Today in Earthquake History

Today's Earthquake Fact:
The oldest rocks on Earth are found on land. Since the ocean floor is being continually regenerated as the continental plates move across the Earth's surface, the oldest rocks on the ocean floor are less than 300 million years. In contrast, the oldest continental rocks are 4,500 million years old.

Year at a Glance

January

Note: All earthquake dates are UTC, not local time.

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Year	Location	Magnitude	Comment

1911	Chong-Kemin (Bol'shoy Kemin), Kyrgyzstan (Turkestan, Russia)	7.8	More than 450 killed. Damage occurred in the Chong-Kemin (Bol'shoy Kemin) Valley as well as at Anan'yevo (Sazanovka) and Oytal (Urtal), Kyrgyzstan. Over 770 brick buildings were destroyed at Almaty (Vernyy, Alma-Ata), Kazakhstan. Faulting, fractures and large landslides were observed over an area 200 km (125 mi) long in the Chong-Kemin and Chilik Valleys and along the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul'. Hanging objects swung in cities more than 1,000 km (625 mi) away in Kazakhstan and Russia. From N.V. Kondorskaya and N.V. Shebalin, eds., New Catalog of Strong Earthquakes in the U.S.S.R. from Ancient Times through 1977, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center Report SE-31, Boulder, Colorado, 1982. (Update and English translation of Noviy Katalog Sil'nykh Zemlyetryaseniy na Territoriy SSSR s Drevneyshikh Vremyen do 1975 g., USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1977.)

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