Updated 4/7/2009
A 6.3 Magnitude earthquake hit L'Aquila, Italy, 55 miles north of Rome, at 01:32 GMT on April 6, 2009, 3:32 AM, local time, causing major damage and hundreds of deaths. Several aftershocks caused additional damage, including a 5.5 M quake on the 7th.
207 people have been confirmed dead, 1500 injured and over 17,000 homeless. L'Aquila is a city of 70,000. The original walled city was built in the 13th century. Although many older buildings collapsed, modern buildings were not spared. A hospital built as recently as 2000 partially collapsed, forcing patients out into the open and making it harder to treat them. Italy has building standards for earthquake resistant buildings but it is not always observed. Most of the casualties were caused by collapsed buildings as people slept. Heavy rains since the quake has hampered rescue efforts.
Survivors whose homes have been destroyed or are feared to be unsafe are sleeping in their cars, in hotels, or in tent cities that have been set up for the refugees. People have been digging in the rubble with their bare hands, as well as with heavier equipment. Some of the earliest stories were of people digging students out of a collapsed dormitory. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged help in rebuilding the city.
Tectonically, Italy is in the center of a number of forces any one of which can cause quakes. Italy is involved in a collision to the north with Europe that is raising the Alps. At the same time a mini-plate to the east, the Adria (under the Adriatic Sea) is subducting beneath Italy, while the Tyrrhenian basin to the west (under the Tyrrhean Sea between the Italian mainland and the islands of Corsica and Sardinia) is expanding. This quake, in the middle of Italy in the Apennine mountains is related mostly Tyrrhean expansion. This area has been the site of major earthquakes in the past. In 1997 a series of earthquakes killed 11 people and caused significant damage. In 1703 a large earthquake destroyed much of the city.
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes. See the USGS summary of this quake.
See also the following news stories:
* Strong Quake in Italy kills over 150, wounds 1500 (AP 4/6/09)
* Aftershocks hit Italy quake zone (BBC 4/7/09)
* Italy Earthquake deaths soar(BBC 4/7/09)
* Quake buildings 'below standard'(BBC 4/7/09)
* Did a Seismologist Accurately Forecast the L'Aquila Earthquake--Or Was It a Lucky Guess?(Scientific American 4/7/09)
10/29/2008 Pakistan Earthquake
Updated 10/30/2008
A 6.4 Magnitude earthquake hit near Ziarat, Pakistan at 23:10 GMT on September 28, 2008. 4:10 AM, September 29, local time. A 2nd quake, almost as strong followed about an hour later, and there have been several strong aftershocks. The epicenter was 400 Miles West of Islamabad, 35 miles NW of Quetta and 115 miles SE of Kandahar. Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, is a city with a population of 535,000 in western Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. There are also an estimated million Afghan refugees in the area.
The death toll is at 215, with up to 50,000 homeless. The government is using helicopters to reach the affected areas. Some villages were cut off by landslides and many houses have been destroyed. The quake occured in the predawn hours and victims were buried as they slept. There is a great need for shelter and supplies. People have been sitting outside and are hungry and cold. The Red Cross distributed 2,300 tents with many more needed. India, the US and the UN have all pledged aid. Help is also being provided by Islamic organizations in the area, including Jamat-ud-Dawa, which also helped in the aftermath of the Kashmir quake in 2005.
The quake is caused, in the broad scheme of things by the collision, on a continental scale, of India and Asia. India was a separate land mass that has during the last few million years, moved across the Indian Ocean and is currently slamming into southern Asia. The energy from that collision raised the Himalayas and radiates out from there, causing often destructive earthquakes. In 1935 an earthquake in the same general area killed 30.000 people.
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes. See the USGS summary of this quake .
See also the following news stories:
A 6.4 Magnitude earthquake hit near Ziarat, Pakistan at 23:10 GMT on September 28, 2008. 4:10 AM, September 29, local time. A 2nd quake, almost as strong followed about an hour later, and there have been several strong aftershocks. The epicenter was 400 Miles West of Islamabad, 35 miles NW of Quetta and 115 miles SE of Kandahar. Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, is a city with a population of 535,000 in western Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. There are also an estimated million Afghan refugees in the area.
