The most terrible earthquakes in the world. The strongest earthquakes in human history

Good day everyone, I am very happy to welcome those who are interested not only in games or shopping, but also in world problems. It is about the problems associated with cataclysms that I wanted to talk about today.

World catastrophes, one way or another, affect the life of every person on the planet. And it does not matter in which part of the earth an earthquake, flood or volcanic eruption occurred. Some people always suffer, while others sympathize and try to help.

Unfortunately, scientists cannot fully understand how to predict a terrible event. Take, for example, an earthquake. This is an extremely dangerous natural phenomenon that cannot be predicted. The calculation of scientists made it possible to learn about future tremors of the earth's surface only a few hours before they begin.

But even here there may be a danger in the calculations, because the earthquake can be much stronger than predicted. Animals are the most effective predictor of impending disaster. Many say that animals are closer to the earth and more connected to it. So love your pets and they can save your life.

The danger of earth tremors lies in wait for those residents whose homes are located in mountainous areas. After all, the mountains are a kind of scars in the places where the titanic plates are broken. Fortunately, most earthquakes occur at the bottom of the oceans, but this also poses a danger to coastal areas of residence. It is almost impossible to escape from the strongest tsunami.

The strongest earthquake in the history of mankind: the tragedy in Chile

The most powerful earthquake in the history of mankind occurred precisely off the Pacific coast and almost destroyed Chile in 1960. According to various sources, the strength of the shocks on the ocean floor at the epicenter was about 10 points. It is worth looking at the consequences of the wave that demolished large coastal cities almost to the ground.

The tsunami that covered Chile destroyed not only residential areas, but also industry, everything had to be rebuilt. At that time, it cost more than 400 billion dollars.

The strongest earthquakes in the world on the Richter scale: top 5

It is impossible to predict where the next earthquake will occur. How many people will get hurt. It is only known that over the last hundred years the number of the strongest catastrophes in the history of mankind has increased.

List of known largest earthquakes:

• One of the largest inland earthquakes is the Kemin earthquake. It took place in Kazakhstan in 1911, then, with an amplitude of 9 points, it almost completely collapsed Almaty city.
• The next most destructive earthquake, after the Chilean one, happened in Alaska in 1964. Due to the low population density in this part of the world, there were only 9 people affected by the shocks of 9.5 balls, plus 190 drowned. But because of the huge wave, the coasts of Canada, Japan and California were seriously affected.
• In 1952, a 9-magnitude earthquake took place off the coast of Kamchatka. And the risen giant wave with a height of 17 meters demolished Severo-Kurilsk almost completely, a third of the inhabitants of the city and nearby settlements died as a result.
• The Indian tsunami that drowned most of the coastal cities of Indonesia, Thailand, southern India and Sri Lanka in 2004. Earth tremors began near the island Sumatra. Then the disaster took the lives of more than 300 thousand people.
• But the most catastrophic earthquake is considered Japanese. Although it took place quite recently in 2011, it brought not only destruction to their country. The tsunami that caused damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the result of the earth tremors. Echoes of that catastrophe are still heard today. And the radioactive cloud hung over the ocean for a long time, and the whole world watched its movement with bated breath.

Is it possible to prepare for underground unrest? Can you predict what the consequences will be? Is there salvation and where to look for it?

A lot of questions arise in a person when he thinks about it. The problem of today's man is not that he is not ready for disasters, he just does not think about them. After watching TV and sympathizing with the victims, we forget about everything. We do not think that our country is also located at the intersection of titanic plate faults, and in Russia, as nowhere else, the probability of earthquakes is high.

Some theory about earthquakes

Due to modern scientific achievements, scientists have suggested that tremors occur almost every day in the world. We do not feel most of them, due to the great depth of the epicenter or its small strength.

A person will feel jolts or a wave only starting from 3 balls, before that the force is so weak that only devices can pick up the impulse. Some believe that there are many more earthquakes during the full moon.

