Today in Earthquake History

On August 10th...

• M7.0 - Off West Coast of South Island, New Zealand, 1993

  This earthquake was centered about 130 kilometers west of Queenstown. Intensity MM VI effects were experienced within 150 kilometers of the epicenter. Power outages were reported in the Te Anau area. The earthquake was felt throughout South Island and on the southern part of North Island, New Zealand. The shock was also felt at Sydney, Australia.

• M7.4 - Solomon Islands, 1988

  Two events about 10 seconds apart. One person killed and about 100 homes washed away in 13 villages along the southwestern coast of San Cristobal where a tsunami flooded 50-100 meters inland. Felt widely on Guadalcanal, San Cristobal, Malaita and neighboring islands. 17 cm tsunami (peak to trough) recorded at Honiara, Guadalcanal.

• M4.6 - Southern Michigan, 1947

  The largest historical earthquake in Michigan. Damage was heaviest in the area southeast of Kalamazoo at Athens, Bronson, Coldwater, Colon, Matteson Lake, Sherwood, and Union City. Chimneys were damaged, windows and plaster were broken, and brick cornices were downed. Also felt in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.

• M8.0 - Northern Xinjiang, China, 1931

  Severe damage, ground fissures, landslides, sandblows and subsidence in the Fuyun-Qinghe area. Some mines caved in at Altay. Slight damage occurred at Urumqi.

• M5.5 - New York City, New York, 1884

  This earthquake caused large cracks in walls at Amityville and Jamaica (intensity VII). The shock was felt strongly at New York City. In addition, 30 towns from Hartford, Connecticut, to West Chester, Pennsylvania, reported fallen bricks and cracked plaster. The total felt area was estimated at 181,000 square kilometers.
  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.