Millions of years ago, powerful earthquakes occurred every day on our home planet - the shape of the Earth we are familiar with was forming. Today we can say that seismic activity practically does not disturb humanity.
However, sometimes violent activity in the bowels of the planet makes itself felt, and tremors lead to the destruction of buildings and the death of people. In today's selection, we bring to your attention 10 of the most damaging earthquakes in modern history.
10.Iran21 June 1990
The strength of the shocks reached 7.7 points. An earthquake in Gilan province resulted in the death of 40 thousand people, more than 6 thousand were injured. 9 cities and about 700 small settlements were severely damaged.
9.Peru31 May 1970
The worst natural disaster in the history of the country claimed the lives of 67 thousand Peruvians. The 7.5-point push lasted about 45 seconds. As a result, landslides and floods occurred over a vast area, which led to truly devastating consequences.
8.China, 12 May 2008
A powerful earthquake in Sichuan province had a magnitude of 7.8 and killed 69 thousand people. About 18 thousand are still missing, and more than 370 thousand were injured.
7.Pakistan8 October 2005
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed 84,000 people. The epicenter of the disaster was located in the Kashmir region. As a result of the earthquake, a gap of 100 km was formed on the Earth's surface.
6.Turkey, December 27, 1939
The strength of the tremors during this devastating earthquake reached 8 points. Strong tremors lasted about a minute, and then 7 so-called "aftershocks" - weaker echoes of the tremor followed. The disaster killed 100 thousand people.
5. Turkmen SSR, October 6, 1948
The strength of the tremors at the epicenter of the most powerful earthquake reached 10 points on the Richter scale. Ashgabat was almost completely destroyed, and according to various estimates, from 100 to 165 thousand people became victims of the disaster. Every year on October 6, Turkmenistan marks the Day of Remembrance of Earthquake Victims.
4.Japan, September 1, 1923
The Great Kanto earthquake, as the Japanese call it, almost completely destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama. The strength of the aftershocks reached 8.3 points, as a result of which 174 thousand people died. The damage from the earthquake was estimated at $ 4.5 billion, which at that time was equal to two annual budgets of the country.
3. Indonesia, 26 December 2004
An underwater earthquake of 9.3 magnitude triggered a series of tsunamis that killed 230,000 people. The natural disaster affected the countries of Asia, Indonesia and the east coast of Africa.
2.China, 28 July 1976
An earthquake of 8.2 magnitude claimed the lives of nearly 230 thousand people in the vicinity of the Chinese city of Tangshan. Many international experts believe that official statistics greatly underestimated the death toll, which may be equal to 800 thousand people.
1. Haiti, 12 January 2010
Power the most destructive earthquake in 100 years was only 7 points, but the number of human victims exceeded 232 thousand.Several million Haitians were left homeless, and the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, is almost completely destroyed. As a result, people were forced to survive for many months in conditions of devastation and unsanitary conditions, which led to an outbreak of a number of serious infections, including cholera.