Today in Earthquake History

Today's Earthquake Fact:
One of man's persistent fears about earthquakes is that the Earth will open and swallow everyone and everything nearby. Shallow crevasses can form during earthquake-induced landslides, lateral spreads, or other types of ground failures. Faults, however, do not open up during an earthquake. Movement occurs along the plane of a fault, not perpendicular to it. If faults opened up, no earthquake would occur because there would be no friction to lock them together.

Year at a Glance

February

Note: All earthquake dates are UTC, not local time.

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Year	Location	Magnitude	Comment

1916	Near Waynesville, North Carolina	5.2	The largest historical earthquake in North Carolina.

1991	Bering Sea	6.7	Two events about 3.7 seconds apart. Believed to be the largest earthquake ever located in this area. Felt (IV) on St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. Felt (III) on Adak in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska. A small tsunami was generated with maximum wave heights (peak-to-trough) of 30 cm. at Dutch Harbor and 22 cm at Adak. From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1991.

1996	Off Coast of Northern Peru	7.5	Four fishermen killed near Chimbote and three others missing near Callao from a regional tsunami. Two people injured at Coishco. About 150 beach huts, some homes and small boats were destroyed by waves in the Chimbote area. Felt (IV) at Chimbote and Huarmey; (III) at Casma; (II) at Huacho and Huaraz. From Significant Earthquakes of the World 1996

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