Tsunamis at the beginning of the 21st century, their consequences. The most destructive waves of the last two centuries

On January 12, 2005, a powerful earthquake occurred on the island of Haiti, the magnitude of the tremors reached 7. More than 222 thousand people became victims of the disaster. On the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, we decided to recall the most devastating earthquakes of the 21st century

Afghanistan. 2002

In March 2002, two powerful earthquakes swept across northern Afghanistan. The magnitude of the tremors exceeded 7. About 2,000 people became victims of the disaster, and about 20,000 more Afghans were left homeless.

The first after four years of calm earthquake in northern Afghanistan was recorded March 3, 2002 at about 15:00 Moscow time. The magnitude of the tremors was 7.2. Soil vibrations were felt over a vast territory - from Tajikistan to India. The epicenter was on the Afghan-Pakistani border in the Hindu Kush mountains. More than 100 people died then, dozens more went missing. Assistance to the victims was provided by representatives of the World Food Program, who were in Kabul at that time. Helicopters that were previously used to deliver humanitarian supplies were sent to the two most affected villages in the north of Samangan province.

22 days later, on March 25, 2002, disaster struck Afghanistan again. Underground points with a magnitude of 6.5 to 7 were recorded in the north-east of the country. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 50 kilometers southeast of the city of Kunduz. This time, the elements claimed the lives of about one and a half thousand people, more than four thousand people were injured, about one and a half thousand buildings were destroyed to the ground. Baghlan province was the most affected. The city of Nahrin was completely destroyed. The forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia were involved in the rescue operation. A few more days of tremors were felt in Kabul, in Mazar-i-Sharif, as well as in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and Tajikistan.

Iran. 2003

On December 26, 2003, at 5:26 local time, a devastating earthquake rocked the southeast of Iran. The element completely destroyed the ancient city of Bam. Several tens of thousands of people became victims of the earthquake.

The epicenter of tremors, with a magnitude of 6.7 to 5, was recorded in the southeast of Iran, a few tens of kilometers from the large city of Bam. The authorities of the country urgently turned to the world community with a request for help. More than 60 countries responded to the call, 44 of them sent personnel to help in overcoming the consequences of the disaster. Russia also participated in the rescue operation.

Already in the first hours after the earthquake, it was clear that few people were spared by the elements - the number of victims went to tens of thousands. According to official figures, 35 thousand people died, but later the Minister of Health of Iran reported 70 thousand victims. In addition, Bam was practically wiped off the face of the earth - up to 90% of the buildings were destroyed, many of which were made of clay. As a result, the Iranian government decided not to restore the ancient city, but to rebuild a new one in its place.

Indonesia. 2004

On December 26, 2004 at 07:58 local time, one of the most destructive earthquakes in modern history occurred in the Indian Ocean. The magnitude of the tremors reached 9.3. Following him, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, southern India, Thailand and 14 other countries were covered by a tsunami. The wave destroyed everything in its path. Up to 300 thousand people became victims of the disaster.

Exactly one year, up to an hour after the earthquake in Iranian Bam, the underground points were felt by the inhabitants of Indonesia. The epicenter of the earthquake this time was in the Indian Ocean, north of the island of the Indonesian island of Simeulue, located off the northwestern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The earthquake, which was the third strongest earthquake in the history of observation, provoked waves up to 30 meters high. They reached the shores of the nearest countries in 15 minutes, and the tsunami reached the most remote corners of the Indian Ocean seven hours later. Many states were not ready for such a blow of the elements - most of the coastal zones were taken by surprise. People went to the coast to collect fish that suddenly appeared on land, or admire an unusual natural phenomenon - this was the last thing they saw.

The storm killed hundreds of thousands of people. The exact number of deaths has not yet been established - it ranges from 235 thousand people to 300 thousand, tens of thousands are missing, more than a million people were left without homes. Thousands of tourists from different parts of the world who decided to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays in the Indian Ocean never returned home.

Pakistan. 2005 year

On October 8, 2005 at 8:50 local time, a powerful earthquake was recorded in Pakistan. The magnitude of the tremors was 7.6. According to official figures, more than 74,000 people, including 17,000 children, were killed, and about three million more Pakistanis were left homeless.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Pakistani region of Kashmir, 95 kilometers from Islamabad. The source of tremors lay at a depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake was felt by residents of several countries. The element caused major destruction in northeastern Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India. Many villages were destroyed to the ground. To date, the earthquake in Kashmir is the worst in South Asia in the last 100 years.

