Today March 7th, 2012

M7 - China, 1966

More than 135,000 houses collapsed and 190,000 were severely damaged in Hebei Province. The worst damage was in Julu County, where over 106,000 houses collapsed and another 100,000 were heavily damaged. Some houses collapsed in Shanxi (Shansi) Province. It was felt throughout Hebei and Shanxi Provinces and in most of Henan (Honan) and Shandong (Shantung) Provinces. Ground fissures and sandblows occurred along the banks of the Fuyang River. Except for reports that 4,166 families "suffered disaster" in Longyao County and that great numbers of medical personnel had been rushed to Xingtai (Singtai) to care for the victims, no casualty figures were released for this earthquake. Based on the amount of damage and time of day it occurred, we assume that it killed at least 1,000 people, and very likely many more than that.

M7.8 Alaska 1929

M7.6 - Japan, 1927

3,020 deaths. One of the world's deadliest earthquakes.
More than 1,100 people killed and 98% of the houses in Mineyama destroyed by the earthquake and subsequent fires. The quake was felt from Kagoshima to Tokyo. Faulting was observed on the Gomura and Yamada Faults, at right angles to each other at the base of the Tango Peninsula.