square mile area.

Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan (1923, September 1)
With its epicenter under Sagami Bay, this earthquake hit just before noon and displaced land 15 feet horizontally and 6 feet vertically. The motion of colliding plates caused the sea bed to fall 300 meters (1,000 feet) off a nearby bay. More than half a million buildings collapsed, and a 36-foot-high tsunami swept over the coast. The two cities burned for two days after the 8.3 earthquake. Over 150,000 were lost.

Tango, Japan (1927, March 7)
Measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, this earthquake killed 1,120 residents of Honshu, Japan. It helped the Earthquake Research Institute of Japan investigate new disaster relief techniques and theories.

North Atlantic Ocean (1929, November 18)
One of the largest Atlantic earthquakes was felt by many ocean-going ships, a feeling like passing over a reef. Landslides were triggered over 32,000 square miles along the continental slope south of Newfoundland. The shifting earth created a huge turbidity current that snapped almost 20 transatlantic cables.

Ito, Japan (1930, November 25)
Over a period of several weeks, 4,880 moderate shocks were recorded. The record was 690 in one day.

Kansu, China (1932, December 26)
70,000 people are lost.

Long Beach, California, USA (1933, March 10)
Measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, this earthquake killed 120 people and totaled $50 million in property losses. Occurring at 5:54 p.m. on the Inglewood-Newport Fault, it helped bring awareness to poor construction methods in the region. It led to passage of the Field Act, which helped improve public building codes and began reinforcing brick buildings with steel. Water mains failed in many places, but luckily there were no fires.

Quetta, Pakistan (1935, May 31)
The death toll is 50,000.

Concepión, Chile (1939, January 24)
One of the country’s worst earthquakes sees 30,000 casualties and leaves 700,000 without homes in a 50,000 square mile area.

Erzincan, Turkey (1939, December 27)
A 8.0 Richter scale earthquake hit eastern Anatolia, killing anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 people. From 1909 to 1970, over thirty 6.0-or-greater magnitude earthquakes struck along the 600-mile-long Anatolian Fault zone, a crescent-shaped line spanning from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea and down to eastern Turkey.

Assam, India (1950, August 15)
Measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale, this earthquake occurred near Rima on the border of India and Tibet. Luckily the area had low population density, so 1,000 to 1,500 people were lost, mostly from resultant flooding and avalanches. People as far away as Norway and England reported seismic waves and seiches.

Orléansville, Algeria (1954, September 10)
A twelve-second earthquake hit at 1 a.m., killing 1,460 people. The cathedral, railroad station, hospital, nearby dam, and prison were destroyed, while communications were cut and fires started. 25 years later, the rebuilt city would be destroyed again.

Shensi Province (1950s, Mid-)
An earthquake occurred here in the mid-1950s, the same site as the worst tremor in history in 1556. This one reportedly took more than one million lives. The Chinese government has not confirmed these facts, but, if true, would make it the worst disaster in history.

Hebgen Lake, Montana, USA (1959, August 17)
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit before midnight, sending a landslide down Madison River Canyon, blocking the river and creating a 175-foot-deep lake. Hebgen Lake was tilted by the earth movements, submerging cabins at one end and lifting docks dry at the other. 28 people were killed by falling rocks. In Yellowstone National Park, several geysers and springs stopped flowing while others started. Even Old Faithful’s schedule became unpredictable. The temperature of some hot springs increased 6 degrees.

Agadir, Morocco (1960, February 29)

The 12,000 people that made up one-third of the city’s population were killed in a fifteen-second earthquake. Up to 80% of the buldings in the commercial and tourist center were destroyed, having been built of stone and clay tile or poor-quality cement. The first shock occurred before midnight on February 29, and the second at 1 a.m. on March 1. A tsunami sent water 300 yards into downtown. Concepión, Chile (1960, May 21-30)
A number of earthquakes that hit a 700-mile-long coastal area killed 5,700, injured 3,000, and caused $550 million in damages. An 8.3 tremor created 24-foot-high walls of water that swept away entire villages. This was the city’s fifth major earthquake in history, so its reinforced structures were able to survive with little damage. The earthquakes sent tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean, killing 61 people in Hawaii, 138 in Japan, and $500,000 damage to the United States.

Skopje, Yugoslavia (1963)
More than 1,100 died when a nighttime earthquake sent people running into the streets in pajamas and nightgowns.

