Biggest Earthquakes Biggest Earthquakes of 20of 20thth and 21 and 21stst

CenturyCentury

№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

(Sumatra-Andaman earthquake )• Magnitude: 9.3 • 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 ENDTHE END

• MADE BY HRISTO DILOV