On 22nd January 1556 - Shaanxi Earthquake - deadliest

 ever recorded kills 830,000 in Shensi Province, China:


https://www.facebook.com/pages/History-and-future-world/402121129963935
The tremor happened close Huaxian, Shaanxi (once in the past Shensi), China, around 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi. More than 830,000 individuals were executed. Harm stretched out as far away as Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi (some time ago Shansi) and around 270 miles (430 km) northeast of the epicenter. There are felt reports as far away as Liuyang in Hunan, more than 500 miles (800 km) away. Topographical impacts reported with this tremor included ground crevices, elevate, subsidence, sandblows, liquefaction and avalanches. Most towns in the harm range reported city dividers broken down, most to all houses crumpled and a considerable lot of the towns reported ground gaps with water spouting out (ie. liquefaction and sandblows). Gu, et.al. says that "the distinguished loss of life of officers and regular folks was 830,000, and the unidentified was uncountable." The seismic tremor was felt in all or parts of 9 territories: Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Shanxi. The greatest power is XI in the Huaxian-Weinan territory and the assessed greatness is 8. 



Shaanxi province earthquake of 1556, (Jan. 23, 1556), massive earthquake inShaanxi province in northern China, believed to be the deadliest earthquake ever recorded.
The earthquake (estimated at magnitude 8) struck Shaanxi and neighbouringShanxi province to the east early on Jan. 23, 1556, killing or injuring an estimated 830,000 people. This massive death toll is thought to have reduced the population of the two provinces by about 60 percent. Local annals (which date to 1177 bce) place the epicentre of the earthquake around Huaxian in Shaanxi. These annals, which record 26 other destructive earthquakes in the province, describe the destruction caused by the 1556 earthquake in a level of vivid detail that is unique among these records. Though the quake lasted only seconds, it leveled mountains, altered the path of rivers, caused massive flooding, and ignited fires that burned for days.

The local records indicate that, in addition to inspiring searches for the causes of earthquakes, this particular quake led the people in the region affected to search for ways to minimize the damage caused by such disasters. Many of the casualties in the quake were people who had been crushed by falling buildings. Thus, in the aftermath of the 1556 quake, many of the stone buildings that had been leveled were replaced with buildings made of softer, more earthquake-resistant materials, such as bamboo and wood.
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake is associated with three major faults, which form the boundaries of the Wei River basin. All 26 of the earthquakes recorded in the annals had epicentres in this basin.
On this day in 1556, an earthquake in Shaanxi, China, kills an estimated 830,000 people. Counting casualties is often imprecise after large-scale disasters, especially prior to the 20th century, but this disaster is still considered the deadliest of all time.
The quake struck in late evening, with aftershocks continuing through the following morning. Later scientific investigation revealed that the magnitude of the quake was approximately 8.0 to 8.3, which isn't close to the strongest tremor on record. However, the quake struck in the middle of a densely populated area with poorly constructed buildings and homes, resulting in a horrific death toll.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Wei River Valley in the Shaanxi Province, near the cities of Huaxian, Weinan and Huayin. In Huaxian, every single building and home collapsed, killing more than half the residents of the city, a number estimated in the tens of thousands. It was a similar story in Weinan and Huayin. In some places, 60-foot-deep crevices opened in the earth. Serious destruction and death occurred as much as 300 miles away from the epicenter. The earthquake also triggered landslides, which contributed to the massive death toll.
Even if the number of deaths caused by the Shaanxi earthquake has been overestimated slightly, it would still rank as the worst disaster in history by a considerable margin. The earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 is generally considered the second deadliest disaster in history.

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