Sunday, April 26, 2015

Top 5 Worst Earthquakes in World

Earthquake is also known as Tremor, quake, temblor are naturally occurred due to the sudden release of energy in the Earth crust that results in seismic waves.

Earthquakes are measured using Seismometers in magnitudes. Magnitude 3 or lower tremor are mostly weak quake and magnitude 7 or over cause serious damage over larger areas. 


Below is list of Worst Earthquakes in World.


1. 1960 Valdivia Earthquake :


1960 Valdivia Earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake of 22nd May 1960 was most powerful tremor ever recorded. The epicenter was near Lumaco approax 570 km south of Santiago.That was measured as 9.5 on Richter scale and lasted for 10 minutes. 

According to the official sources about 5,000 or 6,000 killed in this tsunami. And the loss of monetary cost ranged from US$400 million to US$800 million.

Pic Courtesy: Wikipedia



2. 1964 Alaska Earthquake:


1964 Alaska Earthquake is also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday Earthquake occurred on Good Friday March 27th 1964. The epicenter of the quake was 20 km north of Prince William Sound 125 km east of Anchorage and 64 km west of Valdez. 

It was recorded as the most powerful quake in U.S. and North American history. It was measured as 9.2 on Richter scale and it lasts for 4 minutes and 38 seconds.

According to the official records 139 killed in the tremor. And the loss of monetary cost around US$311 million.

Pic Courtesy: Wikipedia

3. 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake:


The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake is also known by the scientific community as the Sumatra Andaman Earthquake occurred on 26th December 2004 with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The tremor was measured as 9.1 magnitude on Richter scale and the quake was lasted around 8.3 minutes to 10 minutes.

According to the official records 228,000 to 230,000 killed in the tremor. And the loss of monetary cost around US$14 Billion.

Pic Courtesy: thelambda.ca

4. 2011 Tohoku Earthquake


The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake occurred on Friday 11th March 2011 with an epicenter approximately 70 km east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku. The quake was measured as 9.0 magnitude on Richter scale. The quake was lasted around 6 minutes. 

According to the official records 15,891 killed in the tremor. And the loss of monetary cost around US$14.5 Billion.


5. 1952 Kamchatka Earthquakes


The Kamchatka earthquake occurred on November 1952. It was measured as 9.0 magnitude on Richter scale. 

According to the official records no human causalities were recorded. And the loss of monetary cost around US$1 million.

Pic Courtesy : www.glogster.com

Prayers for everyone in Nepal.


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