Damage was extensive and large as twenty-five miles of the San Andreas Fault slipped. On October 18, 1989, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck a branch fault of the San Andreas near the city of Santa Cruz in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. It came to be known as the Loma Prieta earthquake after the …
Loma Prieta Earthquake – California – October 18, 1989 Read More »
This was the second largest volcanic eruption worldwide in the twentieth century. The biggest was Mount Katmai in Alaska in 1912. On June 15, 1991, and persisting for eight hours, the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century, that of Mount Pinatubo, took place on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The largest …
Mount Pinatubo Volcanic Eruption – Philippines – June 15, 1991 Read More »
The peak gusts of 164 mph led to huge destruction of homes in the built-up area of southern Florida. Total damage costs were $26.5 billion. Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive twentieth century U.S. hurricane. It reached Florida as a category 4 storm where it made landfall at Homestead at 5 A.M. on August 24 …
The damage caused was enormous and concentrated because this earthquake occurred within a densely-populated area. An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 hit an area of high population density twenty-five miles northwest of Los Angeles at 4:30 A.M. on January 17, 1994. About ten million people in the Greater Los Angeles region felt the impact of the …
Northridge Earthquake – California – January 17, 1994 Read More »
Like the Northridge earthquake that also occurred in a densely populated area, Kobe suffered very extensive damage and many casualties. Early in the morning of January 17, 1995, Kobe, Japan, experienced the nation’s most destructive earthquake since 1946. Its epicenter was at Awaji, offshore from Kobe, and ten miles below the surface. Damage was extensive …
This international waterway annually faces the risk of flooding because of the several variables that affect water levels in both countries. The Red River Flood of 1997, affecting both the United States and Canada, was a major flood that occurred in May 1997 in North Dakota, Minnesota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe …