Today in Earthquake History

Today's Earthquake Fact:
The term seismic seiche was first coined by Anders Kvale in 1955, to describe oscillation of lake levels in Norway and England caused by the Assam earthquake of August, 1950.

Year at a Glance

March

Note: All earthquake dates are UTC, not local time.

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Year	Location	Magnitude	Comment

1966	Lake Edward region, Democratic Republic of the Congo	6.9	This was the most destructive earthquake in recent African history. The damage appeared to center about Bundibugyo, a one-street township 42 miles from Fort Portal, near the Congo border. About 140 fatalities and hundreds of injuries were reported from Bundibugyo, Fort Portal, and Kichwamba. At Kamango, in the Congo, a chasm 8 feet wide and 1,000 feet long opened up in the ground. Immediate relief measures were greatly impeded by landslides which severed communications and blocked highways. From United States Earthquakes, 1966.

1973	Kerguelen-Gausberg Rise	5.4	This is the first instrumental epicenter associated with this structure and is located in the Antarctic plate 1,800 kilometers from the nearest seismic belt. The Kerguelen-Gausberg rise is a submarine ridge in the southern Indian Ocean extending from the French-held Kerguelen Islands to Antarctica. From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1973 and Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 5, Number 3.

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