惨痛的记忆：历史上的十大地震(双语)

The deadliest quake of all time might be one of the least talked about, considering it occurred nearly 450 years ago.The 1556 quake claimed the lives of some 830,000 people. Why the massive death toll? Blame the quake's strength (8.0 on the Richter scale, or more than 30 times more powerful than the recent quake in Haiti) as well as timing and location. The pre-modern structures were utterly unable to withstand a quake of such force, and massive landslides contributed to the casualties.

China has the misfortune to have had the second deadliest earthquake on record, the 1976 Great Tangshan Earthquake, which struck in the country's northeast. It'd be more accurate to call this a binary quake: an aftershock that struck 16 hours after the initial temblor measured an identical 7.8 on the Richter scale and was equally destructive.

On Dec. 26, 2004 a 9.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the bottom of the Indian Ocean, releasing energy equivalent to that of 23,000 atomic bombs. The largest earthquake in 40 years, the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (so named because the epicenter was near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra) launched a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, sending a series of waves as high as 50 feet crashing onto the shores of 11 countries. Some people were swept out to sea while others drowned in their homes, unable to escape. According to the U.S. Geological survey, the official death toll was 227,898.

The Dec. 16, 1920 Haiyuan earthquake — which registered a 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale — caused rivers to change course and sent landslides pouring down mountains. Destruction stretched across seven Chinese provinces. Sujiahe, a town in in Xiji County, was completely buried under a landslide. An estimated 200,000 people died in the disaster, which was felt as far away as Norway.

Shortly before noon on September 1, 1923, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale sent shockwaves through the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. The violent tremors left few buildings habitable and prompted a tsunami that surged up to 40 ft. (12 m.) high. But the damage continued for days: by the time the fires stemming from the quake were contained, 90% of Yokohama's buildings were reportedly damaged or in ruins, and some two-fifths of Tokyo's had been destroyed — leaving half its population homeless. Nearly 143,000 people died.

In a matter of minutes, an October earthquake measuring 7.3 turned the city of Ashgabat into a pile of rubble. A thousand Soviet doctors, nurses and other medical personnel flooded in from Moscow and other cities to aid sufferers in what is now Turkmenistan. Despite their efforts, 110,000 people perished.