The causes of underground unrest can be not only natural, but also caused by man. Regular weapons testing or mining disrupts the landscape and structure of the earth's surface. The most dangerous human impact is mountainous terrain adjustments. As you know, this is where most earthquakes occur.

Only it is difficult for people to prove that they are wrong and they need to change their way of life so that after us the descendants live in peace for more than one thousand years.

World wars and human cruelty towards brothers lead to the fact that cataclysms began to occur more and more often. After all, the earth is also a living and intelligent organism ...

Imagine yourself in her place, not only are they constantly pumping out oil, extracting metals, they are also fighting, destroying not only people, but also the environment, poisoning with lead and burning thousands of kilometers of land.

As a result, the soil dies, and with it all the plants. There are so many beautiful things in the world, is it possible that a person will never grow up. A rational being cannot treat nature so disrespectfully.

How to behave during an earthquake

The rules of conduct during earthly talk, each of us went through at school. Even regular training alarms are preparation both physically and psychologically.

How can an ordinary person react when an earthquake starts? The first is fear, and it's good if you pull yourself together quickly enough, orient yourself and go to a safe distance from the surrounding buildings, which can collapse if the shocks are strong.

But when panic sets in, it most often occurs in office buildings, where workers are under stress every day. And then a catastrophe happened, running around instead of a constructive evacuation begins.

At the first shocks, it is worth hiding under the table, then when a wall or ceiling collapses, you will suffer less, and it will be easier for rescuers to find. If you decide to leave the building, then you should do it at the first shocks until they become stronger or the surrounding objects begin to fall.

Try to stay along walls without windows. When shaking, glass cracks in the first place and you can get hurt badly. As soon as you get out of the building, move to a safe distance. You should not drive a car, due to electronics, the car can simply be blocked, and you along with it.

If you live in an earthquake-prone area, then you should prepare a bag or backpack with the essentials for the first time. You can also put documents and some money there. This is convenient in a critical situation, you can immediately grab and run out of a dangerous room.

12 points on the Richter scale: adventure project "On the Edge" and learn a lot of new things! See you soon!

Text - agent Q.

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This terrible event took place, now known as the strongest earthquake in history, not at all in Japan or China, where such natural disasters so often occur today, but in India.

It happened the strongest earthquake in history in 1950 in Assam, an Indian state in the east of the country. The strength of the earth tremors that began then was so high that special instruments could not fix them, because. all the sensors just went off scale. After the earthquake ended, causing huge losses to the city and leaving behind terrible ruins throughout the area, this cataclysm was officially assigned a force of nine on the Richter scale. However, everyone who witnessed this event knows that in reality the aftershocks were much stronger.

I wonder what waves from this the strongest earthquake in the world even reached America. On that day, August 15, very strong, one might say, anomalous earth tremors were recorded in the United States. The researchers decided that a natural disaster was happening in Japan, however, at the same moment a similar story happened in this country. The latter suggested that the earthquake occurs in America, but not closer. As a result, it turned out that such a destructive shaking took place in India. Terrible is not only the magnitude of this calamity, but also its duration. The aftershocks continued continuously for five days, i.e. almost a week. As a result, more than two thousand people lost their homes, and more than a thousand died. All new faults in the earth's crust appeared every day, and thick and hot steam poured out of the cracks. The disaster had a very large-scale effect: dams, dams and other facilities were destroyed.

As a result, this strongest earthquake in history caused damage of 25 million dollars. After that, newspapers described these events: many residents of cities and towns tried to escape in the trees, one woman even had to give birth to a child in this state - high above the ground. The region itself has long been known for the very unstable position of the earth's crust, these places are subject to both earthquakes and floods, which occur constantly as a result of seasonal monsoons. Two more strong cataclysms were recorded earlier - in 1869 and 1897 (more than eight points on the Richter scale).

