Today in Earthquake History

On August 1st...

• M6.0 - Papua, Indonesia, 1989

  About 120 people killed and 125 injured by landslides which buried two villages in the Kurima district. Landslides also blocked the Baliem River. Felt at Wamena.

• M5.7 - Oroville, California, 1975

  Structural damage, consisting mainly of cracks in chimneys and walls, broken windows and plaster, and loosened light fixtures, occurred at several schools, hospitals, and houses in the Oroville-Thermalito area. Many chimneys toppled or had to be taken down in Oroville and Palermo. Property damage was estimated at $2.5 million.
  This earthquake was associated with the first recorded surface faulting in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. New fractures in the ground were observed in a 3.8-km-long north- to north-northwest-trending zone. The block east of the fault moved upward relative to that on the west, as shown by about 55 mm of slip across the surface ruptures and 180 mm of vertical movement of benchmarks near the rupture zone. Felt over a large area of northern California and western Nevada.
  Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.

• M7.3 - Luzon, Philippines, 1968

  An estimated 207 residents were killed, many were injured, and widespread property damage occurred. The greatest loss of life was sustained in Manila when a six-story apartment building collapsed into a pile of rubble. A river was blocked at Maddela in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. Ground fissures were noted between Casiguran and Baler; some were reported to be 7 or more kilometers long. Damage to private buildings in Manila was extensive, with six structures of six to eight floors severely damaged. Fire ignited by the shock caused an estimated $7.5 million damage in the harbor area.
  From United States Earthquakes, 1968.