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

1970	Tonghai, Yunnan Province, China	7.5	10,000 deaths. One of the world's deadliest earthquakes. The earthquake was centered 75 miles southwest of Kunming, a city of almost one million population, and 60 miles northwest of Gejiu (Kokiu), which has 180,000 people. Residents in Hanoi, North Vietnam, about 300 miiles from the epicenter, fled from their homes in terror as the temblor rumbled through that city. From the Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 2, Number 3. That severe damage occurred in the Tonghai area may be inferred from the approximate number of casualties, which was announced in 1988. It caused about 50 km (about 30 mi) of surface faulting on the Tonghai Fault, with maximum horizontal offset of 2.5 m (8 ft) and vertical offset of about 0.5 m (1.5 ft).

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