1918 Shantou earthquake
The 1918 Shantou earthquake occurred in Shantou, Guangdong, Republic of China. It also caused some damage in what was then British Hong Kong.
  | |
| UTC time | 1918-02-13 06:07:18 |
|---|---|
| ISC event | 913072 |
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | February 13, 1918 |
| Local time | 14:07:18 UTC [1] |
| Magnitude | 7.2 Mw [1] |
| Depth | 15 km (9.3 mi) [1] |
| Epicenter | 23.54°N 117.24°E [1] |
| Areas affected | Republic of China, British Hong Kong |
| Casualties | 1,000 in Shantou [2] |
Shantou
The quake was centred near Shantou, about 300 km northeast of the territory of Hong Kong. The quake caused minor damage and cracks to buildings in the territory.[3]
British Hong Kong
It is also the only earthquake to have caused any damage to Hong Kong. It was estimated to reach intensity VII on the Modified Mercalli Scale. As the Royal Observatory, Hong Kong did not start operating long-period seismographs until 1921 to detect distant earthquakes.[4] According to the Hong Kong Telegraph, the quake threw the whole Central District into a state of panic. The shock lasted about half a minute and was felt all over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.[5]
References
- Engdahl, E. R.; Vallaseñor, A. (2002). "Global seismicity: 1900–1999" (PDF). International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology. Part A, Volume 81A (First ed.). Academic Press. p. 674. ISBN 978-0124406520.
- South China Morning Post. "SCMP." Article. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
- The Standard HK. "The Standard.com Archived 2007-07-16 at the Wayback Machine." Article. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
- HKO. "Hong Kong Observatory." Seismological measurements in HK. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
- Bard, Solomon. [2002] (2002). Voices from the Past: Hong Kong, 1842–1918. HK University press. ISBN 962-209-574-7. pg 36
External links
- Seismicity of Hong Kong
- The contents of the publications of the Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee
- The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.