Several states offered Pakistan assistance in eliminating the consequences of the rampant disaster. International and non-governmental organizations provided assistance in the form of money, food and medical equipment. Cuba provided special support to Pakistan, sending about a thousand doctors to the disaster zone in the first days after the tragedy.

The exact number of victims of the earthquake is still unknown. According to the authorities, in October 2005, 84 thousand people died, but according to unconfirmed information, the element claimed the lives of up to 200 thousand people.

China. 2008

On May 12, 2008 at 14:28 Beijing time, an earthquake of magnitude 8 occurred in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The element claimed the lives of about 70 thousand people, another 18 thousand were missing.

The epicenter of the earthquake was recorded 75 kilometers from the capital of Sichuan, Chengdu, the focus of the tremors lay at a depth of 19 kilometers. After the main earthquake, more than ten thousand repeated tremors followed. The echoes of the earthquake also reached Beijing, which was located at a distance of one and a half thousand kilometers from the epicenter. The tremors were also felt by residents of India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia and Russia.

According to official figures, more than 69,000 people became victims of the rampage of the elements, 18,000 are missing, 370,000 were injured, and five million Chinese were left homeless. The Sichuan earthquake was the second strongest in the modern history of China, in the first place - Tangshan, which occurred in 1976 and claimed about 250,000 lives.

Haiti. 2010

January 12, 2010 at 16:53 local time, the island nation of Haiti was rocked by a powerful earthquake. The magnitude of the tremors reached 7. The elements completely destroyed the capital of Port-au-Prince. The death toll exceeded 200 thousand people.

After the first earthquake in Haiti, many aftershocks were recorded, of which 15 were with a magnitude of more than 5. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 22 kilometers southwest of the capital of the island state, the focus lay at a depth of 13 kilometers. The Geological Survey later explained that the Haiti Earthquake was the result of the movement of the earth's crust in the zone of contact between the Caribbean and North American lithospheric plates.

The authorities of 37 countries, including Russia, sent rescuers, doctors and humanitarian aid to Haiti. However, the international rescue operation was hampered by the fact that the airport could not cope with a large number of arriving aircraft, it also did not have enough fuel to refuel them. The media claimed that earthquake survivors were dying en masse from acute shortages of clean water, food, medicine and medical care.

According to official figures, the disaster claimed the lives of more than 222 thousand people, about 311 thousand more were injured, more than 800 people are missing. In Port-au-Prince, the elements destroyed several thousand residential buildings and almost all hospitals, leaving about three million people without a roof over their heads.

Japan. 2011

On March 11, 2011 at 14:46 local time, a powerful earthquake struck off the east coast of the island of Honshu in Japan. The magnitude of the tremors reached 9.1. The element claimed the lives of 15870 people, another 2846 are missing.

The epicenter of the tremors was located 373 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, the center lay in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 32 kilometers. After the main shock of magnitude 9.0, a series of aftershocks followed, there were more than 400 in total. The earthquake caused a tsunami that spread throughout the Pacific Ocean, the wave reached Russia.

According to official figures, the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami in 12 prefectures in Japan is 15,870 people, another 2,846 people are missing, and more than six thousand people were injured. The rampage of the elements led to the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The earthquake and tsunami disabled external power supplies and backup diesel generators, which led to the breakdown of all normal and emergency cooling systems, which in turn caused the melting of the reactor core at three power units.

Fukushima-1 was officially closed in December 2013. On the territory of the nuclear power plant, work continues to this day to eliminate the consequences of the accident. According to experts, bringing the object to a stable state can take up to 40 years.

Tsunami (Japanese) - sea gravity waves of very large length, resulting from the shift of extended sections of the bottom during strong underwater and coastal earthquakes or as a result of volcanic eruptions and other tectonic processes. Tsunami waves propagate at high speed - up to 1,000 km/h. The height of the waves in the area of ​​their occurrence varies between 0.01-5.00 m, but near the coast it can reach 10 m, and in unfavorable relief areas (wedge-shaped bays, river valleys, etc.) it can exceed 50 m .

