Earthquakes, January-February, 1980
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The largest earthquake in over a century struck Hawaii the morning of November 29, 1975, at 4:48 AM HST. The earthquake was of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale. It was centered about 5 km beneath the Kalapana area on the southeastern coast of Hawaii, the largest island of the Hawaiian chain (Fig. 1) and was preceded by numerous foreshocks. The event was accompanied, or followed shortly, by a tsunami, large-scale ground movemtns, hundreds of aftershocks, an eruption in the summit caldera of Kilauea Volcano. The earthquake and the tsunami it generated produced about 4.1 million dollars in property damage, and the tsumani caused two deaths. Although we have some preliminary findings about the cause and effects of the earthquake, detailed scientific investigations will take many more months to complete. This article is condensed from a recent preliminary report (Tillings an others 1976)
A minor earthquake occurred in western Nevada on January 9 at 6:59 a.m. PST. The magnitude 3.8 earthquake was located about 16 miles west of Carson City. MM IV effects were noted at Minden. On February 16 at 12:21 a.m. and February 23 at 3:10 a.m. PST, minor earthquakes occurred in southern most part of the States; they had magnitudes of 3.0 and 3.9, respectively, and were located in the Lake Mead area near Boulder City. The quakes were felt at Boulder City and Henderson, Nevada, and at Temple Bar, Arizona.
There were three major earthquakes (7.0-7.9) during this reporting period. The first and largest was a magnitude 7.7 on September 1 in the Samoa Islands region in the South Pacific. A magnitude 7.2 occurred on October 16 off the coast of central Chile. The third, on October 25 in Michoacan, Mexico, had a magnitude of 7.1. Two earthquakes which caused fatalities were in Kashmir and Venezuela, on September 12 and October 18. They had magnitudes 6.1 and 5.4, respectively. In the United States, a number of earthquakes were experienced during the 2 months, but caused only lsight damage. The largest was a magntidue 5.9 on September 4 in southern California.
The last 2 months of the year were somewhat active, seismically speaking, including three major earthquakes (7.0-7.9) during the month of December. The first of the major quakes was in the Aegean Sea on December 19, and the other two were in the South Pacific in the Kermadee Islands on December 24 and 26. Earthquake fatalities were experienced in Pakistan on December 12, and consdierable damage was reported in the eastern Caucasus. In the United States, a number of earthquakes were experienced, but no significant damage occurred.
There were four major earthquakes (7.0-7.9) during this reporting period: two struck in Mexico, one in El Salvador, and one in teh Kuril Islands. Mexico, El Salvador, and China experienced fatalities from earthquakes. In the United States, a number of earthquakes occurred, but only one, in Utah caused some minor damage.
The earthquake activity during this reporting period was somewhat quiet as far a significant earthquakes were concerned. There were no major [magnitude (m)=7.0-7.9] earthquakes during this reporting period, but five people were reported killed in Peru from earthquakes on March 24 and 28. A number earthquakes occurred in the United States, but no damage was reported.
A number of significant earthquakes occurred in many parts of the world during the first month of this year. The first major earthquake (magnitude 7.0-7.9) of the year was on January 11 in the Philippine Islands. the second major quake, on January 18 in the Aegean Sea, was followed by several other earthquakes which caused injuries or damage in other parts of the world. In the United States, a number of earthquakes occurred, but only minor damage was reported. Arkansas experienced a swarm of earthquakes beginning on January 12. Canada experienced one of its strongest earthquakes in a number of years on January 9; this earthquake caused slight damage in Maine.
There was on major earthquake (7.0-7.9) during this reporting period on April 24 in the Vanuatu Islands (formerly the New Hebrides islands). the series of strong earthquakes continued in Greece and caused additional casualties and damage, and Peru expereinced a moderate earthquake that caused fatalities and damage on April 18. In the United States, a damaging shock struck southern California on April 26.
The last 2 months of the year were quite active, seismically speaking. Damaging earthquakes were expereinced in Indonesia, including Java, Sumatra, and Bali, and in Greece, Iran, and the Fiji Islands. Colombia expereinced two earthquakes; the most destructive was a magnitude 7.9 on December 12 that killed 600 people. In the United States, many earthquakes occurred, but none caused significant damage.
Two of the three major (7.0-7.9) earthquakes during this reporting period occurred in the South Pacific on March 8 and April 13. The third, in the Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, on March 23, was the first major earthquake of the year in the United States. In the State of Washington, thousands of earthquakes associated with Mount St. Helens volcano have occurred since March 20. There were no earthquake-related deaths reported during the second 2 months of the year.
The months of September and October were somewhat quiet seismically speaking. One major earthquake, magnitude (M) 7.7 occurred in Iran on September 16. In Germany, a magntidue 5.0 earthquake caused damage and considerable alarm to many people in parts of that country. In the United States, the largest earthquake occurred along the California-Nevada border region.
Seismically speaking, the last 2 months were the most active of the year. There were six major earthuakes having magnitudes (M) ranging from 7.0 to 7.9 throughout the world: the Solomon Islands, Mexico (the largest of the year, M=7.9), the Kuril Islands, Taiwan, the Philippine Islands, and western Iran. THe Iranian earthquake was hte most devastating and caused a considerable number of casualties and damage. In the United States, a number of earthquakes were experienced, but only minor damage was reported.
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Two major earthquakes occurred in the last 2 months of the year. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck San Juan Province, Argentina, on November 23, causing fatalities and damage. The second major earthquake was a magnitude 7.0 in the Bonin Islands region, an unpopulated area. On December 19, Iran experienced a destructive earthquake, which killed over 500. In the United States, the largest earthquake during this reporting period was a magntidue 6.6 in the Andreanof Islands, which are part of the Aleutian Islands chain, on November 4 that caused some minor damage. Northern California was struck by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake on November 22 causing moderate damage in the Willits area. This was the most damaging quake in the United States during the year. Two major earthquakes of magntidues 7.0 or above to 14 for the year.
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Earthquakes caused fatalities in Mexico and Sicily; injuries and damage were sustained in eastern Kazakh SSR and Yugoslavia. There were four major earthquakes; one south of Honshu, Japan, two in the Kuril Islands region, and one in the Soviet Union. The United States experienced a number of earthquakes, but only very minor damage was reported.
July and August were somewhat active seismically speaking, compared to previous months of this year. There were seven earthquakes having magnitudes of 6.5 or greater. The largest was a magnitudes of 6.5 or greater. The largest was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake south of Sumbawa Island on August 19 that killed at least 111. The United States experienced a number of earthquakes during this period, but only one, in California, caused some minor damage.