Saturday, February 27, 2010

Another Major Earthquake

In my post of January 19, 2010, in the aftermath of the Port-au-Prince 7.0 earthquake I posted a blog entry with a chart that I constructed of major earthquakes and the devastation that they caused.

It seems appropriate to amend that list with the latest quake information on the 8.8 earthquake outside Concepcion Chile on 2/27/2010.

LOCATION DATE MAG. DAMAGE
Lituya Bay, Alaska 7/9/1958 NA Tsunami 1720 ft.
Upper Egypt 7/5/1201 NA 1,100,000 killed
Offshore Chile 5/22/1960 9.5 1655 killed
Anchorage, Alaska 3/27/1964 9.2 9 killed
Andreanof Islands,
Alaska 3/9/1957 9.1
Kamchatka,USSR 11/4/1952 9 no deaths
Offshore Sumatra,
Indonesia 12/26/2004 9.1 227,898 killed
Offshore Equador 1/31/1906 8.8 500-1500 killed
Concepcion, Chile 2/27/2010 8.8 700+ so far
Rat Islands, Alaska 2/4/1965 8.7 none reported
Northern Sumatra,
Indonesia 3/28/2005 8.7 1300 killed
Lisbon, Portugal 11/1/1755 8.6 60,000 killed
India/China Border
Tibet 8/15/1950 8.6 780 killed
Alaska 1957 8.6 none reported
Kamchatka,USSR 2/3/1923 8.5
South Sumatra 2007 8.5 21 killed
Kansu, China 12/16/1920 8.5 200,000 killed
Offshore Samoa 9/29/2009 8.3 34? killed
San Francisco,
California 4/18/1906 8.3 700 killed
Tokyo-Yokohama,
Japan 9/1/1923 8.3 143,000 killed
Mexico City, Mexico 9/19/1985 8.1 9,500 killed
Tangshan, China 7/27/1976 8 255,000 killed
Chile 3/3/1985 8
Chile 7/30/1995 8
BengKulu, Indonesia 6/4/2000 7.9 N/A
India/Pakistan
Border 1/26/2001 7.9 20,000+ killed
Gölcük, Turkey 8/17/1999 7.6 17,000 killed
Nantou, Taiwan 9/20/1999 7.6 1,800 killed
New Britain, PNG 11/16/2000 7.3 N/A
Loma Prieta,
California 10/17/1989 7 62 killed
Port-au-Prince,
Haiti 1/11/2010 7 200,000+ est.
Armenia, USSR 12/7/1988 6.8 25,000 killed
Northridge,
California 1/17/1994 6.8 60 killed
Kobe, Japan 1/16/1995 6.8 5,530 killed
Managua, Nicaragua 12/23/1972 6.2 9,800 killed
Agadir, Morocco 1/13/1960 5.9 12,500 killed

I can only reiterate the same comments as I made in my prior blog on this subject: that there is much that can be done in the name of humanity to improve responsiveness to natural disasters such as this. Please read my prior blog on this subject. Comments appreciated.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Suggests Approach to Make Joseph Priestley House a National Historic Site

In a correspondence received on February 16, 2010, from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as a response to my correspondence about the Joseph Priestley House, Reid has suggested that parties interested in having the Joseph Priestley House and Museum considered as a National Historic Site within the National Park Service contact the Senators within whose district the site is located. In this case, interested parties should contact Senators Casey and Specter of Pennsylvania. He has also forwarded my correspondence to the two Senators.

I include the addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the two Senators below:

Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA)
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6324
Toll Free: (866) 802-2833
Fax: (202) 228-0604

Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA)
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington , DC 20510
Main: 202-224-4254
Fax: 202-228-1229