The death toll is at 215, with up to 50,000 homeless. The government is using helicopters to reach the affected areas. Some villages were cut off by landslides and many houses have been destroyed. The quake occured in the predawn hours and victims were buried as they slept. There is a great need for shelter and supplies. People have been sitting outside and are hungry and cold. The Red Cross distributed 2,300 tents with many more needed. India, the US and the UN have all pledged aid. Help is also being provided by Islamic organizations in the area, including Jamat-ud-Dawa, which also helped in the aftermath of the Kashmir quake in 2005.
The quake is caused, in the broad scheme of things by the collision, on a continental scale, of India and Asia. India was a separate land mass that has during the last few million years, moved across the Indian Ocean and is currently slamming into southern Asia. The energy from that collision raised the Himalayas and radiates out from there, causing often destructive earthquakes. In 1935 an earthquake in the same general area killed 30.000 people.
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes. See the USGS summary of this quake .
See also the following news stories:
10/5/08 Kyrgystan Earthquake
The 6.6 Magnitude quake occurred at Sunday, October 05, 2008 at 15:52:49 UTC (9:52 PM local time)near the village of Nura, about 275 miles east of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on the border with China. It was felt throughout the Central Asian region. 74 people were killed, 120 injured and dozens of buildings destroyed,, much of in Nura. The damage occurred on both sides of the Chinese-Kyrgystan border.
Geologically, the quake was caused by stresses in the Asian landmass resulting from the collision of India into Eurasia. India is actually a separate tectonic plate, whose head-on collision with Asia has raised the Himalayas and caused many destructive earthquakes. Although the collision is hundreds of miles south of this earthquake the crust is being deformed over a very large area, causing many earthquakes, including this year's China and Pakistan quakes. This is an unusual plate boundary in that two continental plates are hitting head-on. In other areas, one plate may be pushed under another, where they cause large subduction quakes, like the 2004 Sumatra quake that caused the destructive tsunami. Another possibility is that two plate may move sideways past each other, as happens at the San Andreas fault, causing quakes like the 1906 San Francisco quake
Geologically, the quake was caused by stresses in the Asian landmass resulting from the collision of India into Eurasia. India is actually a separate tectonic plate, whose head-on collision with Asia has raised the Himalayas and caused many destructive earthquakes. Although the collision is hundreds of miles south of this earthquake the crust is being deformed over a very large area, causing many earthquakes, including this year's China and Pakistan quakes. This is an unusual plate boundary in that two continental plates are hitting head-on. In other areas, one plate may be pushed under another, where they cause large subduction quakes, like the 2004 Sumatra quake that caused the destructive tsunami. Another possibility is that two plate may move sideways past each other, as happens at the San Andreas fault, causing quakes like the 1906 San Francisco quake
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes.
See the USGS summary of this quake .
See also the following news stories:
5/12/2008 China Earthquake
Updated 1/3/09
A 7.8 Magnitude earthquake hit Eastern Sichuan province in China at 06:28 GMT on May 12, 2008. 2:28 PM local time. The epicenter was 960 Miles SW of Bejing, 50 miles West of Chengdu, a city of 4 million. The nearest city is Dujiangyan, with 600,000 population, which is about 45 miles from the epicenter. Dujiangyan suffered major damage and at first is the center of the rescue efforts. 88,000 people died in the quake, including as many as 10,000 children killed when their schools collapsed. More than 5 million buildings are estimated to have collapsed.
Rescue teams had difficulty just reaching the epicenter in Wenchuan county. Landslides blocked the roads past Dujaingyan making access difficult. Fortunately the road from Dujiangyan to Chengdu was kept open for rescue vehicles. The quake was felt over a very wide area of China, as far away as Bejing.
During the first few days after the quake there were frequent aftershocks, including at least 6 over 5.5 Magnitude, strong enough to cause additional damage. Residents were afraid to go back inside, but the heavy rain made it difficult to stay outside. Government issued tents and tarps are helping a bit but many people spent days outside in the wet and cold. There are fears of illness developing from these conditions, especially among the old and young. Schools and hospitals were among the buildings destroyed, making it difficult to administer medical aid to survivors. Some schools collapsed while classes were in session, trapping students. The army has taken charge of the rescue efforts, with over 50,000 troops being deployed to the region. Heavy earthmoving equipment is being brought into the area and rescue teams are going to work in as organized a fashion as possible, Given the chaotic conditions. Traffic into the worst hit area is restricted to rescue efforts. Many residents have left the area and gone to Chengdu for shelter and services.
Another concern has been damage to dams. Soldiers were set to work trying to mend cracks to shore them up. 34 new lakes have also been formed as the result of landslides blocking rivers. These new lakes are even more unstable and there was some concern over the possibility that a dam could break in the continuing heavy rains, adding floods to the disaster. Luckily this did not happen.
