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WORLD’S WORST 12-13
Before the earth shook
The earthquake is believed to have occurred
along a giant fault, about forty kilometres long.
In the days before the earthquake, strange
incidents were observed in and around Tangshan.
Well water levels rose and fell. People saw
flashes of light and roaring fireballs in the sky.
Rats and weasels were found running in panic.
The impact
With ninety per cent of its buildings flattened, People in Shaanxi lived in cave houses called
the industrial city of Tangshan was virtually Yaodongs. When the Shaanxi earthquake struck, it set
destroyed. Buildings on unstable alluvial soil off landslides, which buried the people in these caves.
were not meant to withstand earthquakes and
collapsed on people lying asleep. The quake claimed 255,000 lives, making it the deadliest
earthquake of the twentieth century. About 799,000 people were severely injured.
Other big quakes Earthquakes occur along
faults, which are classified
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude according to the motion that
of 8.0 rocked Shaanxi province, China, occurs on them.
on January 23, 1556. It killed 830,000
people, making it by far the deadliest Thrust fault
earthquake in history. It triggered
landslides, causing artificial
caves to collapse. A large
number of peasants living
in them died. In the annals
of China’s history, it is
recorded how mountains
shifted and rivers changed
courses. The ground rose
to form new hills or sank to
become valleys.
With a magnitude of
9.3, the Indian Ocean
earthquake of 2004
was the second Strike slip fault
largest ever recorded
on a seismograph. It
triggered a series of
tsunamis, up to thirty
metres high, killing
227,898 people. Normal fault
Pacific Ring of Fire, because of the high level of volcanic activity there.
Before the earth shook
The earthquake is believed to have occurred
along a giant fault, about forty kilometres long.
In the days before the earthquake, strange
incidents were observed in and around Tangshan.
Well water levels rose and fell. People saw
flashes of light and roaring fireballs in the sky.
Rats and weasels were found running in panic.
The impact
With ninety per cent of its buildings flattened, People in Shaanxi lived in cave houses called
the industrial city of Tangshan was virtually Yaodongs. When the Shaanxi earthquake struck, it set
destroyed. Buildings on unstable alluvial soil off landslides, which buried the people in these caves.
were not meant to withstand earthquakes and
collapsed on people lying asleep. The quake claimed 255,000 lives, making it the deadliest
earthquake of the twentieth century. About 799,000 people were severely injured.
Other big quakes Earthquakes occur along
faults, which are classified
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude according to the motion that
of 8.0 rocked Shaanxi province, China, occurs on them.
on January 23, 1556. It killed 830,000
people, making it by far the deadliest Thrust fault
earthquake in history. It triggered
landslides, causing artificial
caves to collapse. A large
number of peasants living
in them died. In the annals
of China’s history, it is
recorded how mountains
shifted and rivers changed
courses. The ground rose
to form new hills or sank to
become valleys.
With a magnitude of
9.3, the Indian Ocean
earthquake of 2004
was the second Strike slip fault
largest ever recorded
on a seismograph. It
triggered a series of
tsunamis, up to thirty
metres high, killing
227,898 people. Normal fault
Pacific Ring of Fire, because of the high level of volcanic activity there.
