To all good day, I am very glad to welcome those who are interested not only in games or shopping, but also in world problems. It is about the problems associated with cataclysms that I wanted to talk today.
World catastrophes, one way or another, affect the life of every person on the planet. And it does not matter in what part of the earth there was an earthquake, flood or volcanic eruption. Some people always suffer, while others sympathize and try to help.
Unfortunately, scientists cannot fully understand how to predict a terrible event. Take an earthquake, for example. It is extremely dangerous phenomenon nature, which is impossible to predict. The calculations of scientists made it possible to learn about future tremors of the earth's surface only a few hours before their start.
But here, too, there may be danger in the calculations, because an earthquake can be much stronger than the predicted one. Animals are the most effective predictor of impending disaster. Many people say that animals are closer to the earth and are more connected to it. So love your pets and they can save your life.
The danger of earthquakes lies in wait for those residents whose houses are in highlands... After all, the mountains are a kind of scars in the places where the titanic plates break. Fortunately, most of the earthquakes take place at the bottom of the oceans, but this, too, is fraught with danger for coastal areas of residence. It is practically impossible to escape from the strongest tsunami.
The worst earthquake in the history of mankind: the tragedy in Chile
The most powerful earthquake in the history of mankind happened just off the coast of the Pacific Ocean and practically destroyed Chile in 1960. According to various sources, the strength of the tremors on the ocean floor at the epicenter was about 10 points. It is worth looking at the aftermath of the wave that swept away large coastal cities almost to the ground.
The tsunami that covered Chile destroyed not only residential areas, but also industry, everything had to be rebuilt. At the time, it cost more than $ 400 billion.
The strongest earthquakes in the world on the Richter scale: top 5
You cannot predict where the next earthquake will occur. How many people will suffer. It is only known that over the past hundred years the number of the most severe disasters in the history of mankind has increased.
List of known major earthquakes:
- Keminskoye is considered one of the largest inland earthquakes. It took place in Kazakhstan in 1911, then, with an amplitude of 9 balls, it almost completely collapsed Almaty city.
- The next most destructive earthquake, after the Chilean, happened in Alaska in 1964. Due to the low population density in this part of the earth, only 9 people were affected by tremors of 9.5 points, plus 190 drowned. huge wave the coasts of Canada, Japan and California were severely affected.
- In 1952, a 9-point earthquake took place off the coast of Kamchatka. And the rising giant wave with a height of 17 meters carried Severo-Kurilsk almost completely, a third of the residents of the city and nearby settlements died as a result.
- The Indian tsunami, which drowned most of the coastal cities of Indonesia, Thailand, southern India and Sri Lanka, in 2004 Earthquakes began near the island Sumatra... Then the disaster took the lives of more than 300 thousand people.
- But the most catastrophic earthquake is considered Japanese... Although it took place quite recently in 2011, it brought more than just destruction to our country. The aftereffect of the earthquakes was the tsunami ox, which damaged nuclear power plant Fukushima. You can still hear the echoes of that catastrophe. And the radioactive cloud hung over the ocean for a long time, and the whole world with bated breath followed its movement.
Is it possible to prepare for underground disturbances? Predict what consequences it will bring? Is there salvation and where to look for it?
A person has many questions when he thinks about it. Problem the current person not that he is not ready for disasters, he just does not think about them. After watching TV and sympathizing with the victims, we forget about everything. We don’t think that our country is also located at the intersection of fractures of titanic plates, and in Russia, as nowhere else, there is a high probability of earthquakes.
Some theory about earthquakes
Due to modern scientific advances scientists have suggested that tremors occur almost every day in the world. Most of them we do not feel, because of great depth the epicenter or its small strength.
A person will feel shocks or a wave, only starting from 3 points, before that the force is so weak that only devices can catch the impulse. Some people believe that there are many more earthquakes during the full moon.
The causes of underground disturbances can be not only natural, but also caused by man. Regular testing of weapons or mining is disrupting the landscape and structure of the earth's surface. The most dangerous human impact is the adjustment of the mountainous terrain. As you know, it is there that earthquakes most often occur.
Only people find it difficult to prove that they are wrong and they need to change their way of life so that after us the descendants can live peacefully for more than one thousand years.
World wars and human cruelty towards brothers lead to the fact that cataclysms began to occur more and more often. After all, the earth is also a living and intelligent organism ...
