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The Biggest Earthquake in History

| May 22, 2013 @ 3:03 pm

Steve Jones of AlabamaQuake.com supplied the following piece of interesting seismic history today:

“At 3:11 pm (19:11 UTC) on the afternoon of Saturday, 22 May 1960, the devastating magnitude 9.5 (Mw) event struck
in west-central Chile. Severe damage from shaking occurred in the epicentral Valdivia-Puerto Montt area. Although there are many different casualty estimates for this earthquake ranging from a low of 490 to a high of “approximately 6000,” most historical reports place this figure at 1655 deaths. Much of the damage and many of the casualties were due to large tsunamis which caused damage along the coast of Chile and in many areas across the Pacific Ocean, where fatalities from this quake were recorded as far away at the Philippines.”

Here is link to his full story.

Category: Headlines, Met 101/Weather History

About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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