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

February

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

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Year	Location	Magnitude	Comment

1960	Agadir, Morocco	5.7	12,000 to 15,000 deaths and 25,000 injured. One of the world's deadliest earthquakes. Over one-third of the population of Agadir was killed and at least another third injured by this short-duration earthquake, which lasted less than 15 seconds. It is the most destructive "moderate" quake (magnitude less than 6) in the 20th Century - the direct opposite of the magnitude 8.1 Mongolian earthquake of 04 Dec 1957, which killed very few people. All buildings in the Founti, Kasbah and Yachech sections of Agadir were destroyed or very severely damaged and more than 95 percent of the people in these areas were killed. Over 90 percent of buildings were destroyed or damaged in the Talbordjt district and more than 60 percent were damaged in New City and Front-de-Mer districts. The exact casualty figure is unknown because once it was clear there could be no more survivors in the rubble, much of the area was bulldozed because of health and safety concerns. This moderate quake was so destructive because it was a shallow event right under the city. Also, few buildings had been built to seismic codes because people thought that the area did not have a serious earthquake risk. It had been forgotten that a previous town at this location, named Santa Cruz de Aguer, had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1731.

1972	South of Honshu, Japan	7.2	This earthquake caused four landslides on the island of Hachijo 180 miles south of Tokyo. People were knocked off their feet there and on the nearby Island of Miyake. Electric power was briefly lost, a wall of a government building collapsed, and a forest fire was started by the collapse of a kiln. In Tokyo, tall buildings swayed and objects tumbled from shelves. A tsunami of a few centimeters' amplitude was observed at Tateyama, Cape Shiono Misaki, and other places. From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1972 and Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 4, Number 3.

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