Strong earthquakes have occurred throughout human history, with the earliest recorded almost 2,000 years before our era. But it has only been in the last century that our technological abilities have reached the point where the impact of these disasters can be fully measured.
Our ability to study earthquakes has made it possible to avoid catastrophic casualties, as in the case of a tsunami, when people have the opportunity to evacuate from a potentially dangerous area. But unfortunately, the warning system does not always work. There are several examples of earthquakes where the most damage was caused by the subsequent tsunami and not by the earthquake itself. People have improved building standards, improved early warning systems, but have not been able to completely protect themselves from disasters. There are many different ways to estimate the strength of an earthquake. Some people are based on the value on the Richter scale, others on the number of deaths and injuries, or even the monetary value of the damaged property.
This list of the 12 most powerful earthquakes combines all of these methods in one.

Lisbon earthquake
The great Lisbon earthquake hit the capital of Portugal on November 1st, 1755 and brought great destruction. They were aggravated by the fact that it was All Saints Day and thousands of people came to mass in the church. Churches, like most other buildings, could not withstand the elements and collapsed, killing people. Subsequently, a tsunami hit 6 meters high. Approximately 80,000 died due to fires caused by the destruction. Many famous writers and philosophers have dealt with the Lisbon earthquake in their writings. For example, Emmanuel Kant, who tried to find a scientific explanation for what happened

California earthquake
A massive earthquake hit California in April 1906. Having gone down in history like the San Francisco earthquake, it caused damage to a much wider area. Downtown San Francisco was destroyed by the huge fire that followed. The initial figures mentioned 700 to 800 deaths, although the researchers claim that the real list of victims was more than 3,000 people. More than half of San Francisco's population lost their homes as 28,000 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake and fires.

Messina earthquake
One of Europe's biggest earthquakes struck Sicily and southern Italy in the early hours of December 28th, 1908, killing an estimated 120,000 people. The main epicenter of the damage was Messina, which was actually destroyed by the disaster. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake was accompanied by a tsunami that hit the coast. A recent study suggested that the size of the waves was so huge due to an underwater landslide. Much of the damage was due to the poor quality of the buildings in Messina and other parts of Sicily.

Haiyuan earthquake
One of the deadliest earthquakes on the list occurred in December 1920 with its epicenter at Haiyuan Chinha. At least 230,000 people died. With a force of 7.8 on the Richter scale, the quake destroyed almost every home in the region, causing significant damage to major cities like Lanzhou, Taiyuan and Xi'an. Incredibly, the waves from the earthquake were visible even off the coast of Norway. According to a recent study, Haiyuan was the strongest earthquake in China during the 20th century. The researchers also questioned the official death toll, suggesting it could have been over 270,000. This number is 59 percent of the population in the Haiyuan area. The Haiyuan earthquake is considered one of the most devastating natural disasters in history.

Chilean earthquake
A total of 1,655 were killed and 3,000 were injured after a 9.5 magnitude earthquake struck Chile in 1960. Seismologists have called it the strongest earthquake ever recorded. 2 million people were left homeless, and economic losses amounted to $500 million. The force of the earthquake triggered a tsunami, with casualties in places as far away as Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines. In some parts of Chile, waves have moved the ruins of buildings up to 3 kilometers inland. The strong Chilean earthquake of 1960 caused a gigantic tear in the ground, extending for 1,000 kilometers.

Earthquake in Alaska
On March 27th, 1964 a strong 9.2 earthquake hit the Prince William Sound area in Alaska. As the second strongest recorded earthquake, it resulted in a relatively low number of deaths (192 deaths). However, significant property damage took place in Anchorage, and all 47 states of the United States felt trembling. Due to significant improvements in research technology, the Alaska earthquake has provided scientists with valuable seismic data, allowing much better understanding of the nature of such phenomena.

Earthquake Kobe
In 1995, Japan was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever, when a 7.2 magnitude strike hit the Kobe region in south-central Japan. Although it was not the most severe ever observed, the devastating impact was experienced by a significant part of the population - approximately 10 million people living in a densely populated area. A total of 5,000 died and 26,000 were injured. The US Geological Survey estimated damage at $200 billion, with infrastructure and buildings destroyed.

