Claire7

Hi everyone

I've been doing some research about famous earthquakes and this is what I found.

1. To this day the Shiaanxi quake (Which happened In the morning hours of February 14, 1556 In central China) is known as the single most devastating earthquake on record. It took 830,000 lives, destroyed entire communities, and irreparably scarred the landscape! The Shaanxi quake is estimated to have been magnitude 8.

2. On November 1, 1755, Lisbon was nearly destroyed by an earthquake and the side affect tsunami and fire. The earthquake, was thought to have been magnitude 9, lasted for 3 to 6 minutes and was felt as far away as Finland. It basically tore Lisbon apart; giant fissures ripped across the city's center as the earthquake happened. Cities across Portugal and south-western Spain were also damaged in the earthquake.After the earthquake, buildings in Lisbon collapsed and caught fire. The fires burned for five days, razing many old, irreplaceable structures "( but only in areas not affected by the tidal wave). The violent seismic waves created an equally devastating tidal wave that hit the harbor areas of the city less than an hour later. Between earth, fire, and water, four fifths of Lisbon was destroyed, and 90,000 people were killed.

3. The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 is remembered as a watershed disaster in American History.Occurring in the early morning hours of April 18, the earthquake lasted nearly a minute. It was estimated to be a 7.9 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake damaged structures throughout the city, and several strong aftershocks sent the damaged buildings tumbling down. Adding to the devastation was the fire that came after the earthquake. Lots of buildings in San Francisco were made of wood, were structurally unsound, and were either lit or warmed by wood, coal, and gas-burning devices. After collapsing, these buildings quickly went up in flames. The resulting fire burned for days after the earthquake, razing more than 4 square miles of city before it was finally put out. In the end, San Francisco suffered billions of dollars damage, and modern estimates place the loss of life at over 500.