World History
Early today, China was hit by a 7.9 earthquake. Right now, the death toll is over 10,000. I would not be surprised if the final death toll is in the 50,000 to 100,000 range. Unfortunately, this has happened many times before in China.
The 1976 Tangshan Earthquake took many lives not that many years ago. Wikipedia notes of the event, "The Tangshan earthquake (Chinese: ?????; pinyin: tángsh?n dà dìzhèn), also known as the Great Tangshan earthquake or GTE, was a natural disaster that occurred on July 28, 1976. It is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll. The epicentre of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, People's Republic of China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The initial number released by the Chinese government was 655,000, but has since stated the number to be around 240,000 to 255,000. A further 164,000 people were recorded as being severely injured. The earthquake came in between a series of political events involving the Communist Party of China. It shook China both literally and figuratively in 1976, which was later labeled a "Year of curse". The earthquake hit in the early morning, at 03:42:53.8 local time (1976 July 27 19:42:53.8 UTC), and lasted for around 10 seconds. Chinese Government's official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources listed it as high as 8.2. It was followed by a major 7.8 magnitude aftershock some 16 hours later, increasing the death toll."
The 1976 quake death toll was made worse by the fact that the Chinese government did not allow any relief efforts from western nations. I do not expect that this will happen this time. I think western relief agencies will be allowed access to the area and will save many lives.
There are some other bad earthquakes in Chinese history. These include:
1. The Shaanxi Earthquake, estimated as 8 on the Richter scale on January 23, 1556, with an estimated 830,000 deaths.
2. The Gansu Earthquake, estimated as a 8.6 on the Richter scale in 1920, with an estimated 200,000 deaths.
3. The Tsinghai Earthquake, estimated as a 7.9 on the Richter scale on May 22, 1927, with an estimated 200,000 deaths.
Undoubtedly, China has seen many other equally devastating quakes in the long history of that nation. I wish the Chinese people well in dealing with this one. I will be writing a check to the Red Cross to help. I hope many of the readers of this blog do as well.
- M9.1 "boxing Day" Earthquake & Tsunami/indian Ocean Tsunami
Details on the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami from 2004, including maps, animations, and video. It is from the Amateur Seismic Centre, Wellington, New Zealand. (Video from YouTube.)From the site: A "very great" earthquake struck the North Indian...
- Massive Indonesian Earthquake Yet To Come?
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- Sirens Mark Great Quake Of 1906
Sirens Mark Great Quake of 1906. One hundred years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in American history occurred. A large earthquake, estimated at 7.8 on the Richter Scale, hit the city. The death toll is hard to know. CNN noted, "Historians...
- Earthquake History Of Hawaii
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World History
Chinese Earthquakes
Early today, China was hit by a 7.9 earthquake. Right now, the death toll is over 10,000. I would not be surprised if the final death toll is in the 50,000 to 100,000 range. Unfortunately, this has happened many times before in China.
The 1976 Tangshan Earthquake took many lives not that many years ago. Wikipedia notes of the event, "The Tangshan earthquake (Chinese: ?????; pinyin: tángsh?n dà dìzhèn), also known as the Great Tangshan earthquake or GTE, was a natural disaster that occurred on July 28, 1976. It is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll. The epicentre of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, People's Republic of China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The initial number released by the Chinese government was 655,000, but has since stated the number to be around 240,000 to 255,000. A further 164,000 people were recorded as being severely injured. The earthquake came in between a series of political events involving the Communist Party of China. It shook China both literally and figuratively in 1976, which was later labeled a "Year of curse". The earthquake hit in the early morning, at 03:42:53.8 local time (1976 July 27 19:42:53.8 UTC), and lasted for around 10 seconds. Chinese Government's official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources listed it as high as 8.2. It was followed by a major 7.8 magnitude aftershock some 16 hours later, increasing the death toll."
The 1976 quake death toll was made worse by the fact that the Chinese government did not allow any relief efforts from western nations. I do not expect that this will happen this time. I think western relief agencies will be allowed access to the area and will save many lives.
There are some other bad earthquakes in Chinese history. These include:
1. The Shaanxi Earthquake, estimated as 8 on the Richter scale on January 23, 1556, with an estimated 830,000 deaths.
2. The Gansu Earthquake, estimated as a 8.6 on the Richter scale in 1920, with an estimated 200,000 deaths.
3. The Tsinghai Earthquake, estimated as a 7.9 on the Richter scale on May 22, 1927, with an estimated 200,000 deaths.
Undoubtedly, China has seen many other equally devastating quakes in the long history of that nation. I wish the Chinese people well in dealing with this one. I will be writing a check to the Red Cross to help. I hope many of the readers of this blog do as well.
- M9.1 "boxing Day" Earthquake & Tsunami/indian Ocean Tsunami
Details on the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami from 2004, including maps, animations, and video. It is from the Amateur Seismic Centre, Wellington, New Zealand. (Video from YouTube.)From the site: A "very great" earthquake struck the North Indian...
- Massive Indonesian Earthquake Yet To Come?
Indonesia has been hit by three large earthquakes in the last week. However, the worst may be still to come. So says a CNN story titled Indonesia's big one 'on its way' by Hugh Riminton. Is some horrific history about to happen in Indonesia?...
- Sirens Mark Great Quake Of 1906
Sirens Mark Great Quake of 1906. One hundred years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in American history occurred. A large earthquake, estimated at 7.8 on the Richter Scale, hit the city. The death toll is hard to know. CNN noted, "Historians...
- Earthquake History Of Hawaii
Earthquake History of Hawaii - Much of the early record of Hawaiian earthquakes comes from the diary of Mrs. Sarah J. Lyman, a missionary's wife at Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii. She began her account in 1833 and continued it until her death in...
- Teaching About China
Teaching about China. This is an essay on teaching about China. It includes some information on Chinese history. The essay is a bit dated but still good. From the site: Contributing to the misunderstanding of China is a condition of political ambiguity,...