by Sidrah Zaheer
An earthquake is one of the natural agents of change on this
earth which is caused as a result of a sudden release of energy in the earth’s
crust that generates seismic waves. Many cultures believe that earthquakes
happen as a result of the wrath of God upon the people of the area on which
devastation takes place. The earthquakes could be measured with observations noted
from seismometers and the scale is commonly known as the Richter Magnitude
scale. Throughout history many earthquakes occurred. Here are the Top 10
deadliest earthquakes in history.
An earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck Great Kanto, a region
of Japan
and killed an estimated 100,000 to 142,800 people. Around 40,000 people went
missing and later presumed dead. The devastation due to this earthquake
occurred on September 1, 1923 and continued for about 4 to 10 minutes according
to some reports. As a result of the high magnitude of this earthquake, the
93-ton Great Buddha statue at Kamakura
also moved almost two feet forward.
9. Ardabil
An earthquake of unknown magnitude struck Ardabil, Iran
on March 22, 893 and killed an estimated 150,000 people. However, the earthquake
of Ardabil’s devastation may have been misreported due to the confusion created
by the Arabic word Dvin instead of Dabil as in Ardabil.
The earthquake is thus regarded as a fake earthquake.
8. Damghan
An earthquake estimated to be of 7.9 magnitude hit Damghan, Iran
on December 22, 856 and killed around 200,000 people.
7. Aleppo
An earthquake of unknown magnitude hit Aleppo, Syria
on October 11, 1138. The death toll is estimated to be 230,000 people according
to the sources of Ibn Taghribirdi from the 15th century.
6. Indian Ocean and the Island of Sumatra
On December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean and the island of Sumatra
in Indonesia
were struck by an earthquake resulting from tsunami of magnitude 9.1 to 9.3 and
caused deaths of more than 230,210 people.
5. Gansu
An earthquake that caused major fractures and landslides in Ningxia-Gansu, China hit with a magnitude of 7.8
and killed an estimated 235,502 people on December 16, 1920.
4. Antioch
An earthquake estimated to be of 7.0 magnitude struck Antioch, Turkey,
which was at the time part of the Byzantine Empire
on May 21, 526. It killed an estimated 240,000 people according to what has
been recorded by Procopius and John of Ephesus.
3. Tangshan
On July 28, 1976, Tangshan in
China
was struck by an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude and it killed around 242,769
people.
2. Haiti
One of the deadliest earthquakes in human history came on
January 12, 2010 in Haiti
where an estimated 316,000 people died according to Haitian sources. The
non-Haitian sources estimate the death toll to be somewhere between 50,000 to
92,000 people. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.0.
1. Shaanxi
The earthquake of approximately 8.0 magnitude struck in Shaanxi, China
on January 23, 1556. It reportedly killed an estimate of 820,000 to 830,000
people.
Source : http://www.gizmocrazed.com
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