Sumatra and Andaman earthquake
The tsunami that hit all countries of the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 killed at least 230,000 people. It was triggered by a large underwater earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. His strength was measured at 9.1 on the Richter scale. The previous earthquake in Sumatra happened in 2002. This is believed to have been a seismic foreshock, and several aftershocks occurred during 2005. The main reason for the huge number of casualties was the lack of any early warning system in the Indian Ocean capable of detecting the approaching Tsunami. To the shores of some countries, where tens of thousands of people died, a giant wave went for at least several hours.

Earthquake Kashmir
Jointly administered by Pakistan and India, Kashmir was hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in October 2005. At least 80,000 people died and 4 million were left homeless. Rescue work was hampered by conflicts between the two countries fighting over the territory. The situation was exacerbated by the rapid onset of winter and the destruction of many roads in the region. Eyewitnesses spoke of entire areas of cities literally sliding off the cliffs due to the destructive elements.

Disaster in Haiti
Port-au-Prince was hit by an earthquake on January 12, 2010, leaving half the population of the capital without their homes. The death toll is still disputed and ranges from 160,000 to 230,000 people. A recent report drew attention to the fact that by the fifth anniversary of the disaster, 80,000 people still live on the street. The impact of the earthquake has brought with it terrible poverty in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Many buildings in the capital were not built in accordance with seismic requirements, and the people of a completely destroyed country did not have any means of subsistence, except for the international assistance provided.

Tohoku earthquake in Japan
The biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl was caused by a 9-magnitude earthquake off the east coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. Scientists estimate that during the 6-minute earthquake of colossal magnitude, 108 kilometers of the seabed rose to a height of 6 to 8 meters. This caused a large tsunami that damaged the coast of Japan's northern islands. The nuclear power plant at Fukushima was badly damaged and attempts to save the situation are still ongoing. The official death toll is 15,889, although 2,500 people are still missing. Many areas have become uninhabitable due to nuclear radiation.

Christchurch
The worst natural disaster in New Zealand's history claimed 185 lives on February 22nd, 2011 when Christchurch was hit by a massive 6.3 magnitude earthquake. More than half of the deaths were caused by the collapse of the CTV building, which was built in violation of seismic regulations. Thousands of other houses were also destroyed, among them the city's cathedral. The government has declared a state of emergency in the country so that rescue work can proceed as quickly as possible. More than 2,000 people were injured and reconstruction costs exceeded $40 billion. But in December 2013, the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said that three years after the tragedy, only 10 percent of the city had been rebuilt.

In this article, we have collected the most powerful earthquakes in the history of mankind, which became catastrophes of a universal scale.

Every year, experts record about 500,000 tremors. All of them have different strengths, but only some of them are really tangible and cause damage, and a few have a strong destructive power.

1. Chile, May 22, 1960

One of the most terrible earthquakes occurred in 1960 in Chile. Its magnitude was 9.5 points. 1,655 people became victims of this natural phenomenon, more than 3,000 were injured of varying severity, and 2,000,000 were left homeless! Experts calculated that the damage from it amounted to $ 550,000,000. But besides that, this earthquake caused a tsunami that reached the Hawaiian Islands and killed 61 people.

2. Tien Shan, July 28, 1976

The magnitude of the earthquake in the Tien Shan was 8.2 points. This terrible incident, according to the official version alone, claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people, and unofficial sources voiced the figure of 700,000. And this can really be true, because during the earthquake, 5.6 million buildings were completely destroyed.

3. Alaska, March 28, 1964

This earthquake caused 131 deaths. Of course, this is not enough when compared with other cataclysms. But the magnitude of the quake that day was 9.2, destroying virtually every building and causing damage of $2,300,000,000 (inflation-adjusted).

