|
| Year |
Location |
Magnitude |
Comment |
|
| 1969 |
South Africa
|
6.3 |
This damaging earthquake was centered
northeast of Cape Town, South Africa.
The shock took 11 lives and left many homes and
businesses in ruins.
Worst hit by the unexpected event were the
towns of Tulbagh, Wolseley, and Ceres, located
about 55 miles northeast of Cape Town.
|
|
Tulbagh was described as a "ghost town,"
after the shock ravaged 70 percent
of its buildings and left most of the population
homeless. Pipelines were severed in Ceres,
and sixty houses were evacuated due to severe
structural damage. Because water pipes had been
destroyed, water had to be carted through
the streets and distributed to each family for household
needs. Damage was less severe in Wolseley, but
walls collapsed and some houses were condemned.
Several landslides covered the roads in the area,
and brushfires were ignited, possibly the result
of rock friction caused by the earthquake.
Several aftershock occurred through the next few weeks.
Buildings weakened by the main earthquake sustained
more damage in some towns.
An interesting event occurred in the streets
of Cape Town on this day, only a few minutes before
the earth started shaking. Hundreds of rats suddenly
began running through the streets, as if they
sensed something unusual was about to happen.
One observer said, "Franly, I was more terrified
by the rats than by the tremors." The shock caused no
damage in Cape Town, and the rats disappeared when
the earthquake ceased.
From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1969,
and Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 2, Number 2.
|
|
| 1982 |
Guatemala
|
5.5 |
Three people
killed, two injured, many homes damaged and some
landslides in the Dolores Merendon-Ocotepeque area, Honduras. Five hundred fifty-four houses damaged in
southeastern Guatemala. Nine-kilometer fault scarp with 10-centimeter displacement observed about 15 km east of
Esquipulas, Guatemala. Also felt at Tegucigalpa, Honduras and (IV) at San Salvador, El Salvador.
From
Significant Earthquakes of the World, 1982.
|
|
| 1993 |
Latur-Killari, India
|
6.2 |
Local time: September 30.
One of the world's deadliest earthquakes.
This earthquake was centered about 70 kilometers
northeast of Shoapur and 230 kilometers
west-northwest of Hyderabad, in a region where
earthquakes are infrequent.
At least 9,748
people were killed, about 30,000 were injured and extreme devastation in
the Latur-Osmanabad area. Nearly all buildings were destroyed
in the village of Khillari. Felt in large parts of central and
southern India, including Bangalore, Bombay, Hyderabad and
Madras.
This earthquake was the largest known earthquake
to occur in the area. Many aftershocks, some large enough
to cause additional damage and deaths, followed the mainshock.
See also:
LATUR EARTHQUAKE OF SEPTEMBER 30,1993
|
|
|
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey