Search Results for: water

The 1965 Valparaíso earthquake (also known as the La Ligua earthquake) struck near La Ligua in Valparaíso Region, Chile, about 140 km (87 mi) from the capital Santiago on Sunday, March 28 at 12:33 local time. The moment magnitude (Mw ) 7.4–7.6 earthquake killed 400–500 people and inflicted US$1 billion (adjusted for inflation) in damage.[1][2] Many deaths were from El Cobre, a mining location that was wiped out after a […]

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 pm AKST on Good Friday, March 27.[3] Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths.[4] Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second most powerful earthquake ever

The Brunner Mine disaster happened at 9:30 am on Thursday 26 March 1896 (NZMT; UTC+11:30), when an explosion deep in the Brunner Mine, in the West Coast region of New Zealand, killed all 65 miners below ground. The Brunner Mine disaster is the deadliest mining disaster in New Zealand’s history.[1] The royal commission of inquiry put the cause of the disaster to a blown-out shot

The 1947 Gisborne earthquakes and tsunami occurred east of Gisborne and offshore from New Zealand’s North Island. Both the two earthquakes are estimated to have measured at most 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale.[1] The first earthquake, which struck offshore Poverty Bay on 26 March 1947 at 8:32 am NZST, seemed like a minor earthquake in Gisborne,[2] but was 7.0–7.1 Mw.[3] It generated a tsunami with a maximum

The 1929 Arthur’s Pass earthquake occurred at 10:50 pm NZMT on 9 March. The sparsely settled region around Arthur’s Pass of the Southern Alps shook for four minutes.[1] Tremors continued almost continuously until midnight and sporadic strong aftershocks were felt for several days. The earthquake was measured at 7.1 on the Richter magnitude scale and the intensity of shaking in the epicentral region has been assessed from

Severe Tropical Cyclone Bola was one of the costliest cyclones in the history of New Zealand,[1] causing severe damage as an extratropical cyclone when it passed near the country in March 1988. It formed on February 24 to the north of Fiji, and tracking generally southwestward it reached hurricane-force winds near Vanuatu on February 28. The next day it generated peak wind velocities of 195 km/h

19 February 1938 Twenty men and one woman drowned when a cloudburst sent a wall of water surging through a public works camp in the Kōpuawhara Valley, near Māhia. Located on the banks of the Kōpuawhara Stream, the no. 4 camp accommodated workers building the Wairoa–Gisborne railway. Houses for married men were on higher ground,

On 9 December 2019, Whakaari / White Island, an active stratovolcano island in New Zealand’s northeastern Bay of Plenty region, explosively erupted.[3] The island was a popular tourist destination, known for its volcanic activity, and 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found

The Mount Erebus disaster occurred on 28 November 1979 when Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE901)[nb 1] flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board.[1][2] Air New Zealand had been operating scheduled Antarctic sightseeing flights since 1977. This flight was supposed to leave Auckland Airport in the morning and spend a few hours flying over the Antarctic continent, before returning to

The 1970 Bhola cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970[1]) was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India’s West Bengal on November 12, 1970.[2] It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the world’s deadliest humanitarian disasters. At least 300,000 people died in the storm,[3] possibly as many as 500,000,[4][5] primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much