Imagine yourself in its place, not only are they constantly pumping oil, extracting metals, they are also fighting, destroying not only people, but also the environment, grass with lead and burning thousands of kilometers of earth.
As a result, the soil dies, and with it all the plants. There are so many beautiful things in the world that a person will never grow up. Sentient creature cannot be so disrespectful to nature.
How to behave during an earthquake
The rules of conduct during earthly talk, each of us went through in school. Even regular drills are preparation both physically and mentally.
How can react a common person when does the earthquake start? The first is fright, and it's good if you quickly pull yourself together, orient yourself and go to a safe distance from the surrounding buildings, which can collapse if the tremors are strong.
But when panic begins, most often it occurs in office buildings where workers are energized every day. And then a catastrophe happened, the running around begins instead of constructive evacuation.
At the first shocks, it is worth hiding under the table, then when a wall or ceiling collapses, you will suffer less, and it will be easier for rescuers to find. If you decide to leave the building, then it is worth doing this at the first shocks until they become stronger or the surrounding objects begin to fall.
Try to keep along walls without windows. When shaken, the glass will crack in the first place and you can get severely injured. As soon as you got out of the building, step back to a safe distance. You should not go by car, due to the electronics, the car can simply be blocked, and along with it, you.
If you live in an earthquake-prone area, then it is worth preparing a bag or backpack with the essentials for the first time. You can also put documents and some money there. It is convenient in critical situation you can immediately grab and run out of the dangerous room.
12 points on the Richter scale: adventure project "On the Edge" and learn a lot! See you soon!
Text - agent Q.
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Often we imagine nature as a kind of "caring grandmother", admiring the flowers, beautiful landscapes and watching the peacefully babbling brook. This impression is deceiving, since sometimes she shows her true strength.
The strongest earthquake in the world is an example of this. More precisely, we will talk about several cases known to us, since different scientists and historians are not very similar in their assessments.
The tragic list is crowned by the disaster that happened in India. It happened not so long ago, in 1950. All the old Hindus recall with horror the day when the earth split, and thousands of people disappeared without a trace in the huge cracks of the earth. All this happened in the city of Assam, which was located on the east coast of the country.
Officially, this is the strongest earthquake in the world in the last millennium. Unfortunately, this event received a sad title for a reason.
In particular, none of the metering devices was able to record its real strength, since they simply went off scale. Official science later assigned it 9 points, although all the surviving Indian scientists from Assam unanimously insist that these numbers are false, that in fact this monstrous earthquake was many times stronger.
Their words fully confirm the information of their American colleagues, who, being many thousands of kilometers from the epicenter of the disaster, recorded its consequences without any instruments, since tremors of impressive force reached even the central states! This is indeed the most powerful earthquake in the world.
On the same day, the alarm was sounded in Japan: the tremors recorded by the sensors were so strong that the country's civil defense forces cut off the pipes, trying to find out in which prefecture such a strong earthquake was taking place.
What was their surprise and horror when they learned that the disaster that occurred in distant India, responded with strong underground vibrations even among them!
This is the strongest earthquake in the world, just because of the small size of the city (completely destroyed), cost India a thousand deaths. If something like this happened in the same Delhi, the consequences are terrible to imagine ...
Unfortunately, the Chinese were much less fortunate. In 1976, what all historians consider the most terrible cataclysm in the entire history of modern civilization happened, bearing in mind the incredible number of victims.
We are talking about a cataclysm in Hebei province. Then the strength of underground rumors was "only" 8.2 points, which is much weaker than the Indian incident, but even according to official data, about 250 thousand people were among the dead.
A terrible figure. Of course, this is not the worst earthquake in history, but analysts believe that the Chinese authorities have underestimated the loss figures by 3-4 times.
But what about our country? Are we lucky to live in the most stable place on the planet? Unfortunately, this is not so.
The most powerful thing happened quite recently - on May 28, 1995 on Sakhalin. This is a rainy day in our history. On that fateful morning, the strength of the tremors was up to 10 points.
Due to the small population, everything could have been done, but the main force of the blow was taken over by the city of Neftegorsk, which after that ceased to exist. More than two thousand people died.
The most tragic thing is that graduates gathered at the local school that day. Of the 26 children, only nine survived.
