Today in Earthquake History

On December 12th...

• M7.8 - Flores Region, Indonesia, 1992

  One of the world's deadliest earthquakes. At least 2,200 people killed or missing in the Flores region, including 1,490 at Maumere and 700 on Babi. More than 500 people were injured and 40,000 left homeless. 19 people were killed and 130 houses destroyed on Kalaotoa. Severe damage, with approximately 90 percent of the buildings destroyed at Maumere by the earthquake and tsunami; 50 to 80 percent of the structures on Flores were damaged or destroyed. Damage also occurred on Sumba and Alor. Tsunami run-up of 300 meters with wave heights of 25 meters was reported on Flores along with landslides and ground cracks at several locations around the island. Felt (V) at Larantuka, Flores; (IV) at Waingapu, Sumba and Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi; (II) at Kupang, Timor.

• M4.6 - Afghanistan-Pakistan Border, 1981

  Six people killed, 12 injured, and all 45 houses damaged at Koshkak. Felt in the Quetta-Mastung area.

• M7.7 - Near the Coast of Ecuador, 1979

  The earthquake was centered off the coast at the border of Colombia and Ecuador. At least 600 people killed, 20,000 reported injured, and extensive damage in the Pasto-Tumaco-Buenaventura area and on Gorgona Island, Colombia. Felt strongly in northwestern Ecuador. A 3-meter (peak-to-peak) tsunami was reported along the Colombian coast which reportedly caused most of the deaths and damage on Gorgona Island. The tsunami caused extensive damage to most port cities along the coast of Colombia from Buenaventura south. Tsunami heights were reported in other parts of the Pacific, but none were large enough to cause damage. The earthquake was felt strongly in many parts of southern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, but no casualties or damage were reported in Ecuador.
  From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1979, and Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 12, Number 3.