Anchorage, Alaska, USA (1964, March 27)
This earthquake hit at 5:36 p.m. on Good Friday, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale. The most violent in North America, the ground was vertically displaced over 200,000 square miles. The ground shook so heavily along the south central coast of Alaska that strips of earth were heaved up like icy waves. The tremors radiated out from the epicenter along the coast of Prince William Sound and lasted for seven minutes. The earth continued to ring and vibrate for about three weeks. Landslides, snow avalanches, and rock slides were triggered around Anchorage, which was built on unstable material known as Bootlegger Cove Clay. After the earthquake struck, this was turned into a slipper fluid that slid downhill toward the sea. Tsunamis carrying burning oil swept outward, onto the beaches of Hawaii, Japan, and the western United States. Waves that radiated through North America lifted the ground in Houston (Texas) and Cape Kennedy (Florida). The quake shook a million square miles and sank buildings up to 30 feet. The energy released was about twice as much as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, with 10 million times more force than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Luckily, very few lives (131) were lost thanks to the state’s low population. 122 of those were victims of the subsequent tsunamis. However, the property damage summed up to around $500 million.

Niigata, Japan (1964, June 16)
One apartment building, specially built to resist shocks, survived when this earthquake hit. However, the earth below it liquefied, causing the structure to sink and come to an 80 degree inclination, allowing people on the highest floors to climb out their windows and walk down to the street.

Eastern Anatolia, Turkey (1966, August 19-23)
A 7.0 earthquake killed 2,500 people.

Caracas, Venezuela (1967, July 29)
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake killed more than 250 people.

Dasht-i-Bayaz, Iran (1968, August 31)
Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, this earthquake destroyed over 60,000 buildings and killed 6,000 people when it hit many small villages in northeastern Iran. Seismologists claimed the regional mud huts, built with domed adobe brick roofs, were the main cause of death.

Gediz, Turkey (1970, March 28)
This 7.1 magnitude earthquake killed over 1,300 people and destroyed over 254 villages.

Northern Peru (1970, May 31)
Measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale, this earthquake hit at 3:23 p.m., 50 kilometers off the Peruvian coast. The shock waves ruined Chimbote, and triggered avalanches and landslides off Mount Huascarán into the Huariles Valley. The death toll resulting from these disasters was from 50,000 to 70,000 people, the worst earthquake disaster in the history of the western hemisphere.

San Fernando, California, USA (1971, February 9)
This 6.6 scale earthquake hit at 6:46 a.m. killing 64 people in less than sixty seconds and causing $500 million in damage. 180 schools, 2 hospitals, 22,000-some homes, and 370 commercial buildings were destroyed. Transportation damages were estimated at $27 million.

Peru (1971)
An earthquake broke a large chunk of ice and rock away from a glacier. 50,000 people were crushed to death, while 80,000 others were left homeless.

Ghir, Iran (1972, April 10)
This 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 5,000 people, almost one fifth of the provincial population. Most died in the collapse of the sun-dried adobe or mud mortar buildings. The death toll may have been higher, except the majority of the people had left the buildings to work in the fields. Landslides and over 1,000 aftershocks were also reported.

Managua, Nicaragua (1972, December 23)
Managua’s worst earthquake hit just after midnight, destroying downtown, killing more than 5,000 people, injuring 20,000, and dislocating another 250,000. A series of three low intensity shocks, the greatest measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, destroyed most of the taquezal-style buildings. Fires spread quickly and blazed on as broken water lines hampered firefighting efforts. The conflagration continued for three days, taking 750 schoolrooms, 4 hospitals, and 53,000 homes. The disaster witnessed an extremely generous showing of American aid.

Puebla, Mexico (1973, August 28)
A 6.8 earthquake killed 527 and injured 4,000. The adobe buildings in more than 50 towns and villages were destroyed, along with 200 churches from the colonial period.

North Pakistan (1974, December 28)
One of South Asia’s worst earthquakes in forty years killed more than 5,200 people and injured 15,000 in 11 villages. Stone houses collapsed in several areas, forcing 10,000 people to run for safety. Snow and landslides cut off the Karakoram Highway, the only road out of the remote region. Rescue teams could only reach the survivors by air, but even then some of the primitive peoples refused to allow experts to treat injured residents.

Pagan, Burma (1975, July 8)
An earthquake ruined several of 2,000 temples on a 16-square-mile area, an important archaeological site featuring remains of 12th century Buddhist culture. News of the occurrence didn’t reach Western civilizations for three weeks. Half the temples reportedly saw damage, including Dawdawpalin and Thatbyinnyu. The Buphaya Pagoda, an important landmark, fell into the river. The 20-foot-high Buddha of Thandawgya was also decapitated.

Lice, Turkey (1975, September 6)
A 6.8 earthquake hit at noon on the Anatolian Fault, killing more than 2,000 citizens. Landslides were triggered in Diyarbekir Province, destroying Lice. Damage inflamed resentment against the government by local Kurdish residents. The Kurdish minority, non-Arab Moslems, said their poor houses were results of the government’s neglect toward their culture in particular. Groups like the National Chamber of Construction Engineers claimed the government didn’t enforce construction standards. It was the first time that a non-Western peoples had showed interest in construction techniques that contributed to earthquake casualties.