TASS-DOSSIER. On November 12, 2017, a strong earthquake struck the border between Iran and Iraq. One after the other, two shocks were recorded with a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.3, respectively. The main blow fell on the provinces of Kermanshah and Ilam in western Iran.
As a result, according to preliminary data, more than 350 people died, over 3 thousand were injured.
The editorial staff of TASS-DOSSIER prepared material on the ten largest earthquakes of the 20th and 21st centuries. When compiling the rating, the officially confirmed death toll was taken into account.
January 12, 2010 At 21:53 UTC, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. Its hypocenter was in the sea, 25 km south-west of the capital - the city of Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 13 km. 316 thousand people died, more than 300 thousand were injured, 1.3 million were left homeless. 97 thousand houses were destroyed, 188 thousand buildings were damaged. The city of Port-au-Prince was almost completely destroyed. The economic damage amounted to $ 7.9 billion.
July 27, 1976 at 19:42 UTC in the area of the Chinese mining city of Tangshan, Hebei province, 150 km east of Beijing, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred. According to official data, 242 thousand 769 people died (the media suggested that the real number of victims could reach 800 thousand) Tangshan turned into ruins, destruction was also recorded in Tianjin and Beijing. In the region, all car roads and about 400 km of railroad tracks, which made it difficult to arrive in the city rescue teams... The economic damage amounted to $ 2 billion.
December 26, 2004 at 00:58 UTC Indian Ocean there was an earthquake. According to scientists, its magnitude ranged from 9.1 to 9.3. The hypocenter was located 160 km west of Sumatra, at a depth of 30 km. There was a shift tectonic plates over 1200 km, the resulting tsunami up to 10 meters high reached the shores of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, southern India and the east coast of Africa. As a result, according to various estimates, from 225 to 300 thousand people died in 14 countries, about 2.2 million were affected.The earthquake and tsunami caused numerous destruction, the economic damage to Thailand is estimated at $ 5 billion, India - $ 1.6 billion, Maldives - $ 1.3 billion, Indonesia - $ 4.5 billion, Sumatra - $ 675 million.
December 16, 1920 at 12:06 UTC in the Chinese province of Gansu there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8. The epicenter was in Haiyuan County. Fluctuations crust led to destruction on an area of 67.5 thousand square meters. km, affecting seven provinces and regions. The earthquake was accompanied by numerous landslides and landslides, which buried entire villages under them. Numerous cracks formed on the surface, the length of the largest one reaching 200 km. Several rivers have changed course. According to various estimates, total number victims of the earthquake amounted to 200-240 thousand people, about 20 thousand people died from the cold, having lost their homes.
September 1, 1923 At 2:58 UTC, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit Japan, dubbed the Great Kanto Earthquake. The hypocenter was located 90 km southwest of Tokyo in the sea near Oshima Island. Many settlements, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, have undergone tremendous destruction. Fires broke out in cities, only in Tokyo, in one of the squares, about 40 thousand people were suffocated from smoke. A 12-meter tsunami formed in Sagami Bay, devastating coastal settlements.
In total, about 143 thousand people died, 542 thousand were missing, more than 694 thousand dwellings were destroyed or burned down. Material losses were estimated at $ 4.5 billion, which at that time amounted to two annual budgets of the country and five times higher than Japan's expenditures in Russo-Japanese War... The "Great Kanto Earthquake" is the most destructive in the history of Japan.
October 5, 1948 At 20:12 UTC, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 occurred in Ashgabat (Turkmen SSR). As a result, 90-98% of all buildings were destroyed, the cities of Batir and Bezmein were also severely damaged. V Soviet time The exact number of victims was not named; in 2010, the President of Turkmenistan said that the earthquake claimed the lives of 176 thousand residents of the republic, including 89% of Ashgabat residents. Since 1995, October 6 in Turkmenistan is celebrated as the Day of Remembrance.
May 12, 2008 At 6:28 UTC, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 occurred in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The epicenter was located in Wenchuan County, 80 km northwest of the provincial capital, Chengdu. The tremors were felt in Beijing (1,500 km from the epicenter) and Shanghai (1,700 km). The earthquake was also felt in India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia and Russia. 87.6 thousand people became victims of the natural disaster, more than 370 thousand were injured. 15 million people were evacuated, more than 5 million were left homeless. In total, more than 45.5 million people were affected in 10 provinces. 5.36 million buildings were completely destroyed, more than 21 million were damaged. The total economic damage is estimated at $ 86 billion.
