Earthquake: It Just Gets Worse & Worse

Every time I look I wish I hadn't; the death toll seems to be thousands higher by the day, if not the hour:

Thousands of bodies lay rotting and unidentified on lawns and streets of battered Sumatra island Wednesday and authorities called out bulldozers to dig mass graves, as the number killed in a mammoth earthquake and tsunami rose above 60,000 with tens of thousands still missing. The U.N. health agency warned that disease could double the toll yet again

For those interested in perspective, the worst earthquakes in history, drawn from a variety of sources, and in a list that is not even close to exhaustive, were/are:

Dec 2003	Iran	A powerful earthquake struck southeastern Iran on December 26, 2003, killing over 43,000 people, injured 20,000, left 60,000 homeless and destroyed much of the city of Bam.
Jan 2001	India	More than 20,000 people killed and more than 160,000 injured in the western state of Gujarat, where the town of Bhuj was completely destroyed.
August 17 1999	Izmit, Turkey	A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey on August 17 under the city of Izmit. The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city and the surrounding area, leaving tens of thousands dead, and hundreds of thousands injured or homeless.
May 1998	Northern Afghanistan	hit by a major earthquake, killing 4,000 people.
May 1997	Eastern Iran	Up to 2,400 people were killed and thousands injured when an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale rocked rural areas of eastern Iran. The quake levelled 11 villages and inflicted heavy damage on the towns of Qaen and Birjand near its epicentre, about 150 km (90 miles) from the border with Afghanistan.
Jan 1995	Kobe, Japan	At least 6,055 people were killed after a strong earthquake ripped through central Japan. Measuring 7.2on the Richter scale, the earthquake, centred around the port of Kobe, was the biggest quake to hit Japan in half a century.
Dec 1992	Indonesia	A string of islands in the province of East Nusa Tenggara was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. At least 2,200 people were killed. 1,490 died in Maumere, on the island of Flores, which took the brunt of the quake. Another 700 were confirmed dead in Babi island.
Jun 1990	Iran	50,000 dead, 100,000 injured. The worst recorded disaster in Iran. Registering 7.7 on Richter scale, devastated Caspian regions of Gilan and Zanjan. Some 500,000 were made homeless.
Dec 1988	Soviet Union	More than 25,000 killed, 18,000 injured. 6.9 Richter, 10 on Soviet 12-point scale. NW Armenia. The town of Spitak almost totally destroyed and Leninakan, half-destroyed.
August 17 1999	Izmit, Turkey	A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey on August 17 under the city of Izmit. The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city and the surrounding area, leaving tens of thousands dead, and hundreds of thousands injured or homeless.
Sep 1985	Mexico	Between 6,000 and 12,000 killed. 40,000 people injured. 8.1 on the Richter scale. The earthquake hit Mexico city and adjoining region.
Dec 1982	Yemen	3,000 people killed and 2,000 people injured. 6 on the Richter scale. The earthquake devastated Dhamar province 60 miles SE of Sanaa.
Nov 1980	Italy	2,735 people killed. Over 7,500 injured. 7.2 on Richter scale. The epicentre was at Eboli, but damage was reported over a huge area to Naples. Over 1,500 people were reported missing.
Oct 1980	Algeria	Provisional figures issued by the United Nations reported 2,590 killed. It registered up to 7.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake centred on the town of El Asnamand. Left 330,000 people homeless.
Sep 1978	Iran	25,000 people killed by the earthquake which measured between 7.5 and 7.9 on the Richter scale. It levelled the town of Tabas and many other villages.
Nov 1976	Turkey	In Van Province 5,291 confirmed dead with over 5,000 injured. 50,000 people left homeless, with the destruction of the town of Muradiye and hundreds of villages.
Aug 1976	Phillipines	An earthquake followed by an 18 foot tidalwave struck and swamped the islands of Mindanao, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi Tawi. 8,000 people were killed and 150,000 people were left homeless.
July 1976	China	The city of Tangshan was devastated by an earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. The China Morning Post, on 5/1/77, quoted a report saying 655,237 had died with about 779,000 injured. However the New China News Agency released figures, following the inaugural Congress of the Chinese Seismological Society in November 1979, which claimed 242,000 dead and 164,000 injured. This is the 20th century's worst earthquake.
Feb 1976	Guatemela	A rash of quakes and resulting mudslides caused much destruction just north of Guatemala City. 23,000 people were killed in the quake which measured 7.5 on the Richter scale. 80,000 people were injured and 1.5 million people were made homeless.
Sept 1975	Turkey	An earthquake devastated the town of Lice and surrounding villages, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. At least 2,350 people were killed and 3,000 injured.
Dec 1974	Pakistan	A quake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale destroyed villages over 100 square miles in the Karakom mountains. Leaving 5,200 dead and over 16,000 injured.
