An earthquake is one of the most terrible natural phenomena. Some tremors have a monstrous destructive force, the power of which is quite comparable to a nuclear bombing. It is impossible to withstand the earthquake that has begun - there are no tools of appropriate power at the disposal of a person yet.
The impact of earthquakes is aggravated by the fact that they are practically unpredictable, that is, they always happen unexpectedly. Efforts and means are invested in seismology - the damage from major earthquakes is estimated in billions of dollars, not to mention the loss of life. However, over decades of serious research, scientists have not advanced further to identify seismically hazardous areas. Predictions of even an increase in seismic activity, not to mention single earthquakes, are still the lot of psychics and other charlatans. In the real world, people can only build buildings that meet seismic requirements and quickly organize rescue operations.
1. Over the past 400 years, earthquakes and their consequences have killed more than 13 million people.
2. The power of an earthquake is very difficult to assess objectively. The 12-point scale, developed by the Americans Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg, and then refined by other scientists, is rather subjective. Measurement of the energy released during an earthquake, the so-called. magnitudes are much more objective, but magnitude may poorly correlate with the terrestrial effects of earthquakes. The epicenter of an earthquake can be located at a depth of several to 750 km, therefore, the effects of two earthquakes of the same magnitude can seriously differ. In addition, even within the same destruction zone, cases were recorded when structures standing on a stone base or solid ground withstood tremors, while similar structures on other grounds collapsed.
Charles Richter
3. In Japan, an average of 7,500 earthquakes are recorded per year. From the beginning of the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century, there were 17 earthquakes in the country, as a result of which more than a thousand people died. 
4. One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history occurred on November 1, 1755 in Portugal. Three shocks practically erased the capital of the country, Lisbon, from the face of the Earth. On this day, Catholics celebrate All Saints Day, and in the morning, when the earthquake struck, the vast majority of the population was in churches. Massive temples could not resist the elements, burying thousands of people under their rubble. Those fortunate enough to survive instinctively ran to the sea. The elements, as if mocking them, gave them about half an hour of time, and then covered them with a giant wave, the height of which exceeded 12 meters. The situation was aggravated by the outbreak of fires. 5,000 houses and 300 streets were destroyed. An estimated 60,000 people died.
Lisbon earthquake. Contemporary painting
5. In 1906, an earthquake destroyed San Francisco. Neither Las Vegas nor Reno existed at that time, so San Francisco was the capital of the entire East Coast of the United States. The tremors in San Francisco erupted, destroying homes by the thousands. The fire was not long in coming. The water pipes were cracked and the firefighters were out of water. In addition, the city was home to a large gas plant, the explosion of which turned the streets into hell. The unnamed telegraph operator remained at his workplace and in dry telegraphic language transmitted to New York the chronology of the tragedy, as they say, on the air. 200,000 people were left homeless. About 30,000 houses were destroyed. Thousands of lives were saved by the propensity of Americans to build houses of the minimum thickness possible - instead of dying under the rubble of bricks and concrete, the victims had to get out from under the pile of boards. The number of victims did not exceed 700.
6. On the eve of the earthquake, the stars of Italian music, led by Enrico Caruso, arrived in San Francisco. Caruso first rushed out into the street in panic. Some cunning American sold him and his colleagues a horse-drawn carriage for $ 300 (the first legendary Ford T cars, which will appear in two years, will cost $ 825). Caruso even managed to return to the hotel to get his things, and the Italians left the city in panic.
7. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Italian city of Messina has experienced 4 earthquakes in 14 years. There was also an earlier experience - in 1783 the city was destroyed by tremors. People have not drawn any conclusions from the tragedies. Houses were still built without cement, standing on pitiful foundations, and close to each other. As a result, the earthquake of December 28, 1908, not the strongest by the standards of seismologists, claimed at least 160,000 lives. Volcanologist François Pere said that if the people of Messina lived in tents, no one would die. The first to help the Messinians came Russian sailors from the midshipmen squadron. They fearlessly searched for the surviving residents among the ruins, rescued more than 2,000 people, and transported a thousand to the hospitals of Naples. In Messina, grateful townspeople erected a monument to Russian sailors.