October 8, 2005 at 3:50 UTC there was an earthquake in South Asia - in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The magnitude was 7.6. The epicenter was located 105 km northeast of the capital of Pakistan. In Pakistan, 86 thousand people died, more than 69 thousand people were injured. More than 32 thousand buildings were destroyed. In India, 1.3 thousand people became victims, 6.2 thousand were injured. More than 4 million people lost their homes. The Pakistani government has estimated the damage at $ 5-12 billion. The earthquake was the most destructive in South Asia over the past 100 years. As a result, a 100 km long fault was formed, along which almost all structures were destroyed. The tremors were also felt in the PRC, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
December 28, 1908 at 4:20 UTC in the city of Messina on the island of Sicily (Italy) there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2. The epicenter was located in the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Apennine Peninsula. Tremors caused a tsunami 6-12 meters high. As a result, the cities of Messina, Reggio Calabria and Palmi and about 20 other settlements were destroyed. Killed 72 thousand people (40% of the population of Messina and 25% of the inhabitants of Reggio Calabria). This earthquake is considered the strongest in the history of Europe. The crews of the Russian ships "Tsesarevich", "Slava", "Admiral Makarov" and "Bogatyr", which at that time were in the port of Augusta in Sicily, took part in the analysis of the debris and assistance to the population.
May 31, 1970 at 20:23 UTC, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 occurred near Peru. The hypocenter was located in the Peruvian-Chilean deep-sea trench in Pacific 25 km east of Chimbote, a major Peruvian fishing port. From tremors from Mount Huascaran (height 6768 m), a glacier broke, which caused a giant landslide of stones, ice and mud about 1.5 km long and more than 750 m wide.It fell at a speed of more than 200 km / h on the cities of Yungai, Karaz and Ranrairka, destroying dozens of villages along the way. As a result of the earthquake and landslide, about 70 thousand people died and went missing, more than 157 thousand were injured, 800 thousand were left homeless. The damage amounted to about $ 260 million.
An earthquake in Chile caused the collapse of 2,500 buildings and partial destruction of urban infrastructure. The magnitude of the earthquake is estimated at 8.2 points on the Richter scale.
Six people became victims of the earthquake, including those who died of a heart attack. Over 900 thousand people were evacuated - all from the coastal, most earthquake-prone regions of the country. Then on Thursday off the coast of Chile was another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, followed by about 20 more aftershocks were recorded.
Chile's history has many earthquakes, one of which is considered the most powerful in the entire history of observations.
The great Chilean earthquake
On May 22, 1960, the Chilean city of Valdivia was almost completely destroyed. The catastrophe, which was later called "the great Chilean earthquake", claimed the lives of about 6 thousand people and took home about 2 million people.
Moreover, the bulk of people suffered from the tsunami, the waves of which reached a height of 10 meters and caused significant damage to the city of Hilo in Hawaii, about 10 thousand kilometers from the epicenter, the remains of the tsunami even reached the shores of Japan.
The magnitude of the earthquake, according to various estimates, reached from 9.3 to 9.5 on the Richter scale. The damage in 1960 prices was about half a billion dollars.
The great Alaska earthquake
On March 27, 1964, the second largest earthquake on record occurred in the northern part of the Gulf of Alaska. The magnitude was 9.1-9.2 on the Richter scale.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in Collegefjord, from major cities the worst hit Anchorage, located 120 km west of the epicenter. In Valdez, Seward and Kodiak Island, there has been a dramatic change in the coastline.
Nine people died directly from the earthquake, but the tsunami also claimed the lives of 190 people. The waves have wreaked havoc from Canada to California and Japan.
Such a low number of victims for a disaster of this magnitude is due to the low population density in Alaska. The damage in 1965 prices was about $ 400 million.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
On December 26, 2004, an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 to 9.3 on the Richter scale struck the Indian Ocean. This earthquake was the third strongest in the entire history of observations.
The epicenter of the earthquake was not far from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake triggered one of the most destructive tsunamis in history. The wave height exceeded 15 meters; they reached the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, southern India, Thailand and several other countries.
The tsunami almost completely destroyed the coastal infrastructure in the east of Sri Lanka and the northwest coast of Indonesia. Killed, according to various estimates, from 225 thousand to 300 thousand people. The damage from the tsunami was about $ 10 billion.
