earth science

List of deadly earthquakes since 1900

List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 rather than just read about it. In short: The following list compiles known earthquakes that have caused one or more fatalities since 1900. The list incorporates high-quality earthquake source (i.e., origin time, location and earthquake magnitude) and fatality information from several sources.

Key takeaways

List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The following list compiles known earthquakes that have caused one or more fatalities since 1900. The list incorporates high-quality earthquake source (i.e., origin time, location and earthquake magnitude) and fatality information from several sources. Earthquake locations are taken from the Centennial Catalog and the updated Engdahl, van der Hilst and Buland earthquake catalog, which is complete to December 2005. From January 2006, earthquake locations are from the United States Geological Survey's Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE) monthly listing. Preferred magnitudes are moment magnitudes taken from the Global Centroid Moment Tensor Database and its predecessor, the Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor Database. Where these magnitude estimates are unavailable, the preferred magnitude estimate is taken from the Centennial Catalog and the PDE. Five columns of fatality estimates are provided. The first two columns are derived from the PDE monthly catalog and indicate deaths resulting from earthquake shaking only (i.e., from partial or total building collapse), and total fatalities resulting from earthquake shaking and secondary effects, such as tsunami, landslide, fire, liquefaction or other factors (e.g., heart failure). Where these secondary effects are reported, they are indicated by "T", "L", "F" or "Lq", respectively. Fatality estimates in the PDE are generally obtained from official sources (e.g., local or national government officials, humanitarian agencies, emergency management agencies, etc.) or media reports within days to weeks after the earthquake. The PDE catalog is not updated if more detailed information becomes available after its final publication, usually four months after the earthquake. The third fatality column is taken from the Utsu catalog of deadly earthquakes, and generally represents the total deaths resulting from an earthquake. The Utsu catalog is complete up until late 2003. The fourth column is derived from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). EM-DAT has been developed and maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Brussels campus of the University of Louvain, Belgium and is a global, multi-hazard (e.g., earthquake, cyclone, drought, flood, volcano, extreme temperatures, etc.) database of human impacts and economic losses. Earthquake source parameters in the EM-DAT are often absent, incomplete, or erroneous. Consequently, several events may be missed in the automated catalog associations. Furthermore, where the impact of an earthquake spans political boundaries, database entries are often subdivided by country. For significant events, the observed fatalities are aggregated and manually associated. The final fatality column is for other sources of shaking deaths and indicates improved fatality estimates from official reports and detailed scholarly studies, where available. The death tolls presented below vary widely in quality and in many cases are estimates only, particularly for the most catastrophic events that result in high fatalities. Note that in some cases, fatalities have been documented, but no numerical value of deaths is given. In these cases, fatality estimates are left blank. Many of the events listed with no numerical value are aftershocks where additional fatalities are aggregated with the main shock.

* Most fatalities attributed to tsunami

See also For death tolls of other natural disasters or significant historical earthquakes that predate 1900, see:

List of natural disasters by death toll Lists of earthquakes

References

External links Earthquake magnitude scales Online PDE earthquake search Global Centroid Moment Tensor search National Geophysical Data Center Significant Earthquake Database EM-DAT International Disaster Database Online Utsu catalogue search Visualization of most powerful and deadliest earthquakes since 1900 Treemap by “The Hive Group”

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of deadly earthquakes since 1900

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of deadly earthquakes since 1900

In research: List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of earthquakes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 in simple terms?

Why does List of deadly earthquakes since 1900 matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of deadly earthquakes since 1900?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of deadly earthquakes since 1900.