Dec 1972	Nicaragua	A massive earthquake struck Managua, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. Between 5,000 and 7,000 people were killed.
Apr 1972	Iran	An earthquake over 250 mile radius struck southern Iran around Ghir Karzin. 5,374 people were killed.
May 1970	Peru	An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the towns of Yungay, Huaraz and Chimbote, destroying all three as well as surrounding villages. This resulted in over 70,000 dead and 600,000 left homeless.
Aug 1968	Iran	Over 12,000 people were killed in the northeastern province of Khurasan.
1964	Alaska	9.2 magnitude. This bad boy shredded the earth under entire Anchorage neighborhoods, dropping houses -- and humans -- into fissures. Although nearly every high-rise apartment in the city was subsequently condemned, only 131 people died in the quake.
Sep 1962	Iran	1 Sep 1962 - IRAN - An earthquake struck northwest Iran near Ghazvin, resulting in the deaths of 12,000 people, and the destruction of over 300 surrounding villages.
Nov 1976	Turkey	In Van Province 5,291 confirmed dead with over 5,000 injured. 50,000 people left homeless, with the destruction of the town of Muradiye and hundreds of villages.
May 1960	Chile	An earthquake struck Santiago and Concepcion. The after effect of which was tidal waves and volcanic eruptions. The Chilean death toll was over 10,000 dead and missing.
Apr 1960	Iran	An earthquake measuring 5.75 (on the Strasbourg scale) struck the southern town of Lar reducing it to rubble. Over 3,500 people were killed.
Jan 1939	Chile	Between 25,000 and 30,000 people were killed, when an earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale, virtually destroyed the town of Concepcion. The town of Chillan was struck by the same earthquake, causing 10,000 of the casualties.
Nov 1976	Turkey	In Van Province 5,291 confirmed dead with over 5,000 injured. 50,000 people left homeless, with the destruction of the town of Muradiye and hundreds of villages.
May 1935	India	13 May 1935 - INDIA - 30,000 people were killed in an earthquake which struck the hill station of Quetta, in British-ruled Baluchistan.
Sep 1923	Kanto, Japan	An earthquake estimated at 7.9 on the Richter Scale struck Tokyo and Yokahama, making 2.5 million people homeless. Floods followed as the rivers Fukuro, Chiyo, and Takimi burst their banks. At least 142,000 people were killed, although unofficial estimates say as many as 300,000 may have died.
Dec 1920	China	An earthquake, measuring an estimated 8.6 on the Richter scale, struck Jiangsu province, killing 180,000 people.
Jan 1915	Italy	The town of Avezzano, in central Italy, was struck by an earthquake killing 30,000 people.
Dec 1908	Italy	Over 82,000 people were killed in an earthquake which reduced Messina, Sicily's second largest town, to rubble. A tidal wave followed, causing more devastation, also to the town of Reggio, across the straits.
1906	San Francisco	7.7 magnitude. The quake was devastating enough, reaching magnitude 9.0 in parts of the city built on filled wetland, but the fires were brutal. Compounded by broken waterlines, the quake and fire damaged 20 percent of city buildings. Some evidence suggests the final death toll was 20 times the official estimate (500), but was reported as lower to avoid scaring tourists. One report said San Francisco is hit by a series of violent shocks which last up to a minute. Between 700 and 3,000 people die either from collapsing buildings or in the subsequent fire.
Apr 1905	India	4 Apr 1905 - INDIA - 19,000 people were killed in an earthquake which struck the province of Lahore. The earthquake, which measured 8.6 on the Richter scale, demolished the towns of Kangra and Dharmsala.
Nov 1755	Portugal	60,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck Lisbon. It resulted in 75 per cent of the city being reduced to rubble.
Feb 1556	China	The world's worst earthquake occurred in the Shensi, Shansi, and Honan provinces, when an estimated 830,000 people were killed.
Feb 1531	Portugal	Between 20,000 and 30,000 died in an earthquake in Portugal.

If that seemed like a long list ... it wasn't. It is woefully incomplete, which only adds to its emphasis.

Some comments, then:

1. I hadn't realized how devastating earthquakes were, not really, till I put this list together.


2. China and Iran seem to be especially vulnerable.


3. Any place where building standards are lower seems to be at higher risk. For the most part my list included only those quakes that caused at least several thousand deaths, but for contrast I did include a pair of American quakes: San Fran and Alaska. Note the relatively low death tolls in each of the latter examples. Think hard about the importance of good engineers.


4. When in doubt, build on rock (not soft soil, sand or fill), and try to use wood or steel.


5. I live in a major fault zone myself. It is overdue (aren't they all?) for a major quake.


6. For those of you near the coast (again, myself included), there is not much you can individually do to guard against tidal waves, save to stay out of the area. Early warning systems might help but those will take govt and/or commercial coordination to be effective.

BTW, The Command Post has a wonderful list of agencies where you can donate to relief efforts.

Hat Tips to: Earth Changes TV and The Malay Mail, the primary sources for the above list.