Today in Earthquake History

Earthquake History for October 8th

• M7.6 - Pakistan, 2005

  At least 86,000 people killed, more than 69,000 injured and extensive damage in northern Pakistan. The heaviest damage occurred in the Muzaffarabad area, Kashmir where entire villages were destroyed and at Uri where 80 percent of the town was destroyed. At least 32,335 buildings collapsed in Anantnag, Baramula, Jammu and Srinagar, Kashmir. Buildings collapsed in Abbottabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Maximum intensity VIII. Felt (VII) at Topi; (VI) at Islamabad, Peshawar and Rawalpindi; (V) at Faisalabad and Lahore. Felt at Chakwal, Jhang, Sargodha and as far as Quetta. At least 1,350 people killed and 6,266 injured in India. Felt (V) at Chandigarh and New Delhi; (IV) at Delhi and Gurgaon, India. Felt in Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, India. At least one person killed and some buildings collapsed in Afghanistan. Felt (IV) at Kabul and (III) at Bagrami, Afghanistan. Felt (III) at Kashi, China and (II) at Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Also felt at Almaty, Kazakhstan. An estimated 4 million people in the area were left homeless. Landslides and rockfalls damaged or destroyed several mountain roads and highways cutting off access to the region for several days. Landslides also occurred farther north near the towns of Gilgit and Skardu, Kashmir. Liquefaction and sandblows occurred in the western part of the Vale of Kashmir and near Jammu. Landslides and rockfalls also occurred in parts of Himachal Pradesh, India. Seiches were observed in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, India and in many places in Bangladesh.
  From Significant Earthquakes of the World 2005.

• M7.5 - Leeward Islands, 1974

  Considerable property damage on Antigua, Barbuda, and St. Kitts. Four persons were reported injured on Antigua. There were no deaths reported. Maximum MM Intensity VIII was recored in the Leeward Islands. The tremor was also felt on parts of eastern Puerto Rico, 450 kilometers away.
  From Earthquake Information Bulletin, 1976, Volume 6, Number 6.

• M - Croatia, 1909

  Analyzing this earthquake, Andrija Mohorovicic was the first in the world to discover a velocity discontinuity that separates the crust of the Earth from the mantle. It was named the Mohorovicic Discontinuity in his honour. Soon after, scientists confirmed the existence of this discontinuity under all the continents and oceans.

• M6.3 - California, 1865

  This strong earthquake caused severe damage in several towns, including New Almaden, Petaluma, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. Property loss was estimated at $500,000.