Hundreds of thousands of victims, large-scale destruction and years spent on eliminating the consequences - no matter how technologically advanced humanity is, until it has learned to cope with powerful tremors and the accompanying tsunamis, landslides and collapses. "Around the World" tells about the 10 most destructive earthquakes of the past century and this century.
Messina, Italy. December 28, 1908
The number of victims: 100,000.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 hit the island of Sicily. It might not have gone down in history as one of the most destructive, but the number of victims was unexpectedly huge. Subsequently, residents and leaders of the region were accused of the scale of human losses, who did not take due attention to the recommendations for construction and did not take into account the experience of previous disasters caused by seismic activity.
Tremors in a few seconds destroyed Messina and caused a tsunami with waves up to 12 meters high. More than 100,000 people died as a result of the natural disaster, about 40 villages and small towns were completely destroyed. When dawn came, the scale of the destruction became visible.
Promotional video:
Russian sailors and doctors helped the victims and helped to rebuild the city, and now a memorial plaque on the building of the city council of Messina reminds of their participation in the fate of the Sicilian city.
Haiyuan, China. December 16, 1920
The number of victims: more than 200,000.
Another terrible earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred in the Chinese province of Gansu in Haiyuan County in 1920. The death toll has exceeded 200,000. Earth's crust movements have caused destruction in seven regions of the country from the Yellow Sea to the border with Mongolia. Whole villages were buried under the landslides, and the length of the cracks that appeared on the earth's surface reached 200 kilometers.
The natural disaster was not the only cause of death: about 20,000 victims of the earthquake simply could not build durable warm houses, so with the arrival of winter they died from the cold.
Kanto, Japan. September 1, 1923
The number of victims: more than 170,000.
The 8.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan in 1923 is considered the most destructive in the country's history. The epicenter of the catastrophe, dubbed "the great Kanto earthquake", was located 90 km from Tokyo. As a result of the tremors, many settlements were destroyed and wildfires began in the cities. In particular, in one of the fires in Tokyo, burns and carbon monoxide poisoning killed more than 40,000 people.
According to official figures, the total death toll was 170,000, with another half a million missing.
Over 350 aftershocks occurred over the course of two days, causing the major cities of Tokyo and Yokohama to be almost completely destroyed, and on the coast in Sagami Bay, fishing villages were washed away by 15-meter waves. The damage caused was estimated at $ 4.5 billion, which in those years was twice the country's annual budget.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. October 5, 1948
Number of victims: 110,000
The 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1948 severely damaged the capital and nearby villages, and also affected the village of Derregez in neighboring Iran. The death toll has reached 110,000.
According to eyewitnesses, on the night before the catastrophe, flashes of light of unknown origin appeared in the sky, and the dogs behaved strangely - howling, trying to pull the owners out into the street by their clothes.
The first shock occurred in the middle of the night, when people were sleeping. In 10 seconds, the city was practically wiped off the face of the earth. Many were saved by the fact that in the heat it was more comfortable to sleep on the roofs of houses in the open air. Rescued in the first hours were lucky, because before dawn there was another powerful shock.
The city was cut off from the outside world, electricity did not work, telephone communications were disrupted, transport did not function. In such conditions, it was difficult to inform the population about what was happening.
Lack of communications and medical supplies and the destruction of hospitals led to even greater losses. After regular assistance began to flow from Moscow and the cities of other union republics and a military patrol arrived to fight the looters, control over the situation was established. The city was cleared, many of the victims were sent to neighboring Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
Ashgabat was not ready for the onset of winter cold weather, and the remaining residents continued to leave their city. Five years later, the capital was built up with one-story buildings, and in 2014 a memorial was opened in honor of the victims of the terrible tragedy.
Chimbote, Peru. May 31, 1970
The number of victims: more than 70,000.
The epicenter of the earthquake, located in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of more than 60 km, caused the strongest tremors with a magnitude of 7.9. Underwater activity has triggered landslides in some Peruvian cities and towns. For example, in Yungai, 70% of the city's residents were buried alive under a snow landslide that descended from Mount Huascaran (6768 m). The speed of the descending glacier reached 200 km / h. Only 300 people were saved and hid in the cemetery. The village of Huaras was also badly damaged, where almost all buildings were destroyed.
View of the destroyed Yungai.
The disaster destroyed the transport infrastructure and paralyzed communications between cities. Cracks appeared in the Pan American highway, further complicating the situation of the surviving residents. General Juan Alvarado, who led the country at the time, personally participated in the delivery of food and medicine to the victims in the regions cut off from aid.
Officially, 70,000 people have been identified as victims, but some sources say the death toll exceeds 100,000. The damage from the disaster exceeded $ 260 million.
Tangshan, China. July 28, 1976
Victims: 255,000
An earthquake of magnitude 8.2 killed hundreds of thousands of people. According to official statistics, 255,000 residents died, and according to some estimates, the number of victims exceeds 655,000.
Despite the fact that the earthquake occurred 160 km from Beijing, the destruction also reached the densely populated metropolis. The natural disaster is considered the second largest in all history and the first in the number of deaths in the last four centuries.
Destruction in Beijing.
The first shock was followed by powerful aftershocks that buried rescuers and survivors after the first strike under the rubble. The hand of the elements practically wiped out cities and villages from the face of the earth. The cracks in some places resembled scenes from horror films, one of them swallowed up a hospital and a train with passengers.
