Earthquakes, December 1976

Abstract

The month of December was seismically quiet compared to the previous months of the year. There were no major earthquakes during the month and only one that caused fatalities. On December 8, the Republic of South Africa was struck by an earthquake that caused deaths and damage. The United States experienced number of earthquakes, but only very minor damage was reported. This year ended with 18 earthquakes of magnitudes 7.0 or greater and probably ranks as the world's worst year for earthquake fatalities since 1556 when 830,000 people were killed in China.