History of earthquake

The first earthquake for which we have descriptive data happened in 1177 B.C. in China.
Several dozen big earthquakes will occur in China during the next several thousand years,
according to the Chinese earthquake database. Earthquakes have been reported in Europe as
early as 580 B.C., but the first for which we have any specific information happened in the mid-
16th century. The first known earthquakes in the Americas occurred in Mexico in the late 14th
century and in Peru in 1471, although records of the effects were insufficient. During the 17th
century, tales of earthquake effects were being published all throughout the world, albeit these
accounts were sometimes exaggerated or twisted.

The most extensively felt earthquakes in North America's documented history were a
sequence that occurred in 1811-1812 at New Madrid, Missouri. In the morning of December 16,
1811, a large earthquake with a magnitude of roughly 8 occurred. Another powerful earthquake
struck on January 23, 1812, followed by a third, the biggest yet, on February 7, 1812.
Aftershocks were almost constant between these massive earthquakes and lasted for months
thereafter. People as far away as Boston and Colorado were affected by these earthquakes.
Because the most extreme impacts occurred in a sparsely inhabited area, the loss of human life
and property was minimal. Millions of people, buildings, and other things worth billions of
dollars would be affected if only one of these massive earthquakes struck the same location
today.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was one of the most severe in North American
recorded history, killing approximately 700 people and destroying the city. The Alaska
earthquake of March 27, 1964, was larger in magnitude than the San Francisco earthquake,
releasing possibly twice as much energy and being felt over a region of about 500,000 square
miles. The ground motion around the epicenter was so powerful that it broke the tops of some
trees. This earthquake killed 141 people (some from as far away as California), but the loss of
life and property would have been much worse had Alaska been more thickly inhabited.

History of Floods