|
Year |
Location |
Magnitude |
Comment |
|
1819 |
Kachchh (Rann of Kutch), Gujarat, India
|
8.3 |
1,500 - 2,000 killed.
Damage in the Bhuj-Anjar area. Felt as
far away as Calcutta. Scarp observed
in the northwestern part of the Rann
of Kutch, near the present-day India-Pakistan border.
From C.F. Richter, Elementary Seismology, W.H. Freeman and Co., San
Francisco, California, 1958.
|
|
1929 |
South Island, New Zealand
|
7.6 |
"On June 17, 1929 (local date; June 16 G.C.T.) a major earthquake
occurred on the South Island. Publications have referred to this
as the earthquake of West Nelson (the province),
Buller (a county), and Murchison (the next county, and the town most
affected.) This was the first large earthquake affecting populated
areas of New Zealand since 1855; previously only 11 persons are known
to have been killed during earthquakes in New Zealand, but 17 were killed
in 1929.
Murchison at the time had a population of about 300. Most of its
buildings were one-story wood structures; some of these were
shifted or badly racked. 'The most striking wreck was a two story
store . . . , which leaned dangerously to one side and later
collapsed altogether under the aftershocks.' At and near
Westport, a town of about 4000 over 30 miiles
to the west, there were more brick structures and consequently
more damage. Shaking was perceptible over a large area, including
most of the South Island and extending far beyond Wellington
into the North Island to distances of over 250 miles."
From
Richter, Charles F., 1958, Elementary Seismology:
San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Company, 768 p.
|
|
1964 |
Niigata, Japan
|
7.5 |
The earthquake is called the Niigata earthquake
because of the extensive damage
caused by the shock in this town in spite of it being
situated about 50 km south of the epicenter; it was
one of the two great destructive earthquakes of 1964.
Although the number of victims was fortunately small
(36 dead or missing, 385 injured), the material damage
was great: 3,534 houses destroyed, 11,000 houses
damaged.
The earthquake
occurred at a depth of 57 km below the Sea of Japan
near the island of Awa-shima, in the deepest of the
old formations in the tectonic zone called "internal
arc of Honshu." A tsunami generated by the earthquake
ravaged the west coast of Honshu, and more
particularly the town of Niigata, where the wave
reached a height of 1.8 meters; the tsunami was more
than 4 meters high at Iwafune on the coast near the
epicenter, and 3 meters on the coasts of Sado Island.
Abridged from
Rothé, J.P., 1969, The seismicity of the earth, 1953-1965: Paris,
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 336 p.
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