Today in Earthquake History

On June 16th...

• M7.5 - Niigata, Japan, 1964

  This earthquake is called the Niigata earthquake because of the extensive damage caused by the shock in this town in spite of it being situated about 50 km south of the epicenter; it was one of the two great destructive earthquakes of 1964. Although the number of victims was fortunately small (36 dead or missing, 385 injured), the material damage was great: 3,534 houses destroyed, 11,000 houses damaged. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 57 km below the Sea of Japan near the island of Awa-shima, in the deepest of the old formations in the tectonic zone called "internal arc of Honshu."

  A tsunami generated by the earthquake ravaged the west coast of Honshu, and more particularly the town of Niigata, where the wave reached a height of 1.8 meters; the tsunami was more than 4 meters high at Iwafune on the coast near the epicenter, and 3 meters on the coasts of Sado Island.

  Abridged from Rothe, J.P., 1969, The seismicity of the earth, 1953-1965: Paris, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 336 p.

• M7.6 - South Island, New Zealand, 1929

  "This was the first large earthquake affecting populated areas of New Zealand since 1855; previously only 11 persons are known to have been killed during earthquakes in New Zealand, but 17 were killed in 1929.

  Murchison at the time had a population of about 300. Most of its buildings were one-story wood structures; some of these were shifted or badly racked. 'The most striking wreck was a two story store . . . , which leaned dangerously to one side and later collapsed altogether under the aftershocks.' At and near Westport, a town of about 4000 over 30 miiles to the west, there were more brick structures and consequently more damage. Shaking was perceptible over a large area, including most of the South Island and extending far beyond Wellington into the North Island to distances of over 250 miles."

  From Richter, Charles F., 1958, Elementary Seismology: San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Company, 768 p.

• M8.3 - Kachchh (Rann of Kutch), Gujarat, India, 1819

  1,500 - 2,000 killed. Damage in the Bhuj-Anjar area. Felt as far away as Calcutta. Scarp observed in the northwestern part of the Rann of Kutch, near the present-day India-Pakistan border.
  From C.F. Richter, Elementary Seismology, W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, California, 1958.