4. Chile, February 27, 2010

This yet another devastating earthquake in Chile has brought considerable damage to the city: millions of destroyed houses, dozens of flooded settlements, broken bridges and freeways. But most importantly, about 1,000 people were killed, 1,200 people were missing, and 1.5 million houses were damaged to varying degrees. Its magnitude was 8.8 points. According to the Chilean authorities, the amount of damage is more than $15,000,000,000.

5. Sumatra, December 26, 2004

The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.1. Massive earthquakes and the ensuing tsunami killed more than 227,000 people. Almost all houses in the city were razed to the ground. In addition to the huge number of local residents affected, over 9,000 foreign tourists were killed or missing while vacationing in the regions affected by the tsunami.

6. Honshu Island, March 11, 2011

An earthquake that originated on the island of Honshu shook the entire east coast of Japan. In just 6 minutes of a 9-point catastrophe, more than 100 km of the seabed was raised to an 8-meter height and hit the northern islands. Even the Fukushima nuclear power plant was partially damaged, which provoked a radioactive release. Authorities have officially put the number of victims at 15,000, but locals say these numbers are grossly underestimated.

The earthquake in Neftegorsk had a magnitude of 7.6. It completely destroyed the village in just 17 seconds! 55,400 people lived in the territory that fell into the disaster zone. Of these, 2040 died and 3197 were left without a roof over their heads. Neftegorsk was not restored. The affected people were relocated to other settlements.

8. Alma-Ata, January 4, 1911

This earthquake is better known as the Kemin earthquake, since its epicenter fell on the valley of the Bolshoy Kemin River. It is the strongest in the history of Kazakhstan. A characteristic feature of this catastrophe was the long duration of the phase of destructive oscillations. As a result, the city of Almaty was almost completely destroyed, and huge relief breaks formed in the river area, the total length of which was 200 km. In some places, entire houses were buried in the gaps.

9. Kanto Province, September 1, 1923

This earthquake began on September 1, 1923 and lasted 2 days! In total, during this time, 356 tremors occurred in this province of Japan, the first of which were the strongest - the magnitude reached 8.3 points. Due to the change in the position of the seabed, it caused 12-meter tsunami waves. As a result of numerous tremors, 11,000 buildings were destroyed, fires started and strong winds quickly spread the fire. As a result, another 59 buildings and 360 bridges burned down. The official death toll was 174,000 and another 542,000 people are missing. Over 1,000,000 people were left homeless.

10. Himalayas, August 15, 1950

This earthquake occurred in the highlands of Tibet. Its magnitude was 8.6, and its energy corresponded to the force of an explosion of 100,000 atomic bombs. Eyewitness stories about this tragedy were terrifying - a deafening roar erupted from the bowels of the earth, underground vibrations caused people to experience seasickness, and cars were thrown back to a distance of 800 m. people, but the damage from the disaster amounted to $ 20,000,000.

11. Haiti, January 12, 2010

The strength of the main shock of this earthquake was 7.1 points, but after it was followed by a series of repeated oscillations, the magnitude of which was 5 points or more. Due to this disaster, 220,000 people died and 300,000 were injured. More than 1,000,000 people lost their homes. The material damage from this catastrophe is estimated at 5,600,000,000 euros.

12. San Francisco, April 18, 1906

The magnitude of the surface waves of this earthquake was 7.7 points. The tremors were felt throughout California. The worst thing is that they provoked the emergence of a huge fire, due to which almost the entire center of San Francisco was destroyed. The list of victims of the disaster included more than 3,000 people. Half the population of San Francisco lost their homes.

13. Messina, December 28, 1908

It was one of the largest earthquakes in Europe. It struck both Sicily and southern Italy, killing approximately 120,000 people. The main epicenter of the tremors, the city of Messina, was actually destroyed. This 7.5 magnitude earthquake was accompanied by a tsunami that hit the entire coast. The death toll was over 150,000.

14. Haiyuan Province, December 16, 1920

This earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8. It destroyed almost all the houses in the cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan and Xi'an. More than 230,000 people died. Witnesses claimed that the waves from the earthquake were visible even off the coast of Norway.