Tsunami in Severo-Kurilsk
On November 5, 1952, an earthquake occurred 130 kilometers from the coast of Kamchatka, the magnitude of which is estimated at 9 points on the Richter scale.
An hour later, a powerful tsunami reached the coast, which destroyed the city of Severo-Kurilsk and damaged a number of other settlements. According to official figures, 2,336 people died. The population of Severo-Kurilsk before the tragedy was about 6 thousand people. The city was hit by three waves up to 15 -18 meters high. Tsunami damage is estimated at $ 1 million.
Great East Japan Earthquake
On March 11, 2011 in the east of Honshu Island, 130 km east of the city of Sendai, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 to 9.1 on the Richter scale occurred.
It became one of strongest earthquakes for the whole famous story Japan. After 10-30 minutes, the tsunami reached the coast of Japan, and after 69 minutes, the waves reached Sendai Airport. As a result of the tsunami, about 16 thousand people died, about 6 thousand were injured and 2 thousand were missing.
A significant part of the island has lost electricity, as the earthquake caused the shutdown of 11 power units at nuclear power plant Fukushima.
The damage from the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami is estimated at $ 14.5- $ 36.6 billion.
The great China earthquake
On January 23, 1556, an earthquake struck that killed 830,000 people, more than any other earthquake in human history. The catastrophe went down in history as "the great Chinese earthquake."
The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Wei River Valley in Shaanxi Province, near the cities of Huaxian, Weinan and Huangin.
At the epicenter of the earthquake, 20-meter dips and cracks opened. The destruction affected the territories located 500 km from the epicenter. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, in others, about 60% of the population died.
Great Kanto earthquake
On September 1, 1923, an earthquake occurred 90 km southwest of Tokyo in the sea near Oshima Island in Sagami Bay, which was named the Great Kanto Earthquake.
In just two days, 356 tremors occurred, of which the first were the most powerful. The earthquake caused a powerful tsunami, the waves reached 12 meters, they hit the coast and destroyed small settlements.
The earthquake also caused fires in large cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka. Over 300 thousand buildings in Tokyo were destroyed, in Yokohama, 11 thousand buildings were destroyed by tremors. Infrastructure in cities was also severely damaged, of 675 bridges, 360 were destroyed by fire.
The total death toll was 174 thousand, another 542 thousand are missing. The damage was estimated at $ 4.5 billion, which at that time was twice the country's annual budget.
Tsunami in Ecuador
As a result of powerful tremors, a powerful tsunami arose, which struck the entire coast of Central America. The first wave reached San Francisco in the north and Japan in the west.
However, due to the low population density, the death toll was minimal - about 1,500 people.
Chile earthquake
On February 27, 2010, Chile experienced one of the most major earthquakes over the past half century. The magnitude of the earthquake was 8.8 on the Richter scale.
The epicenter was located near the city of Bio-Bio Concepcion, which is the center of Chile's second largest metropolitan area after Santiago. The cities of Bio-Bio and Maule suffered most of the damage, with the death toll at 540 and 64, respectively.
The earthquake caused a tsunami that struck 11 islands and the coast of Maule, but the victims were avoided, as residents hid in the mountains in advance.
The amount of damage is estimated at $ 15- $ 30 billion, about 2 million people were left homeless, about half a million residential buildings were destroyed.
Earthquake in Cascadia
On January 26, 1700, an earthquake occurred west of Vancouver Island in Canada, the magnitude of which is estimated at 8.7-9.2 on the Richter scale.
There is practically no data on this earthquake, since at that time there were no written records in the region. Only the oral traditions of the American Indians remained.
According to geology and seismology, strong earthquakes in Cascadia occur about once every 500 years and are almost always accompanied by tsunamis.
Every year more and more inhabitants of the planet turn their attention to natural disasters of various kinds. According to research recent years, The earth entered into active phase tectonic activity- it is well known that over the entire period of its existence, the relief of the land and the outlines of the continents as a whole have repeatedly undergone various changes. If we take into account the content of Plato's manuscripts, such semi-mythical great civilizations as Atlantis and Hyperborea disappeared from the face of the earth as a result of the tectonic activity of our planet. For this reason, many of our contemporaries are seriously thinking about the direction in which human civilization should develop, so that we do not suffer the same sad fate. Perhaps we should finally understand that the Earth is a kind of giant living organism, every interference in the work of which can end very sadly for our world. The bowels of the planet should be used more carefully and economically by man for his own purposes. In this article, we will consider the most destructive earthquakes in the history of mankind.
