earthquakes1

__**1) What was the MOST destructive earthquake in History?**__

Most Destructive Known Earthquake on Record in the World
Additional details from Gu, et.al.: In Huaxian, "city walls, temples, offices and civilian houses were demolished, without a single wall left standing.... The ground fissured and sunk. Water gushed out and formed canals. Sixty percent of the people (several tens of thousands were killed or injured." In Weinan [15 miles (24 km) west of Huaxian], "city walls, temples, storehouses, offices and civilian houses collapsed totally.... In the city, the ground sunk for more than 3 meters. Fifty percent of the people were killed." In Xi'an [one of China's major cities then as it is now], "city walls, storeyed buildings and terraces collapsed. Most temples were destroyed. More than half of the houses toppled down. Only 10-20 percent of the walls were left standing. The ground fissured crisscross. Thirty percent of the people were killed." Even as far away as Taiyuan, "houses were destroyed in great numbers." In many references, this earthquake is referred to as the "Shensi Province earthquake of 1556" using the old spelling for the province. [[| 310]] ||
 * ~ Date UTC ||~ Location ||~ Deaths ||~ Magnitude ||~ Comments ||
 * 1556 01 23 || Shaanxi (Shensi), China || 830,000 || ~8 || The earthquake occurred near Huaxian, Shaanxi (formerly Shensi), China, about 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi. More than 830,000 people were killed. Damage extended as far away as Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi (formerly Shansi) and about 270 miles (430 km) northeast of the epicenter. There are felt reports as far away as Liuyang in Hunan, more than 500 miles (800 km) away. Geological effects reported with this earthquake included ground fissures, uplift, subsidence, sandblows, liquefaction and landslides. Most towns in the damage area reported city walls collapsed, most to all houses collapsed and many of the towns reported ground fissures with water gushing out (ie. liquefaction and sandblows). Gu, et.al. says that "the identified death toll of soldiers and civilians was 830,000, and the unidentified was uncountable." The earthquake was felt in all or parts of 9 provinces: Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Shanxi. The maximum intensity is XI in the Huaxian-Weinan area and the estimated magnitude is 8.

[] [] This is my source for the picture. __**2) How much powerful is a 8.7 magnitude EQ than a 5.8 magnitude?**__

A magnitude 8.7 earthquake is 794 times BIGGER on a seismogram than a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. The magnitude scale is logarithmic, so

code (10**8.7)/(10**5.8) = (5.01*10**9)/(6.31*10**6)                      = .794*10**3                       = 794                     OR                       = 10**(8.7-5.8) = 10**2.9                      = 794.328 code

Another way to get about the same answer without using a calculator is that since 1 unit of magnitude is 10 times the amplitude on a seismogram and 0.1 unit of magnitude is about 1.3 times the amplitude, we can get, code 10 * 10 * 10 / 1.3 = 769 times code code code The magnitude scale is really comparing amplitudes of waves on a seismogram, not the STRENGTH (energy) of the quakes. So, a magnitude 8.7 is 794 times bigger than a 5.8 quake as measured on seismograms, but the 8.7 quake is about 23,000 times STRONGER than the 5.8! Since it is really the energy or strength that knocks down buildings, this is really the more important comparison. This means that it would take about 23,000 quakes of magnitude 5.8 to equal the energy released by one magnitude 8.7 event. Here's how we get that number:

code

32 * 32 * 32 / 1.4 = 23,405 or about 23,000

code The actual formula would be:

code

((10**1.5)**8.7)/((10**1.5)**5.8) = 10**(1.5*(8.7-5.8))** **= 10**(1.5*2.9)  = 22,387

code This explains why big quakes are so much more devastating than small ones. The amplitude ("size") differences are big enough, but the energy ("strength") differences are huge. The amplitude numbers are neater and a little easier to explain, which is why those are used more often in publications. But it's the energy that does the damage.

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5.8 Earthquake [] 8.7 Earthquake []

In 2010 AEIC located a total of 30,811 seismic events in the State of Alaska.
 * __3) How many 2.0 magnitude or ABOVE EQ occured in Alaska in 2010?__**

[] click here to view more graphs like the one above.(This is also my source.)

__**4) The EQ in Volcano Islands, Japan was a 5.6. What is the relationship or cause/effect of the New Zealand EQ yesterday?**__ The Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake was an aftershock of another earthquake from Japan. []

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Tectonic [] [] []
 * __5)Which EQ is more devastating, tectonic or volcanic?__**

= Earthquake in the central region of Alaska=
 * __6) What were the three recent earthquakes in the US?__**
 * __a)Alaska__**





Preferred Hypocentral Solution:

 * Local Date: || Wednesday March 2nd, 2011 ||
 * Local Time: || 08:02 AM AKST ||
 * Universal Time: || 03/02/2011 17:02:02.342 UTC ||
 * Magnitude: || 1.40 ML ||
 * Latitude: || 63.0590 ||
 * Longitude: || -151.5427 ||
 * Depth: || 3 miles (5 km) ||
 * Author: || oa_opDbgMlMwp ||

This earthquake was:

 * 37 miles (59 km) SSW of Kantishna ||
 * 59 miles (94 km) ESE of Telida ||
 * 62 miles (98 km) SSE of Lake Minchumina ||
 * 69 miles (110 km) NW of Talkeetna ||
 * 78 miles (124 km) N of Skwentna ||
 * 84 miles (135 km) WSW of Cantwell ||
 * 89 miles (142 km) E of Nikolai ||
 * 89 miles (143 km) WSW of Denali Park ||
 * 97 miles (156 km) WSW of Healy ||
 * 104 miles (166 km) NNW of Willow ||
 * 106 miles (169 km) NNE of Hayes Volcano ||
 * 115 miles (184 km) NW of Hatcher Pass ||
 * 115 miles (184 km) SW of Clear ||
 * 123 miles (198 km) NNW of Wasilla ||
 * 124 miles (199 km) N of Mt. Spurr ||
 * 139 miles (222 km) NNW of Anchorage ||
 * 170 miles (272 km) SW of Fairbanks ||
 * 216 miles (346 km) NW of Valdez ||
 * 667 miles (1067 km) NW of Juneau ||

__**b)California**__ __**[]**__ visit this website to view a chart with 422 earthquakes from the California-Nevada.
 * __c)Arkansas__**
 * __[|http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/arkansas/022811-latest-arkansas-earthquakes-rattle-memphis#]__** click here to view a news report on a recent earthquake in Rattle Memphis, Arkansas.


 * __7) Provide all the information you can possible about the New Zealand earthquake yesterday.__**
 * __a) time of the day it hit__**
 * __[]__**