Guatemala City, Guatemala (1976, February 4)
A 7.5 earthquake struck at 3:04 a.m. while most people were still sleeping. Thousands of unstable buildings collapsed and buried the people still inside. 24,000 people were killed, 50,000 injured, and as many as one million left without homes. A second series of shocks hit on February 6, collapsing more of the surviving buildings. Thousands more were killed and relief efforts hampered. The United States gave more than $10 million in assistance, but the full property and industrial losses, estimated at $3 billion, could never be reclaimed.

Northern Italy (1976, May 7-8)
A 6.5 earthquake killed at least 900 people. Seven countries in the Mediterranean region felt this disaster. Many towns and villages were ruined, communications cut, and roads destroyed. Venetian monuments and buildings were also shaken, with some damage to a few treasured art pieces.

West Irian Province, Indonesia (1976, June 26)
A 7.2 earthquake and resulting landslides killed more than 9,000 people. Several villages were buried under rubble.

Tangshan, China (1976, July 28)
The official death toll from this earthquake was 242,000 dead and 164,000 injured, but a Mexican research team found evidence suggesting as many as 655,000 had died and 780,000 were injured. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, the tremor destroyed an area the size of Manhattan island in the middle of Tangshan. A number of interesting phenomena accompanied the shock. Immediately before the first shaking began at 3:42 a.m., the sky lit up as if it were day. A colorful, flashing light display was seen in the sky 200 miles away (this phenomenon is thought by experts to be caused when earthquakes release underground methane gas). Near the fault line, corn fields and bushes were blown over and burnt on one side. Many witnesses remembered being thrown six feet into the air by “a huge jolt from below.” Others were thrown in circles by the rolling ground. Buildings collapsed in rows like dominoes. Thousands of sinkholes also appeared, and trees were snapped off. Railroad tracks twisted together, while landslides were triggered on all neighboring hills.

Mindanao, Philippines (1976, August 17)
This 7.8 earthquake caused 18-foot-high waves that swept onshore to destroy hundreds of coastal homes. The tremor and tsunami killed 5,000 people.

Muradiye, Turkey (1976, November 24)
A 7.9 scale earthquake hit near Mt. Ararat, killing at least 5,000. Relief efforts were hampered by aftershocks and blizzards. This was the last earthquake of the devastating 1976 season, whose several major quakes took a total of more than 280,000 lives. The U.S. National Earthquake Information Service found at least fifty other notable earthquakes that were either deadly or measured above 6.5 on the Richter scale. According to one official, the year was so tragic “not because there was an unusual number of earthquakes, but rather because many of the stronger quakes were centered in areas of high population or less resistant building construction.”

Bucharest, Romania (1977, March 5)
Rescue workers who came on the scene likened it to bomb damage from World War II. Over 1,000 people were lost in this earthquake, which was felt as far away as Rome and Moscow.

Tabas, Iran (1978, September 16)
Measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, this earthquake destroyed many cities and killed more than 16,000 citizens. The city of Tabas was hardest hit, with almost 70% of the population dead.

Los Angeles, California, USA (1978, February)
An earthquake shook the city on a stormy night, bringing with it debris flow that ruined several houses at the foot of the nearby San Gabriel mountains.

Bar, Yugoslavia (1979, April 15)
The strongest earthquake in Yugoslavian history hit at 7:20 a.m., destroying many small villages, historic buildings, and hotels. 200 perished, but the death toll may have been higher if it had been the tourist season peak.

Al Asnam, Algeria (1980, October 10)
Two earthquakes measuring 7.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale hit just after noon on the Moslem Sabbath, destroying the previously rebuilt city of Orléansville. About 2,600 people were killed as aftershocks continued throughout the day. It injured 60,000 people.

Southern Italy (1980, November 23)
This earthquake, measuring between 6.2 and 6.8, hit a 10,000-square-mile area, killing over 3,000 residents and destroying many villages. As many as 300,000 people were dislocated, a problem made more severe by the cold winter and slow relief efforts. Communication lines were also cut, so that many towns had to wait several days for rescue. Damage was estimated in the billions of dollars. Many ancient artifacts in the state museum were also ruined, and the ruins at Pompeii had to be closed to tourists.

Irian Jaya, Indonesia (1981, January 30)
An earthquake destroyed many villages and took 300 lives.

Kerman Province, Iran (1981, June 11)
A 6.6 earthquake was centered in a salt desert near the capital city of Kerman. Sketchy reports claim at least 2,000 people died.

California, USA (1989, October 17)
The Loma Prieta earthquake hit about 100 miles south of San Francisco, California, in the United States. Most of the damage was centered in Oakland, and the effect on San Francisco itself was confined the areas where wooden buildings on unstable filled land collapsed and burned. 100 people were killed and 3,000 injured. Residents noticed that the air seemed unusually still and humid, another example of the “earthquake weather” that often precedes a tremor.

Iran (1990)
A terrible earthquake killed up to 50,000 people and injured over 60,000 others. Entire villages were destroyed, with tens of thousands buried beneath the debris.

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