Interesting Facts about Earthquakes

Here are some of interesting facts about Earthquakes:

Earthquakes occur when vast plates, or rocks, within the Earth suddenly break or shift under stress, sending shock waves rippling.

Sudden movement along the fault causes the ground to shake.

Most earthquakes occur along fractures in the Earth's crust called faults.

Intraplate quakes occur far from plate edges and happen when stress builds up and the Earth's crust is stretched or squeezed together until it rips.

There are several different types of faults. Each can be a few inches or many hundreds of miles long. They can be horizontal, vertical, or at an angle.

Earthquake waves are measured on sensitive instruments called seismographs.

The Richter scale assigns quakes a number based on the power of its seismic waves.

Thousands of quakes occur every day around the globe, most of them too weak to be felt.

Every year about 10,000 people, on average, die as a result of earthquakes.

Some of the Earthquakes Details:

Sumatra, Indonesia
December 26, 2004, 7:58 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 9.0
Dead or missing: More than 200,000, mostly from tsunamis
Damage: Early estimates of $14 billion; tsunamis rearranged the geographic features of the Indian Ocean

Bam, Iran
December 26, 2003, 5:26 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 6.6
Dead: More than 26,000
Injured: 30,000
Damage: 85 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed

Izmit, Turkey
August 17, 1999, 3:01 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 7.4 
Dead: Between 30,000 and 40,000

Kobe, Japan
January 17, 1995, 5:46 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 7.2
Dead: More than 5,500

Colima-Jalisco, Mexico
October 9, 1995
Richter magnitude: 9.0

Northridge, California
January 17, 1994, 4:30 am
Richter magnitude: 6.7
Dead: 61
Damage: More than $43 billion

Loma Prieta, California
October 17, 1989, 5:04 p.m.
Richter magnitude: 7.1 
Dead: 63 
Injured: Nearly 3,800 
Damage: More than 28,000 homes and businesses

Michoacán
September 19, 1985
Richter magnitude: 8.1
Dead: 9,500 (although some sources say it could be as high as 35,000)
Damage: About $3-4 billion; tremors felt by about 20 million people

Tangshan, China
July 28, 1976, 4 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 7.8
Dead: At least 240,000
Injured: At least 500,000
Damage: 85 percent of buildings destroyed

Puebla, Mexico
January 30, 1973
Richter magnitude: 7.1 
Dead: 600

San Fernando, California
February 9, 1971, 6:01 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 6.6
Dead: 65
Damage: Fallen interstates and many buildings collapsed

Prince William Sound, Alaska
March 28, 1964, 5:36 p.m.
Richter magnitude: 9.2
Dead: About 130, mostly from tsunami
Damage: About $300-400 million (1964 dollars)

Chile
May 22, 1960
Richter magnitude: 9.5
Dead: Estimated from 500-2,300
Damage: Huge tsunami damage; largest recorded earthquake ever

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
June 23, 1946
Richter magnitude: 7.3
Damage: One of Canada's largest earthquakes; felt as far away as Portland, Oregon

Long Beach, California
March 10, 1933, 5:55 p.m.
Richter magnitude: 6.2
Dead: 120, mostly from collapsed houses

San Francisco, California
April 18, 1906, 5:12 a.m.
Richter magnitude: 8.3 (estimated)
Dead: 700 (although some archivists estimate the toll at closer to 3,000)
Damage: 28,000 buildings destroyed

Charleston, South Carolina
August 31, 1886, about 10 p.m.
Richter magnitude: Estimated 6.6-6.9
Dead: About 100
Damage: Large number of buildings damaged

New Madrid, Missouri
December 1811, morning
Richter magnitude: Estimated 8
Damage: Cracks opened in the ground; some islands disappeared from middle of Mississippi River; felt in Washington, D.C.

Cascadia
January 26, 1700, about 9 p.m.
Richter magnitude: Estimated 9.0
Damage: Native American oral history indicates that whole villages were wiped out

Source & Read More: National Geographic