January 31, 1906 An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Colombia and Ecuador, hitting the US West Coast and Japan as well. The resulting tsunami killed about 1.5 thousand people.

February 3, 1923 An 8.5 magnitude earthquake hit Kamchatka. It was the latest in a series of earthquakes during the winter of 1923. Most of these earthquakes triggered tsunamis in the region. The tsunami on February 3 was especially powerful. Significant damage was also caused to the Hawaiian Islands.

February 1, 1938 An earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale off the coast of Indonesia sent a tsunami to the islands of Banda and Kai. There is no data on casualties.

November 4, 1952 As a result of an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred near the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, a tsunami hit the Hawaiian Islands. The amount of material damage caused was about 1 million dollars.

The tsunami also caused the destruction of several cities and towns in the Sakhalin and Kamchatka regions. On November 5, three waves up to 15-18 meters high (according to various sources) destroyed the city of Severo-Kurilsk and caused damage to a number of neighboring settlements. According to official figures, 2336 people died.

March 9, 1957. on the Andrianov Islands, Alaska, there was an earthquake measuring up to 9.1 points. It led to the formation of two tsunamis, the average wave height reached 15 and 8 m, respectively. More than 300 people died as a result of the tsunami. The earthquake and tsunami were accompanied by the eruption of the Vsevidov volcano, which had been "hibernating" for about 200 years.

May 22, 1960. An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale hit southern Chile, causing a tsunami. In Chile, Japan, the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, about 2.3 thousand people were killed, more than 4 thousand were injured, about 2 million people were left homeless. The amount of material damage caused was more than 675 million dollars. For a long time, this tsunami was considered the most powerful and destructive of those recorded.

March 28, 1964 in Alaska, 120 km southeast of Anchorage, an earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale struck, causing a tsunami. 125 people died. The amount of material damage caused was about 311 million dollars.

February 4, 1965 As a result of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale that occurred on the Rat Islands (Alaska), a tsunami hit Shemya Island (Aleutian archipelago).

September 5, 1971 in the Sea of ​​Japan, 50 km from the southwestern coast of Sakhalin, an earthquake occurred. It received the name Moneronskoye after the island of the same name, which turned out to be near the center of the earthquake. The intensity of the shock in the source was estimated at 8 points, in the settlements located opposite the source, the strength of the earth shaking was equal to 7 points. On the southwestern coast of Sakhalin, the maximum wave height of 2 m was recorded in Gornozavodsk and Shebunino. There was no information about casualties and destruction in the media.

December 12, 1992 An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale destroyed a large part of the islands of Flores and Bali, located on the territory of Indonesia. The earthquake caused a tsunami with a wave height of up to 26 m. 2 thousand 200 people died

December 26, 2004 an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, near the western coast of the northern part of the island of Sumatra. An earthquake measuring 8.9-9 points provoked a tsunami that immediately hit the islands of Sumatra and Java. The wave height reached 30 m. The total number of deaths - according to various sources, from 200 to 300 thousand people. More exact figures have not been established so far, since many bodies were carried away by water. To date, it is this tsunami that is considered the most destructive in history.

Tsunami waves spread not only across the Indian Ocean, but also the Pacific, reached the coast of the Kuril Islands.

July 17, 2006 The tsunami hit the southern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. According to various estimates, from 600 to 650 people died from the natural disaster, 120 were missing. 1,800 residents of the coast were injured. The natural disaster left 47,000 people homeless.

In the resort town of Pangandaran, the tsunami destroyed almost all the hotels located on the first line of the coast.

September 29, 2009 An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.3 triggered a tsunami off the coast of the island nation of Samoa in the Pacific Ocean. The total death toll on the islands of Western and American Samoa exceeded 140 people.

February 27, 2010 As a result of an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 that occurred in Chile, a tsunami threat arose for Japan, the Kuriles, Sakhalin, as well as the Philippines and Indonesia.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

About a year ago, in April 2015, an earthquake occurred in Nepal, which caused thousands of deaths and huge destruction, including the most valuable historical monuments. This is one of the strongest earthquakes in history. A cataclysm of this magnitude has become the seventh in a row in the 21st century. Let's take a look at each of them:

Bam, 2003

An earthquake measuring 6.3 occurred on December 26, 2003 in the ancient city of Bam in Iran. On that terrible day, 35,000 people lost their lives, and another 22,000 were injured. And this despite the fact that the population of the city is only 200 thousand inhabitants.

