Great EarthquakesGreat Earthquakes

Richard VangRichard Vang&&

Jared DunnJared Dunn

COSMOS 2006: COSMOS 2006: Earthquakes in ActionEarthquakes in Action

What causes earthquakes?What causes earthquakes?

• Volcanoes

• Movement between tectonic plates

• Asteroids

• Bombs

Top ten largest earthquakes on Top ten largest earthquakes on recordrecord

Location Year Magnitude

Chile 1960 9.5

Prince William Sounds, Alaska 1964 9.2

Sumatra-Andaman Islands 2004 9.1

Kamchatka 1952 9.0

Off The Coast of Ecuador 1906 8.8

Rat Islands, Alaska 1965 8.7

Lisbon, Portugal 1755 8.7

Northern Sumatra, Indonesia 2005 8.6

Kuril Islands 1963 8.6

Andreanof Islands, Alaska 1957 8.6

ChileChile

• May 22, 1960• M9.5 • Largest earthquake in the world• More than 2,000 deaths, 3,000 injures,

2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million of damage

• Tsunami occur in Hawaii,

Japan, Philippines, and west

coast of the United States

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1960_05_22.php

Prince William Sound, AlaskaPrince William Sound, Alaska

• March 18, 1964

• M9.2

• 125 deaths, $311 million in property damage

• Landslides, tsunami

• 5 story JC Penny

building

Sumatra-Andaman IslandsSumatra-Andaman Islands

• December 26, 2004

• M9.1

• Tsunami caused 157,577 deaths, 26,763 missing and 1,075,350

relocated in South Asia

and East Africa

KamchatkaKamchatka

• November 4, 1952• M9.0• No lives were lost in Kamchatka• Tsunami flooded streets in Midway Islands from the Kamchatka earthquake

Off The Coast of EcuadorOff The Coast of Ecuador

• January 31, 1906

• M8.8

• Channels of Wailuku and Wailoa Rivers dried up

Rat Islands, AlaskaRat Islands, Alaska

• February 4, 1965

• M8.7

• Tsunami about 10.7 meter

high

Lisbon, PortugalLisbon, Portugal

• November 1, 1755

• M8.7

• Fire ravaged the city

• Czech broadsheet with

the inscription “The story

of the disastrous

earthquake in Lisbon…”

Northern Sumatra, IndonesiaNorthern Sumatra, Indonesia

• March 28, 2005

• M8.6

• Depth of 30km

• 1000 people killed

http://static.flickr.com/6/7700922_1edc94ab6d.jpg?v=0

Kuril IslandsKuril Islands

• October 13, 1963

• M8.6

• Depth of 33km

http://www.drgeorgepc.com/tsu94KurilIslands.gif

Andreanof Islands, AlaskaAndreanof Islands, Alaska

• March 9, 1957

• M8.6

• 18 meter tsunami

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/usa/1957_03_09.html

ConclusionConclusion

• Located same type of boundaries (convergent)

• 8.6 magnitude and above

• Most occur on the Ring of Fire

• All generated tsunamis

ReferencesReferences

• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1960_05_22.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1964_03_28.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2004/usslav• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1952_11_04.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1906_01_31.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1965_02_04.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1755_11_01.php• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2005/usweax/#su

mmary• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1957_03_09.php• http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/historic/aleutia

n57.html• http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/hazards/earthquake_11_report.htm

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