1. In the middle of the 16th century, in the city of Shengxi (China), the most destructive before today an earthquake that killed more than 800 thousand people!
2. In 1923, on the first day of autumn - the Japanese region of South Kanto felt the full strength and power of tremors, which, according to some estimates, was about 12 points. Within the territory of the region such megacities as Yokohama and Tokyo are located. More than 150 thousand people became victims of the disaster.
3. August 15, 1950 of the year in the Indian city of Assami (India), the most powerful earthquake was recorded, which claimed the lives of "only" 1000 people - the fact is that it turned out to be impossible to measure its strength on the Richter scale due to the excessive off-scale of the instrument's arrows. A short time later, seismologists officially assigned 9 points to the elements on the Richter scale. However, it was so powerful that it even sowed a certain panic among scientists - some of them initially believed that the epicenter of the earth's crust was located in Japan, while others believed that it was in the United States.
As for the Indian state of Assam, the situation here was also very ambiguous - for a week in a row, powerful tremors shook the earth's surface, now and then forming faults and gaps, swallowing whole villages without a trace, together with their inhabitants. All this was accompanied by constant emissions of fountains of hot steam into the sky and superheated liquid. As a result of the damage received, many dams could not hold back the pressure of the water reserves stored in them - many cities and villages were simply flooded. Fleeing from certain death, residents climbed to the tops of trees, because not everyone knew the main ones. It should be noted that it was in this year that it significantly exceeded the scale of destruction, which was the result of the second strongest earthquake that took place in the local area in 1897. 1,542 people became victims of an earlier disaster.
4. 05/22/1960- on the outskirts of the Chilean city of Valdivia in the afternoon, the most powerful officially recorded earthquake occurred. The strength of the tremors of the Great Chilean earthquake - this is the name given to this natural disaster- was approximately 9.3-9.5 points.
5.March 27, 1964 - in the American part of the Alaska Peninsula, closer to six o'clock local time, something happened that locals could not even imagine. The strength of the shocks was 9.2 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the disaster was at a depth of 20 kilometers in the northern part of the Gulf of Alaska. According to many scientists, it was this that caused the displacement of the axis of rotation of our planet - as a result, its speed increased by 3 microseconds. The Great Chilean and Alaskan Islands are officially considered the most destructive and catastrophic in the history of mankind.
6. The earthquake that took place on July 28, 1976, late at night, in the northeastern regions of China is considered to be the most destructive and terrible in terms of human casualties. Its victims almost instantly became 650 thousand people - more than 780 thousand were injured varying degrees severity. The strength of the tremors ranged from 7.9 to 8.2 points. The destruction was colossal. The epicenter of the disaster was located directly in Tangshan - a city with a multimillion population. After several months, a huge space of ruins remained on the site of the once blossoming, never-ending city. with total area in 20 square kilometers.
According to eyewitnesses, shortly before the first wobble, the heavens parted for many kilometers and shone with a bright light. At the end of the first blows, the plants and trees visually looked as if they had felt the impact of a steam roller. Some shrubs were even burnt on some sides.
7. 12/07/1988- the most powerful aftershocks occurred on the territory of Armenia, the victims of which, according to the most conservative estimates, 45 thousand people. Overnight, the city of Spitak, located near the epicenter, turned into a vast heap of ruins. Neighboring settlements- Kirovakan and Leninakan were half destroyed. According to separate calculations, the strength of the shocks was almost 10 points on the Richter scale!
8. December 26, 2004- in the northwestern region of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean, like a bolt from the blue, tremors with a force of 9.1 to 9.3 on the Richter scale arose. This element and the accompanying giant tsunami claimed the lives of more than 300 thousand people.
9. May 12-13, 2008- on the territory of the Chinese province of Sichuan, tremors with a power of 7.9 points occurred, which killed more than 70 thousand people.
10. 11 March 2011 of the year in Japan, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recent years - his strength was estimated at 9 points on the Richter scale. The devastating consequences and the accompanying giant tsunami were the immediate cause of a serious ecological disaster: the cooling systems of the nuclear power plant were damaged - the world was on the verge radioactive contamination environment, which, to the deepest, could not be avoided. Albeit on a smaller scale, but a radiation leak did occur.
