World Earthquake Deaths Tripled During 1998
January 24, 1999 - 0:0
WASHINGTON Almost 9,000 people were killed worldwide in earthquakes during 1998, triple the number that died the year before and a twentyfold increase from 1996, the U.S. government said. Despite the rise in deaths, the number of people killed by earthquakes last year was still under the long-term average of about 10,000 annually. This is the fifth consecutive year in which the death toll has been below average worldwide, said Waverly Person, a director with the U.S. Geological Survey, which recently compiled the earthquake data.
The agency's analysis showed that 8,928 people died from earthquakes around the globe in 1998, compared to 2,907 the previous year and just 419 people in 1996. Most of last year's deaths, 6,323 fatalities, occurred in two earthquakes that hit the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia. No earthquake deaths occurred last year in the United States, where the three strongest temblors took place in Alaska during the summer and each had a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale.
The strongest earthquake in the world last year registered an 8.3 on the Richter scale and took place on March 25 in the Balleny Islands region between Australia and Antarctica. The only other earthquake above an 8.0 occurred on November 29 in the Ceram Sea near Indonesia, registering 8.1 and killing 34 people. Only 10 earthquakes last year were classified as major, meaning they had a magnitude of 7.0 to 7.9.
That is well below the average of 20 major earthquakes that hit each year, the agency said. Although it may seem we are having more earthquakes, this is not the case, Person said. In fact, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher have remained fairly constant throughout this century, he said. The impression that more earthquakes are occurring could be due to the agency's ability to detect more earthquakes thanks to the growing number of seismograph stations around the world, Person said.
He added earthquakes are not getting stronger, but their effects are more pronounced as the world population grows and more property is built that cannot withstand earthquakes. The agency estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year, but that most go undetected because they take place in remote areas or are not very strong. The U.S. Geological Survey detects between 18,000 and 20,000 earthquakes annually, equal to about 50 a day.
A 5.2 earthquake on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on September 25 resulted in the greatest number of inquiries to the agency. While this earthquake did not cause much damage, it was felt strongly throughout northern Ohio and most of Pennsylvania, and as far away as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and southern Ontario. (Reuter)
The agency's analysis showed that 8,928 people died from earthquakes around the globe in 1998, compared to 2,907 the previous year and just 419 people in 1996. Most of last year's deaths, 6,323 fatalities, occurred in two earthquakes that hit the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia. No earthquake deaths occurred last year in the United States, where the three strongest temblors took place in Alaska during the summer and each had a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale.
The strongest earthquake in the world last year registered an 8.3 on the Richter scale and took place on March 25 in the Balleny Islands region between Australia and Antarctica. The only other earthquake above an 8.0 occurred on November 29 in the Ceram Sea near Indonesia, registering 8.1 and killing 34 people. Only 10 earthquakes last year were classified as major, meaning they had a magnitude of 7.0 to 7.9.
That is well below the average of 20 major earthquakes that hit each year, the agency said. Although it may seem we are having more earthquakes, this is not the case, Person said. In fact, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher have remained fairly constant throughout this century, he said. The impression that more earthquakes are occurring could be due to the agency's ability to detect more earthquakes thanks to the growing number of seismograph stations around the world, Person said.
He added earthquakes are not getting stronger, but their effects are more pronounced as the world population grows and more property is built that cannot withstand earthquakes. The agency estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year, but that most go undetected because they take place in remote areas or are not very strong. The U.S. Geological Survey detects between 18,000 and 20,000 earthquakes annually, equal to about 50 a day.
A 5.2 earthquake on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on September 25 resulted in the greatest number of inquiries to the agency. While this earthquake did not cause much damage, it was felt strongly throughout northern Ohio and most of Pennsylvania, and as far away as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and southern Ontario. (Reuter)