Earthquake History

Okay...so I can't sleep and have been on-line trying to catch up on the latest on what is going on in China. I truly can say that some of my late night searches on the net have brought up a vast variety of topics. I have volumes and volumes of useless information stored in my head from my "research".

So, with that explanation, here we go: On the subject of earthquakes....just not necessarily this specific earthquake in China.

The largest earthquake ever in the US was on 03/27/64 and registered a 9.2!! But, I don't really know that this one should count in all fairness, because it happened at sea..in Prince William Sound. But it caused a tsunami, which in turn did to damage to land in Alaska. The records say that a total of 128 lives were lost, 15 due to the earthquake and 113 due to the tsunami. Which really leads to another question of how they know the earthquake or the tsunami killed they specific people. Maybe the 15 who the earthquake killed were on the water in Prince Wm Sound at the time?! I probably can research that specifically on-line and find out exactly how each of the 128 died, but I think I will save that for another sleepless night maybe. What in the world did we ever do without the internet?!

Okay...back to the earthquake trivia:
The largest death toll in the US from an earthquake was an earthquake in San Francisco, CA on 4/18/1906. There were approximately 3000 deaths. But again...I believe these to be somewhat "skewed" numbers...because the earthquake caused the fires that most all of us have heard about...so many people parished due to the fire. But there would not be a fire for the earthquake.....hmmmm....point taken....why/how do people die from an earthquake? It is not like they just get shaken to death. The earthquake must cause another act that causes the death...building collapse, fire, etc....

Anyway, now I am starting to feel guilty that I am making fun of earthquakes...which I am not! It was just one thing let to another...and so on....and so on......and I ended up here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov
Go ahead...type it in your browser...you will find everything you never thought you wanted to know about earthquakes.
This is what happens to a girl who grew up in the Midwest and now lives in the desert and thank God has never experienced, nor even really heard much about earthquakes.

One of my points of looking at the history of the US was trying to wrap my head around how devastating the China earthquake is. There is really no comparison of the tragedy though. But during all of this late night "surfing" I did find something that I will strongly support and recommend to anyone reading to consider supporting as well. Half the Sky, which I have brought up in other posts, you can go to their website if you are unfamiliar with the organization, has created the HTS Children's Earthquake Fund, in cooperation with government officials.

From HTS Website:
"Your donations to the fund will be used to provide emergency and long-term relief to children in Sichuan and Chongqing affected by the quake."

I encourage any of you who are able to and wish to help to consider a donation to this fund. You can find more information about Half the Sky and donate through their website or Global Giving @ www.halfthesky.org.