The epicenter lay deep beneath Oshima Island in Sagami Bay. The shock was estimated around 8.2 on the Richter scale, and tremors lasted between four and ten minutes. The earthquake’s power devastated Tokyo, Yokohama and the entire Kanto Plain around them – the horseshoe of flat land hemmed in by hills and mountains that in …
Most people were sleeping when the tremors began at 05:21. The historic city of Messina shook violently for a full 30 seconds. Across the straits from Sicily, the Italian town of Reggio di Calabria imploded into rubble and dust in the same half minute. Buried in choking lumps of ragged stone and plaster, and tossed …
Messina – The Deadliest Earthquake in European History – 1908 Read More »
Over a century later, seismology is still learning from San Francisco’s 1906 ‘Great Shake’. The more we understand, the greater the disaster seems. In less than a minute the earth ruptured at a speed of 13,300 kph (8,300 mph) towards the north, and 10,080 kph (6,300 mph) towards the south, cracking open 477 km (296 …
The ‘Great Shake’ – The San Francisco earthquake – 1906 Read More »