The Chinese government has pledged $10 billion for earthquake relief. International aid is also flowing into the area. However the government warns that more is needed, especially tents, blankets, clothes, food and medical supplies. They estimate that 3.3 million tents are needed. 10 days after the quake 400,000 tents arrived in the region. 7 months later many are still living in temporary housing provided by the government. A group of parents are suing over alleged shoddy construction practices that they say contributed to the collapse of so many schools. This suit is the subject of a film, "Who Killed Our Children?" by Pan Jianlin, which was shown at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea. The government offered compensation to parents who agreed to drop their demands for an investigation of school construction.
The quake is caused, in the broad scheme of things by the collision, on a continental scale, of India and Asia. India was a separate land mass that has during the last few million years, moved across the Indian Ocean and is currently slamming into southern Asia. The energy from that collision raised the Himalayas and radiates out from there, causing often destructive earthquakes. In 1933 an earthquake in the same general area killed 9300 people.
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes.
US Geological Survey page on this earthquake
See also the following news stories:
- Winter and economy chilling China quake zone (Reuters 12/8/08)
- Dam may have caused deadly China earthquake(USA Today 1/29/09)
- UN head visits China quake zone (BBC 5/24/08)
- China reiterates urgent need for tents in quake-hit areas (Xinhua 5/22/08)
- Rescuers reach Chinese epicentre (BBC 5/13/08)
- Chaotic yet organised rescue effort(BBC 5/13/08)
- Chengdu witness: Fear of going home(BBC 5/13/08)
- In pictures: China's ruined valley(BBC 5/20/08)
- Parents of Schoolchildren Killed in China Quake Confirm Lawsuit (NY Times 12/22/08)
- China earthquake in video
7/16/2007 Honshu, Japan
Updated 9/22/2007
This 6.6 Magnitude quake hit at 10:13 AM local time (01:13 GMT), just off the west coast of the island of Honshu in central Japan. The epicenter was 45 miles west of the city of Nigata and 150 miles to the northwest of Tokyo. It was followed a couple of hours later by a 6.8 M quake nearby. Although the second quake was stronger, it was focused depper and thus cause less damage. According to the US Geological Service account of the quake, these quakes were different enough that the second one is not considered an aftershock of the first.
The earthquake caused damage to 875 buildings, especially older ones, 1,088 injuries and 11 deaths. The shaking was so strong that people said they couldn't stand during the quake. A nuclear power plant remains shut down two months after the quake due to damage that resulted in the release of radiation. This accident follows several other incidents at nuclear power plants in Japan that have called into question the safety of Japan's extensive nuclear power program.
Japan is located at the western edge of the Pacific Plate, where it interacts with the Eurasian Plate and some small tectonic plates inbetween. This results in many earthquakes as these plates interact. In 2004 a 6.6 M quake in the same general area killed 40 people and injured 3,000. The US Geological Service account of the quake describes the geology in more detail. (See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes.
See also the following news stories:
9/12/2007 Sumatra Earthquake
Updated 9/20/2007
An 8.4 Magnitude earthquake hit southern Sumatra at 11:10GMT on September 12, 2007. 6:10pm local time. The epicenter was 80 miles SW of the city of Bengkulu. This is the same area as the June 11, 2000 7.9 magnitude quake. This is the third quake over 8.0 magnitude this year, following last month's Peruvian quake and the April Solomon Islands quake (see below). 23 deaths have been reported so far. This is quite low for a major earthquake in this area. Over 45,000 buildings have been damaged but casualties have been surprisingly low for a quake of this size. There have been numerous strong aftershocks, including one 7.9 magnitude and one 6.8. Both of these are strong enough to be considered major quakes on their own. In all, there have been 23 aftershocks greater than 5.0 Magnitude in the week following the quake.
There were fears of a tsunami throughout the Indian Ocean area. However, aside from a 3 ft wave in the local Sumatra area that didn't cause any damage, there hasn't been one. After each of the larger quakes, warnings were issued and then withdrawn when no tsunami occured. This nervousness is understandable with memories still fresh from the disastrous 2004 tsunami, which was caused by a larger (8.9 M) quake further north along the southern Sumatra coast. Tsunami predictions are difficult because the size of a tsunami following a large quake is dependent on conditions on the seabed at the epicenter. This is often not known. What we do know is that a large undersea earthquake could produce a tsunami. The larger the quake, the greater the chance of a tsunami. With a limited amount of time to get the word out, governments have been quick to issue a warning since the 2004 tsunami, which hit many areas without warning. This quake was large, although considerably smaller than the 2004 one. In fact, it was larger than any quake to hit the the US outside of Alaska in the last 300 years.
