On December 16th...
M6.6 - Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan, 1982
455 people killed, many injured and considerable damage in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. Felt (VI) at Dusti and Parkhar, (V) at Kulyab and (IV) at Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan, USSR. Felt (III) at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, USSR. Also felt in the Peshawar-Rawalpindi area, Pakistan.
M7.1 - Dixie Valley-Fairview Peak, Nevada, 1954
The population was sparse in the epicentral region of this earthquake, and few man-made structures existed. Damage to structures, therefore, was minor despite the geologic and seismographic evidence of a major earthquake.
M7.8 - Gansu-Ningxia Border, China, 1920
200,000 deaths. One of the world's most destructive earthquakes. Total destruction (XII - the maximum intensity on the Mercalli scale) in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area. Over 73,000 people were killed in Haiyuan County. A landslide buried the village of Sujiahe in Xiji County. More than 30,000 people were killed in Guyuan County. Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. Damage (VI-X) occurred in 7 provinces and regions, including the major cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Xi'an, Xining and Yinchuan. It was felt from the Yellow Sea to Qinghai (Tsinghai) Province and from Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) south to central Sichuan (Szechwan) Province. About 200 km (125 mi) of surface faulting was seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to Jingtai. There were large numbers of landslides and ground cracks throughout the epicentral area. Some rivers were dammed, others changed course. Seiches from this earthquake were observed in 2 lakes and 3 fjords in western Norway. Although usually called the Kansu (now Gansu) earthquake by Western sources, the epicenter and highest intensities are clearly within Ningxia Autonomous Region.
M6.4 - Uzbekistan, 1902
4,700 deaths. One of the world's deadliest earthquakes. Over 41,000 buildings destroyed in the Andijon-Margilan area. A train was "thrown from the tracks" at Andijon station. A strong aftershock about 40 minutes later caused additional damage.
M6.9 - Naples, Italy, 1857
One of the most destructive earthquakes ever recorded in Italy. 11,000 dead. Robert Mallet made a detailed investigation of this earthquake, in which he paid particular attention to the way buildings were cracked, walls overthrown, and soft ground fissured. This earthquake provided Mallet the opportunity to study seismic effects and lay a firm foundation for modern seismology.
M7.2 - 8.1 - New Madrid, Missouri, 1811
One of the largest earthquakes in the United States.
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