Biggest Earthquakes

of 20 and 21
th st

Century
 №1 Great Chilean Earthquake
(1960 Valdivia earthquake)
• Amplitude: 9.5
• Epicenter: near Cañete ,700 km south of
Santiago. Valdivia, Chile was the most
affected city.
• The Great Chilean Earthquake came after a
smaller earthquake in Arauco Province at
06:02 on 21 May 1960.
• Occurred on 22 May 1960 , in the afternoon
(19:11 GMT, 14:11 local time) and its
resulting tsunami affected southern Chile,
Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern
New Zealand, south east Australia and the
Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
• Caused localised tsunamis that severely
battered the Chilean coast, with waves up to
25 metres (82 ft). The main tsunami raced
across the Pacific Ocean and devastated
Hilo, Hawaii.
• Over 5700 casualties.
• Еstimated monetary cost ranges from 400
million to 800 million US dollars.
 №2 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake
•
•
Magnitude: 9.3 (Sumatra-Andaman earthquake )
Epicenter:off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
• The hypocentre of the main earthquake was at
3.316°N 95.854°E, approximately 160 km in the Indian
Ocean just north of Simeulue island, off the western
coast of northern Sumatra, at a depth of 30 km (19 mi)
below mean sea level
• Occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004
• Caused by subduction and triggered a series of
devastating tsunami along the coasts of most
landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean,forming waves
up to 30 meters (100 feet) high.
• Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were the
hardest hit.
• Killed nearly 230,000 people in eleven countries
• Longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3
and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as
much as 1 cm (0.4 inches)[5] and triggered other
earthquakes as far away as Alaska.
• The energy released on the Earth's surface only, was
estimated at 1.1×1017 joules[23] or 26.3 megatons of
TNT. This energy is equivalent to over 1502 times that
of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
• An estimated 1,600 km (994 mi) of faultline slipped with
maximum speed of about
10 000 km/h for 100 seconds.
• The worldwide community donated more than $7 billion
(2004 U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid.
 №3 The 1964 Alaska earthquake
(Good Friday Earthquake )
• Magnitude: 9.2
• Epicenter:61.05°N 147.48°W, 12.4 mi (20 km) north of
Prince William Sound, 78 miles (125 km) east of
Anchorage and 40 miles (64 km) west of Valdez.
• The focus occurred at a depth of approximately 15.5 mi
(25km)
• Caused by an oceanic plate sinking under a continental
plate. (subduction zone earthquake )
• Ocean floor shifts created large tsunamis (up to 70 feet
(20 m) in height),
• Began at: 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27, 1964.
• Lasted nearly 5 minutes
• It was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and
North American history.
• Caused about 131 deaths
• Property damage was estimated at over $300 million
($2.06 billion in current U.S. dollars).
 №4 2005 Sumatra earthquake
• Magnitude: 8.6
• Occurred at 6:09:36 UTC (11:09:36 P.M. local
time) on 28 March 2005.
• Epicenter: 2°04′35″N 97°00′58″E, 30 kilometres
(19 mi) below the surface of the Indian Ocean,
where subduction is forcing the
Indo-Australian Plate to the south-west under the
Eurasian plate's Sunda edge.
• Area is 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Sibolga,
Sumatra, or 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) northwest
of Jakarta, approximately halfway between the
islands of Nias and Simeulue
• Lasted for about 2 min. in total.
• 24 hours immediately after the event, there were
eight major aftershocks, measuring between 5.5
and 6.0.
• Casualties: Approximately 1,300 people .
 №5 1985 Mexico City earthquake
• Magnitude: 8.1
• Epicenter:in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of the
Mexican state of Michoacán, a distance of more
than 350 km from the city, in the Cocos Plate
subduction zone (Michoacan seismic gap) at
coordinates 18.190 N 102.533 W .
• Occurred on 19 September 1985 at 7:19 local time
• The energy released during the main event was
equivalent to approximately 1,114 20-kiloton
atomic bombs.The earthquake was felt over
825,000 square kilometers, as far away as Los
Angeles and Houston in the United States.
• There was no historic record of such a strong
quake in Mexico.
• Caused the deaths of about 10,000 people and
serious damage in the nation's capital:
• Building damage in the city (includes the
historic downtown ), 258 buildings completely
crumbled, 143 partially collapsed and 181 were
seriously damaged.
• Infrastructure was severely affected. The number
of people with potable water went from six million to
90,000.
 №6 1999 Izmit, Turkey
Earthquake
• Magnitude: 7.6
• Epicenter: Izmit (41.81ºN 30.08ºE )
• Occurred August 17, 1999, at about
3:01am local time.
• The event lasted for 37 seconds.
• The Izmit earthquake had a rupture
length of 150 kilometers (93 miles)
extending from the city of Düzce all the
way into the Sea of Marmara along the
Gulf of İzmit.
• Killed around 17 thousand people and
leaved approximately half a million
people homeless. (Many sources
suggest the actual figure may have
been closer to 40,000 dead and a
similar number injured .)
THE END

• MADE BY HRISTO DILOV