Indian Ocean, 2004

Exactly one year after the Iranian tragedy, an underwater earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean, causing the deadliest tsunami in modern history. The magnitude of the tremors was 9.1–9.3 points. The tsunami hit several countries, among which Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and others were closest to the epicenter. Its destructive power was so great that even in Port Elizabeth (South Africa), 6900 kilometers away from the epicenter, a huge number of people died. The total number of deaths during the disaster reached 225-300 thousand.

Sichuan, 2008

The Sichuan earthquake occurred on May 12, 2008. According to the China Seismological Bureau, the magnitude of the earthquake was 8 Mw. The epicenter of the cataclysm was the seismically active Longmenshan fault, located 75 km from the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. According to official sources, as of August 4, 2008, the death toll was about 70 thousand people, another 18 thousand were missing.

Haiti, 2010

The date of the tragedy was January 12, 2010. Previously, such a devastating earthquake was recorded on the island in 1751. The death toll in the tragedy 6 years ago exceeded 200 thousand people, and material damage amounted to 5.6 billion euros.

Chile, 2010

In the same year, on February 27, one of the strongest earthquakes in the last half century occurred in Chile. An 8.8-magnitude ground wobble caused massive destruction, killing about a thousand people.

Japan, 2011

An earthquake off the coast of the Japanese island of Honshu on March 11, 2011, went down in history as the Great East Japan Earthquake. The strongest earthquake in the history of the country caused an equally terrible tsunami, the wave height of which reached 40 meters. One of the consequences of the disaster was the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The elements destroyed three nuclear reactors, which caused a strong radioactive release into the atmosphere. The death toll exceeded 15 thousand people, about 3 thousand are missing.

Nepal, 2015

On April 25 and 26, 2015, powerful tremors began in Nepal, with a magnitude of 4.2–7.8 Mw. According to the country's government, the death of 4,000 people has been confirmed, and the damage is estimated at $5 billion. In addition, the earthquake triggered avalanches on Everest, killing more than 80 climbers.

24.11.2012

1 Haiti earthquake (313,000 casualties)

The earthquake in Haiti occurred on January 12, 2010 at 16:53 local time. Its magnitude was 7.0 points, and the epicenter was in the area of ​​​​the city of Leogane, which is almost 25 km west of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.

The aftershocks continued until January 24 and had a magnitude of 4.5 points. It is estimated that about 3 million people were affected by the disaster, with the death toll reaching about 316,000, the number of injured 300,000 injured, and a million residents left homeless. The natural disaster became a serious problem as there were serious problems with the distribution of aid, as well as outbreaks of violence and looting.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and 149th out of 182 countries in the Human Development Index. The Haitian education minister, Joel Jean-Pierre, said the country's entire education system has collapsed as nearly 1,300 schools and three major universities in Port-au-Prince have been destroyed. Approximately $1.1 billion has been donated to alleviate the impact.

2 Indian Ocean Tsunami (230,000 casualties)

In December 2004, an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, known in the scientific world as the Sumatra-Adaman earthquake. The epicenter of the tremors was an area near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The tsunami that followed aftershocks claimed the lives of nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries.

The most affected countries were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The earthquake was felt at the same time in places like Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Maldives. The amount of energy released as a result of an earthquake can be compared to an explosion 1502 times larger than the explosion of the bomb thrown on Hiroshima, but less than the explosion of the Tsar Bomba.

This tsunami is considered one of the worst disasters in human history. The waves reached a height of thirty meters, and the vibrations had a magnitude of 9.1 and 9.3 points. This is the third largest earthquake ever recorded by seismographs. It also had the longest duration: 8 to 10 minutes. Overall, the international community has donated more than $14 billion for humanitarian work.

3. Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar (146,000 death toll)

Cyclone Nargis is a tropical cyclone that became Myanmar's worst natural disaster on May 2, 2008, killing about 146,000 people and leaving 55,000 people missing. The death toll may be higher, but the Burmese government, fearful of adverse political repercussions, has understated the numbers.