Messina after the 1908 earthquake
Russian sailors on the streets of Messina
8. A troupe of comedians toured Messina in December 1908, in which two brothers participated. The brothers Michele and Alfredo had a dog. On the night of December 28, the dog began to bark furiously, waking up the entire hotel. He first dragged the owners to the door to the hotel, and then dragged them out of town. So the dog saved the brothers' lives. In those years, a hypothesis prevailed, explaining the restless behavior of animals before an earthquake by the fact that they feel preliminary shocks inaudible to people. However, a thorough check of the readings of seismic stations showed that there were no preliminary shocks - the fatal shocks were the only ones.
9. Carelessness in relation to earthquakes cannot be called an exclusively Italian national trait. On the other side of the world, in Japan, earthquakes occur, as already indicated, constantly. By the beginning of the 20th century, the capital of the country, Tokyo, was destroyed by earthquakes four times. And each time the Japanese rebuilt the city again with the same houses made of poles and paper. The city center, of course, was built up with stone buildings, but without the slightest consideration of the seismic hazard. On September 1, 1923, the city of two million was hit by a series of tremors that destroyed tens of thousands of homes and buildings. In Tokyo at that time, gas was actively used, so the phenomenon, which would later be called "fire storm", began immediately. Thousands of people were burned to death in their homes and streets. In the city and prefecture of Tokyo, about 140,000 people died. The city of Yokohama was also badly damaged.
Japan, 1923
10. From the earthquake of 1923 the Japanese made the right conclusions. In 2011, they experienced the most powerful earthquake in their country's history. The epicenter was at sea, and the warning system managed to transmit an alarm signal. Tremors and tsunamis still reaped their bloody harvest - about 16,000 people died, but there could have been many more victims. The economic damage was enormous, but catastrophic losses were avoided.
Japan, 2011
11. The year 1960 was the hardest for earthquakes. On February 21, the Algerian city of Meluz "shook" - 47 dead, 88 wounded. On February 29, an earthquake struck neighboring Morocco - 15,000 dead, 12,000 injured, the city of Agadir was destroyed, it was rebuilt in a new place. On April 24, a natural disaster disturbed Iran, claiming 450 lives of the inhabitants of the city of Lahr. But the impressions of these earthquakes faded on May 21, when the most powerful earthquake so far in the entire history of observations broke out in Chile - its magnitude was 9.5 points.
Aftermath of the earthquake in Agadir. The King of Morocco said that if by the will of Allah the city was destroyed, then by the will of the people it will be rebuilt in another place
12. On May 21, 1960, southern Chile was struck by a series of powerful aftershocks. Three tremors hit the region first, and then three huge waves. A wave 5 meters high reached Alaska. The entire Pacific coast was affected. People died even on the Hawaiian Islands, although they were warned and evacuated there in time. The tsunami also covered long-suffering Japan, and at night - 100 dead, even taking into account the warning received. The victims were also in the Philippines. In Chile, there was no time for rescue work - at first there was a threat of flooding over the affected area, and then volcanoes began to wake up. The Chileans, 500,000 of whom were left homeless, coped only with full exertion and with international assistance. An estimated 3,000 to 10,000 people died.
On the streets of a Chilean city after the earthquake
Chile earthquake echoes affect almost half of the planet
13. Several catastrophic earthquakes have already occurred in the 21st century. The Japanese has already been mentioned, and another has also affected the Asian continent. On December 26, 2004, tremors with a magnitude of 9.1 - 9.3 points occurred in the Indian Ocean - one of the most powerful in history. The tsunami hit all the shores of the Indian Ocean, the deaths were even in South Africa, which is located 7,000 km from the epicenter of the earthquake. Officially, it is believed that 230,000 people died, but many bodies were swept into the sea by a 15-meter wave that hit the Asian shores.
14. On 12 January 2010, about two dozen aftershocks occurred on the island of Haiti. The magnitude of the most powerful was 7 points. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was completely destroyed. In countries with weak economies, the bulk of the population is usually crowded in the capital. Haiti is no exception. Therefore, the number of victims looks so terrifying. More than 220,000 people died in Port-au-Prince without any tsunamis or fires.
Haitians are used to not getting lost in difficult situations. Looting immediately after the earthquake
15. The largest earthquakes in Russia in terms of the number of victims occurred in 1952 on the Kuril Islands and in 1995 on Sakhalin. The tsunami that destroyed the city of Severo-Kurilsk was not officially reported. Approximately 2,500 people died in the city destroyed by the 18-meter wave. In Sakhalin Neftegorsk, which was also 100% destroyed, 2,040 people died.
Neftegorsk after the earthquake decided not to restore
