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Year in review: Take a look at major earthquakes which rocked world in 2016

Earthquakes Is Among The Natural Calamities Which Did Not Spare Us In 2016 As Well. There Are At Least Seven Major Earthquakes That Have Been Witnessed In The Passing Year With At Least 10 Deaths.

By : Ashish Ranjan | Updated on: 01 Jan 2017, 01:54:32 PM
Representative (Image: Getty)

New Delhi:

Earthquakes is among the natural calamities which did not spare us in 2016 as well. There were at least seven major earthquakes that have been witnessed in the passing year with at least 10 deaths.

Major earthquakes were seen in all parts of the world. From Italy to Japan, earthquakes jolted almost all corners of the world.   

Here is a list of devastating earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above which caused significant damages:

# Ecuador earthquake: The most prominent earthquake was seen in Ecuador which claimed 676 lives.  The earthquake occurred on April 16 with magnitude of 7.8. President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency; 13,500 military personnel and police officers were dispatched for recovery operations. It was the worst natural disaster to hit Ecuador since the 1949 Ambato earthquake.

# Italy earthquake: Earthquake with magnitude of 6.2 hit Italy on August 24, 2016. The earthquake caused great devastation in the area with it claiming at least 299 lives. This was the largest tremor since 2009, when an earthquake near L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region killed over 300 people and displaced about 65,000.

# Taiwan earthquake: Taiwan was rocked by a 6.4 earthquake on February 6. The earthquake claimed at least 117 lives. A total of 34 historical buildings around Taiwan were damaged, in which 23 of them are located in Tainan. Taiwan is located in the Ring of Fire which is prone to high intensity earthquakes. However, the February 2016 tremors were particularly destructive and deadly.

# Indonesia earthquake: Indonesia was hit by major 6.5 magnitude earthquake on December 6. The earthquake in Indonesia claimed at least 104 lives. It left at least 1,273 others injured. The shock was reported to be at a depth of 8.2 km, categorized as a strong, shallow earthquake. Immediately after the quake, the #PrayForAceh went viral on Twitter, with most people offering condolences and prayers to the victims of the quake. By 8 December 2016, the hashtag had reached a total number of 250.000 tweets.

# Japan earthquake: The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes are a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck on April 16, 2016. The two earthquakes killed at least 50 people and injured about 3,000 others in total. Severe damage occurred in Kumamoto and ÅŒita Prefectures, with numerous structures collapsing and catching fire. More than 44,000 people were evacuated from their homes due to the disaster.

# Tanzania earthquake:  A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Tanzania 22 km (14 mi) northeast of Nsunga, Kagera Region on September 10 at a depth of 40 km (25 mi). At least 19 people were killed and 253 others injured in Tanzania, with most of the casualties occurring in the town of Bukoba, which suffered widespread damage.

# India earthquake: The 2016 Imphal earthquake struck northeast India in the state of Manipur on January 4 with a moment magnitude of 6.7. At least eleven people were killed, 200 others were injured and numerous buildings were damaged. The quake was also strongly felt in Bangladesh.

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First Published : 01 Jan 2017, 01:49:00 PM

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