General knowledge: The deadliest earthquake in history
(World): Humans have been documenting earthquakes for almost 4,000 years. One of the most known earthquakes in China was in 1556. On January 23 of that year, a strong earthquake shook Shaanxi Province in central China. As a result, up to 830,000 people are estimated to have died.
The above event is named in the historical record as the Great Jiajing Earthquake because it occurred during the reign of the Chinese Emperor "Chea Jing" of the Ming Dynasty. The massive death toll comes from records from that period, which recorded 26 other earthquakes in the region.
According to the descriptions in those records, the Jiajing earthquake seemed to be very different from other earthquakes. The records claim that mountains collapsed, floods and fires raged for days, while the landscape changed dramatically. The same record estimates that some areas are likely to lose up to 60 percent of their population.
Although we can not be 100% sure that the estimates are accurate, the Jiajing earthquake can still be considered the deadliest earthquake ever to date due to the number of people. The death toll is far higher than in any other earthquake disaster.
The deadliest earthquake in the world was the 2004 Jiajing earthquake, which was triggered by a 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It has killed 230,000 people in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other affected countries.
After the Richter scale was developed in the 1930s, scientists concluded that the Jiajing earthquake was probably 8.0-8.3 on the Richter scale. While it is not the strongest level in history, it is certainly an enormous level.
The strongest earthquake was the earthquake in Valdivia, Chile, in 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5. The quake also triggered a tsunami that killed at least 5,700 people. The magnitude of the earthquake that triggered the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was 9.3 on the Richter scale.
Therefore, if the Jiajing earthquake was not the strongest earthquake in history, why did it cause so many deaths? The reason is likely due to a combination of overcrowded communities and the lack of technical and less solid stone structures. According to records from the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, Chinese people in Shannxi Province are trying to use bamboo and wood to rebuild, because during an earthquake it will not be as dangerous as construction. From the stone.