Not the richest Chinese lived in the epicenter of the disaster, which means that the population density was high here, moreover, the main blow occurred at night, when people were sleeping, and it was impossible to act harmoniously without succumbing to panic.
Subsequently, eyewitnesses noted that nature gave warning signals, dogs behaved strangely, mice were looking for shelter, chickens ran chaotically through the streets on the eve of the earthquake. In addition, the water level in the wells rose and fell several times for no apparent reason.
Prior to this incident, the territory of the city was not considered seismically dangerous. The government of the country hid data about the tragedy, refusing international assistance and from covering the truthful information about the victims. For this reason, the Red Cross was unable to deliver medicines and food, which increased the number of victims.
It took almost 10 years to restore Tangshan. It is unlikely that an event with such a number of fatalities could have positive consequences, nevertheless, the Tangshan earthquake contributed to the increased attention of scientists to predicting disasters.
Spitak, Armenia. December 7, 1988
Victims: 25,000
A terrible earthquake in Armenia with a magnitude of 7.2 completely destroyed the Armenian city of Spitak and a number of neighboring villages and villages in half a minute. Almost 40% of the country's territory was affected by the aftershocks, the death toll was 25,000. Almost 150,000 were injured or disabled and more than 500,000 residents lost their homes.
There are different versions of the cause of the disaster. Some believe that the aftershocks triggered weapons tests, while others believe in the natural nature of the disaster. Whatever happened 30 years ago, experts said that the energy released at the site of the rupture of the earth's crust was comparable in scale with the explosion of 10 atomic bombs.
Survivors said that when they were pushed, the buildings literally flew into the air, and then sank to the ground, turning into deadly rubble, under which the inhabitants of the houses were buried. A terrible tragedy united the USSR, people sent clothes, food, medicine to Armenia and were ready to provide any necessary assistance. In Gyumri (former Leninakan), a memorial to the "Innocent Victims, Merciful Hearts" was erected in memory of the tragedy.
Sumatra, Indonesia. December 26, 2004
The number of victims: over 220,000.
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake caused by a sudden seabed fracture caused more than 220,000 deaths. More than 1.8 million people lost their homes in the disaster and the ensuing tsunami in 14 countries in Asia and East Africa. It was impossible to hide from the tsunami. A giant wave at a speed of 720 km / h was rapidly approaching the coastal zone, where its height reached 30 meters in the splash zone, and its speed was 36 km / h. An hour and a half later, the wave reached the coast of Thailand, where, in addition to local residents, about 2,500 tourists died, then passed the Maldives, leaving another 100 victims, and hit Sri Lanka and India, where about 50,000 people died.
The aftermath of the tsunami in Sumatra.
After another 7 hours, the tsunami reached the coast of East Africa, where, due to the lack of information about the terrible threat, people also died. This incident clearly highlighted the urgent need to educate the public about disasters in the seismically active Indian Ocean, as in theory almost 60,000 people had several hours to leave the coastline, but they were not aware of the impending disaster.
The damage to the economies of countries affected by the disaster exceeded $ 10 billion. The whole world responded to the tragedy, countries allocated money for recovery and assistance to children left without parents, and sent humanitarian aid with food, clothing and medicine.
Sichuan, China. May 12, 2008
Number of victims: 90,000
A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in the Sichuan region affected not only the large Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, located 1,500-2,000 km from the epicenter, but also India, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mongolia and even Russia. More than 350,000 people were injured, 15 million were evacuated, and the death toll reached 90,000.
On the same day, a second shock of magnitude 6 occurred, increasing the number of victims. The damage caused by the elements was estimated at $ 86 billion.
The earthquake occurred during the day, when people were at work and children at schools. In one of the region's schools alone, 1,000 schoolchildren and teachers were declared dead and missing.
Although the disaster happened in an area with high seismic activity, experts say that the nature of the disaster is man-made. The tremors could have been caused by the water pressure at the hydroelectric power station located 6 km from the epicenter.
Haiti. January 12, 2010
The number of victims: over 220,000.
The catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti killed more than 220,000 people and wreaked havoc on the capital, Port-au-Prince, home to a third of the country's population and nearly 100,000 buildings were razed to the ground.
For the past 250 years, there have been no disasters of this magnitude in the region, therefore, during the construction of buildings, no special standards were applied that are relevant for areas of high seismic activity. The source of the earthquake was at a depth of 10 kilometers, and after the main shock, two weaker aftershocks of magnitude 5.9 and 5.5 followed.
Haiti is a country where most of the population lives in poverty, in slums and huts, and as a result, the republic has a very high population density. Almost 2 million people lost their homes in the earthquake. Property damage amounted to nearly $ 8 billion.
Unfortunately, the country's misfortunes were not limited to natural disasters. The massive destruction led to anarchy, looting, increased violence and the formation of gangs in the refugee camps.
Moreover, if other countries helped to fight hunger, the local authorities were unable to solve sanitary and epidemiological problems, and the country was swept by a cholera epidemic.
General burial of the victims in Haiti.
At the beginning of 2012, there were about 500,000 cases of the disease. Many questions remain about the expenditure of international funds allocated to eliminate the consequences of the disaster. For example, millions have been spent on public service announcements urging Haitians to wash their hands, and their relevance in the absence of detergents and clean water has been deemed dubious.
Nothing has been restored in the country so far. The natural disaster only added difficulties to an already long list of problems with no foreseeable solutions.
