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8.9: Case Studies

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    15778
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    Video explaining the seismic activity and hazards of the Intermountain Seismic Belt and the Wasatch Fault, a large intraplate area of seismic activity.

    North American Earthquakes

    Basin and Range Earthquakes—Earthquakes in the Basin and Range Province, from the Wasatch Fault (Utah) to the Sierra Nevada (California), occur primarily in normal faults created by tensional forces. The Wasatch Fault, which defines the eastern extent of the Basin and Range province, has been studied as an earthquake hazard for more than 100 years.

    New Madrid Earthquakes (1811-1812)—Historical accounts of earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone date as far back as 1699 and earthquakes continue to be reported in modern times [11]. A sequence of large (Mw >7) occurred from December 1811 to February 1812 in the New Madrid area of Missouri [12]. The earthquakes damaged houses in St. Louis, affected the stream course of the Mississippi River, and leveled the town of New Madrid. These earthquakes were the result of intraplate seismic activity [9].

    Charleston (1868)—The 1868 earthquake in Charleston South Carolina was a moment magnitude 7.0, with a Mercalli intensity of X, caused significant ground motion, and killed at least 60 people. This intraplate earthquake was likely associated with ancient faults created during the breakup of Pangea. The earthquake caused significant liquefaction [13]. Scientists estimate the recurrence of destructive earthquakes in this area with an interval of approximately 1500 to 1800 years.

    Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (1906)—On April 18, 1906, a large earthquake, with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.8 and MMI of X, occurred along the San Andreas fault near San Francisco California. There were multiple aftershocks followed by devastating fires, resulting in about 80% of the city being destroyed. Geologists G.K. Gilbert and Richard L. Humphrey, working independently, arrived the day following the earthquake and took measurements and photographs [14].

    Wide view of rubble and skeletons of buildings that remain, some still smoking.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Remains of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

    Alaska (1964)—The 1964 Alaska earthquake, moment magnitude 9.2, was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The earthquake originated in a megathrust fault along the Aleutian subduction zone. The earthquake caused large areas of land subsidence and uplift, as well as significant mass wasting.

    Video from the USGS about the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

    Loma Prieta (1989)—The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake was created by movement along the San Andreas Fault. The moment magnitude 6.9 earthquake was followed by a magnitude of 5.2 aftershock. It caused 63 deaths, buckled portions of the several freeways, and collapsed part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

    This video shows how shaking propagated across the Bay Area during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

    This video shows the destruction caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

    Global Earthquakes

    Many of history’s largest earthquakes occurred in megathrust zones, such as the Cascadia Subduction Zone (Washington and Oregon coasts) and Mt. Rainier (Washington).

    Shaanxi, China (1556)—On January 23, 1556 an earthquake of an approximate moment magnitude 8 hit central China, killing approximately 830,000 people in what is considered the most deadly earthquake in history. The high death toll was attributed to the collapse of cave dwellings (yaodong) built in loess deposits, which are large banks of windblown, compacted sediment (see Chapter 5). Earthquakes in this are region are believed to have a recurrence interval of 1000 years. [15].

    Lisbon, Portugal (1755)—On November 1, 1755 an earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude range of 8–9 struck Lisbon, Portugal [13], killing between 10,000 to 17,400 people [16]. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami.

    Valdivia, Chile (1960)—The May 22, 1960 earthquake was the most powerful earthquake ever measured, with a moment magnitude of 9.4–9.6 and lasting an estimated 10 minutes. It triggered tsunamis that destroyed houses across the Pacific Ocean in Japan and Hawaii and caused vents to erupt on the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile).

    Video describing the tsunami produced by the 1960 Chili earthquake.

    Tangshan, China (1976)—Just before 4 a.m. (Beijing time) on July 28, 1976 a moment magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Tangshan (Hebei Province), China, and killed more than 240,000 people. The high death toll is attributed to people still being asleep or at home and most buildings being made of URM.

    Sumatra, Indonesia (2004)—On December 26, 2004, slippage of the Sunda megathrust fault generated a moment magnitude 9.0–9.3 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia [17]. This megathrust fault is created by the Australia plate subducting below the Sunda plate in the Indian Ocean [18]. The resultant tsunamis created massive waves as tall as 24 m (79 ft) when they reached the shore and killed more than an estimated 200,000 people along the Indian Ocean coastline.

    Haiti (2010)—The moment magnitude 7 earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010, was followed by many aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or higher. More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the earthquake. The widespread infrastructure damage and crowded conditions contributed to a cholera outbreak, which is estimated to have caused thousands more deaths.

    Tōhoku, Japan (2011)—Because most Japanese buildings are designed to tolerate earthquakes, the moment magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011, was not as destructive as the tsunami it created. The tsunami caused more than 15,000 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in damage, including the destructive meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.


    This page titled 8.9: Case Studies is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Chris Johnson, Matthew D. Affolter, Paul Inkenbrandt, & Cam Mosher (OpenGeology) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.