The damage, according to experts, amounted to 10 billion dollars. This cyclone is the most dangerous in the Northern Indian Ocean basin, the second in the number of deaths after Typhoon Nina in 1975. The name of the cyclone "Nargis" is a word of Persian origin and means the name of the flower "narcissus".

4. 2008 Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan (death toll 86,000)

On the morning of 8:52 local time on October 8, 2005, an earthquake hit the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, affecting neighboring areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and much of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The force of the shocks, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, was 7.8 points. About 75,000 people died, according to official Pakistani government figures, with international experts putting the death toll at 86,000. Various reports suggest that dozens of towns and villages were destroyed in northern Pakistan.

The tremors were also felt in neighboring countries such as Tajikistan, Afghanistan, western China, as well as the Indian part of Kashmir, where about 1,400 people died. The earthquake was a consequence of the growth of the Himalayas. Satellite measurements show that parts of the mountains directly above the epicenter have risen by several meters. About $6.2 billion was received by the Government of Pakistan for disaster relief.

5. Earthquake in Sichuan, China (death toll 67,197)

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, also sometimes referred to as the Great Sichuan earthquake, struck. The strength of the shocks was 8.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake began at 14:28 local time on May 12. According to official figures, about 69,197 people died. It also became known that 374,176 people were injured, 18,222 were missing, and about 4.8 million people were left homeless.

This earthquake is considered the deadliest in China, after the 1976 earthquake in Tanhan province, where about 240,000 people died. Fluctuations were also felt in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in neighboring countries. The Chinese government was forced to spend $146.5 billion to clean up the aftermath of the disaster.

6. Heatwaves from Russia in 2010 (56,000 deaths)

In 2010, the northern hemisphere summer was very extreme in terms of temperature in the United States, Canada, Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Indo-China and the European continent as a whole. It was even dubbed the "Russian heat wave".

The entire period from April to June was the warmest in continental areas in the Northern Hemisphere. These extreme weather conditions have led to wildfires in China and the worst drought in 60 years in Yunnan province. Approximately 56,000 people died in the said region due to this disaster. Moscow and the Moscow region were also suffocating in the smoke of forest fires.

The largest piece of the ice shelf in the Arctic Ocean, which connects Greenland and Neirs Strait, has moved away. Apparently, such anomalies are caused by a high content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which leads to an increase in average temperatures.

7. 2003 Bam earthquake, Iran (43,000 death toll)

An earthquake in the city of Bam and surrounding towns in the province of Kerman in southeastern Iran occurred at 5:46 am local time on December 26, 2003. The quake was rated at 6.6 according to the United States Geological Survey. There were 26,271 deaths and about 30,000 injured.

But some other estimates put the death toll at 43,000. The destruction was catastrophic due to the use of mud brick as a standard material in construction, which did not comply with Iran's 1989 building safety rules. Significantly, about 44 countries immediately sent assistance and 60 made an offer of assistance.

8. The heat wave in Europe in 2003 (the number of victims is 40,000)

In 2003, the European heatwave was a killer factor, especially in France. Due to serious health problems and drought, the death toll has reached almost 40,000. According to the French National Institute of Health, almost 14,802 deaths in France were caused by heat.

In Portugal, where the air temperature reached 48 degrees Celsius, extensive forest fires swept through, almost five percent of the countryside and ten percent of the forests were under fire. In the Netherlands, about 1500 deaths were also associated with high temperatures for this country (almost 37.8 degrees Celsius).

A couple of hundred deaths were reported in Spain and Germany, where temperatures reached 45.1 and 41 degrees Celsius, respectively. In Switzerland, many glaciers in the Alps have melted, causing avalanches and floods. A new national temperature record of 41.5 degrees Celsius was set. Thousands of people died across the UK. The productivity of the agricultural sector was reduced by ten percent due to drought and heat.

9. Tsunami and earthquake in the Tohoku region, Japan (the number of victims is 18,400)

The Tohoku earthquake, also known as the "Pacific Northeast Offshore Earthquake", of about 9.0 magnitude hit the coast of Japan around 2:46 pm local time on March 11, 2011. The epicenter was located 72 km east of the Oshika Peninsula in the Tohoku region. Tsunami waves reached 23.6 m. They reached the coast of Japan within a few minutes after the earthquake. A smaller shock wave reached other countries along the Pacific coast a few hours later.