The quake is caused by the subduction of the ocean beneath the Sumatra coast. The subduction zone stretches over 2800 miles along the southern coast of Sumatra and Java. This movement created strain in the crust that is relieved by quakes in different areas of the subduction zone. That is why there have been so many large quakes along the southern edge of the Sumatra and Java coasts. Each quake relieves pressure in one section of the zone but in the process builds pressure in neighboring sections. Over a period of 150-300 years the whole zone will experience earthquakes. The process continues as the Australian Plate is being forced under the smaller plates to the north, between the Eurasian Plate and the Pacific Plate. This is certainly the most seismically active area of the world. The smaller quake 7 years ago relieved some strain but apparently not enough, especially given the other quakes on other segments of the subduction zones in the interim.
US Geological Survey Paghttp://theearthquakemuseum.weebly.com/plate-tectonics.html"> Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes.
See also the following news stories:
8/15/2007 Peruvian Earthquake
Updated 8/18/2007
The 8.0 M earthquake occurred at 23:41 GMT on Wednesday August 15 (6:41 PM local time). The epicenter was on the coast 92 miles south of Lima and 68 miles NW of Ica, which sustained the greatest damage. The quake was felt as far away as Arequipa, Peru's 2nd largest city 250 miles to the south and the site of an 8.1 M quake in 2001. Shaking was reported to have lasted 2 minutes.
The death toll is over 500, with reports from some areas still not in. The cities of Ica, with 261,000 people, and Pisco, a city of 116,000, have been hardest hit. Reports talk of massive destruction. 127 bodies were recovered from one church that collapsed during a funeral service. Thousands more have been injured and tens of thousands are homeless. People have been camping out for fear of further building collapses. There have been several strong aftershocks. Three days after the quake, although aid was arriving, many people were desperate for food. There have been reports of looting. Some aid shipments have been stopped and looted by people who apparently couldn't stand to see it go by, while they were in such need. President Alan Garcia sent in the army to restore order. Aid distribution has been slowed by damage to the Pan American highway, the major transportation link in the area.
Winter temperatures in this desert region drop in the night and people camping out have been burning salvaged wood from destroyed buildings for warmth. There is a shortage of blankets and warm clothing.
680 prisoners escaped from a maximum security prison after it was damaged in the quake. Police have been trying to apprehend them, in addition to the pressing needs of maintaining order and aiding the victims. Some of the prisoners reported turned themselves in because conditions were so bad in the area that they apparently decided that prison was preferable.
The earthquake was felt strongly in Peru's capital, Lima. People ran into the streets. The power went off and there were reports of loud noise and lights in the sky at the time of the quake. One person said there was lightning caused by power surges as the grid went down.
A tsunami may have been generated in the immediate area, but widescale tsunami warnings in the Pacific were cancelled after a few hours. There have not been reports of tsunami damage.
Earthquakes over 8.0 Magnitude are classified as Great Earthquakes and are capable of wide scale devastation in a heavily populated area. They occur worldwide once every year or two. However, many occur in lightly populated areas and do not cause a lot of damage. This is the second great earthquake this year, following the April Solomon Islands quake (see below). The 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, by contrast, at 9.0M released 10 times the energy of this quake.
The USGS tectonic summary for this quake said: "This earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. The two plates are converging at a rate of 77 mm per year. The earthquake occurred as thrust-faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American plate moving up and seaward over the Nazca plate. Coastal Peru has a history of very large earthquakes. The August 15 shock originated just south of the source region of the magnitude 8.1 earthquake of October 1974 and just north of the source regions of major earthquakes that occurred in August 1942 (magnitude 7.7) and 1996 (magnitude 7.7). The largest coastal Peru earthquake of the last two centuries was the magnitude 9 earthquake of 1868, which was centered about 700 km southeast of the August 15 earthquake. The 1868 shock produced a tsunami that killed several thousand people along the South American coast and also caused damage in Hawaii."
(See the Plate Tectonics page for more information on these processes.) The US Geological Survey (USGS) is an invaluable resource in understanding and tracking earthquakes.
US Geological Survey page on this quake
See also the following news stories:
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