15. Kobe, January 17, 1995

This is one of the most powerful earthquakes in Japan. His strength was 7.2 points. The destructive force of the impact of this catastrophe was experienced by a significant part of the population of this densely populated area. In total, more than 5,000 people died and 26,000 were injured. A huge number of buildings were razed to the ground. The US Geological Survey estimated all damage at $200,000,000.

Every year our planet is subjected to various cataclysms that destroy entire cities and lead to the death of many people. One of these include earthquakes, which are called "tremors of the earth" and are associated with the displacement of the earth's crust. Today, we can name the most powerful earthquakes in the world, which simply struck with destructive power and the number of victims.

China: great earthquake (1556)

Asian countries are often hit by the strongest natural elements. So this natural disaster of the mid-16th century, which occurred in the provinces of Shaanxi and Henan, was of such a huge scale that were not previously known. This 9-point earthquake, accompanied by the formation of 20-meter cracks, claimed the lives of 830,000 people. The settlements that were located in the disaster zone were completely destroyed.

Kanto earthquake (Japan, 1923)

The full power of 12-point tremors was felt by the Japanese Southern Konto (here is Tokyo, Yokohama) in 1923. The destructive forces of nature were joined by fires, which greatly aggravated the situation. Tongues of flame rose up almost 60 meters - this is how spilled gasoline burned. As a result, and because of the destroyed infrastructure, the rescuers were not able to effectively organize their work. Approximately 170,000 people died as a result of this disaster.

Assam earthquake (India, 1950)

This earthquake, which happened in the Indian Assami, was the most powerful. Elements were assigned 9 points, but eyewitnesses claim that the shocks were much more powerful. This earthquake caused the death of 1000 people and great destruction. A few years earlier, there was also an earthquake here, which struck with its scale - an area of ​​\u200b\u200b390,000 km2 turned into ruins, the death toll was 1,500 people.

Earthquake in Chile (1960)

Chile's Valdivia was practically destroyed by this earthquake, which caused the death of 6,000 people and the loss of a roof over the head of approximately 2,000,000 people. Most of the population living here suffered from the tsunami caused by tremors, the height of which was at least 10 meters. According to various sources, the magnitude of the earthquake was 9.3-9.5 points.

Earthquake in Alaska (1964)

This earthquake was very destructive in its power. It was rated at 9.2 points. The earthquake itself killed 9 people, but the tsunami caused by it led to the death of another 190 people. The tsunami was quite devastating, wreaking havoc in many communities from Canada to Japan.

Tangshan earthquake (China, 1976)

This is the second natural disaster in China, which is notable for its horrendous death toll and great destructive power. The very center of the earthquake was in Tangshan (the city is a multi-million city). Tremors were 7.9-8.2 points. The element led to colossal destruction, the death toll amounted to 650,000 people. Another 780,000 were wounded.

Armenian earthquake (1988)

The power of this earthquake, which completely turned the city of Spitak, which is at the epicenter of the cataclysm, into ruins, was 10 points. There was a lot of destruction in the settlements in the neighborhood. The number of victims was approximately 45,000 people.

Underwater tremors in the Indian Ocean (2004)

This underwater earthquake was the third among the most powerful for the entire time of observation of such cataclysms. The occurred underwater tremors in the Indian Ocean had a force of 9.1-9.3 points. The epicenter was located near the island of Sumatra. This earthquake caused a huge tsunami. The total number of victims of the disaster was about 300,000 people.

Earthquake in China (2008)

And again, the territory of China was subjected to a formidable element - this time an earthquake of 7.9 points happened in Sichuan. Tremors were even felt in Shanghai and Beijing. 70,000 people died as a result of this natural disaster.

Earthquake in Japan (2011)

This 9-magnitude earthquake has become another natural disaster in Japan with grandiose destructive scales. The aftermath of the earthquake was a tsunami that damaged the nuclear power plant, and this became a threat of radioactive contamination of the environment.