The Pacific Rim shakes, rattles, and rolls
![[USGS] The ring of fire: where the greatest earthquakes strike](2001-12-26-earthquake-city.gif) Q: Which city in the world has most earthquakes? --Lionel Z., first grade, Lawrenceville, NJ
A: I imagine you're interested in what city has the most big earthquakes. The belt where the world's
greatest earthquakes strike circles the rim of the Pacific Ocean. Here 81 percent of the world's largest
earthquakes shake the land. See map. This belt encompasses growing mountain ranges and deep
ocean trenches that parallel the ranges.
Right: [USGS] The ring of fire: where the greatest earthquakes strike
"The reason the land shakes is that great slabs of the Earth's crust under the Pacific Ocean slide
spasmodically beneath and alongside the continents," says geophysicist Eric Geist of the US
Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California. The mountains are growing, he says, because the tectonic plate movement squeezes the
continental crust and melts rocks. The molten rock oozes to the surface and creates volcanoes.
![[August Kengelbacher] Great earthquake of 1923 hit Kanto plain around Tokyo](2001-12-26-earthquake-city-people.jpg) Left: [August Kengelbacher] Great earthquake of 1923 hit Kanto plain around Tokyo
"Earthquake city" lies on this belt containing the world's greatest earthquakes. Probably Tokyo wins
the contest. In 1923, Tokyo's worst earthquake hit the plain surrounding the city and killed about
140,000 people. The city experiences big quakes frequently.
Some earthquake facts:
- The largest recorded earthquake in the United States (magnitude 9.2) struck Prince William Sound,
Alaska on March 28, 1964.
- Since 1900, the largest earthquake recorded in the world (magnitude 9.5) hit Chile on May 22, 1960.
- The most destructive known earthquake on record in the world devastated Shansi China on January
23, 1556. It killed 830,000 people.
- Alaska and California are the states with the most earthquakes.
- Florida and North Dakota have the least. Antarctica has the least of any continent.
- The world has about 8,000 tiny earthquakes a day but only one big one (greater than magnitude 8)
on the average each year.
(Answered by April Holladay, science correspondent, December 26, 2001)
Further Surfing:
United States Geological Survey (USGS): Past earthquakes
United States Geological Survey (USGS): Cool earthquake facts
Japan Guide: Earthquakes in Japan
|
|
