1839 Martinique earthquake

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1839 Martinique earthquake
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Local date11 January 1839
Local time06:00 am AST
Magnitude7.7–7.8 Ms 
7.5–8.0 Mw 
Depth33 km
Epicenter 14°30′N60°30′W / 14.5°N 60.5°W / 14.5; -60.5
TypeMegathrust
Areas affected Lesser Antilles
Total damage> 15 million Francs
Max. intensity MMI IX (Violent)
TsunamiNone
LandslidesYes
Casualties390–4,000 dead
28,975 injured

The 1839 Martinique earthquake occurred on the morning of January 11 with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 Ms , the largest in the Lesser Antilles since 1690. [1] The maximum intensity of this earthquake was assigned IX on both the Mercalli and MSK intensity scales, which left the cities of Saint-Pierre and Fort Royal almost completely destroyed. Estimation on the number of human losses varies from 390 to 4,000 making this one of the deadliest earthquakes in the Caribbean.

Contents

Tectonic setting

The Lesser Antilles subduction zone marks the boundary where the North American Plate subducts or dives beneath the Caribbean Plate at ~2 cm/yr along the subduction interface. [2] Interaction between these two lithospheres can sometimes produce megathrust earthquakes although there has been no recent megathrust quakes on the fault other than the 1839 and 1843 events. [3] Moderately large earthquakes have occurred near the megathrust in recent years but none on the megathrust. Since 1973, there have only been just a little over 30 thrust earthquakes on the subduction zone with magnitudes around the 5.0 range. [4] A plausible explanation for this is the slow rate of convergence resulting in the megathrust becoming seismically devoid of activity for hundreds to thousands of years before rupturing in great quakes. [5] A similar effect was seen prior to the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, and in Japan's Nankai Trough and the Cascadia subduction zone. At the present moment, the Lesser Antilles subduction zone has been determined to be locked and has the potential to generate an earthquake of Mw 8.95 to 9.58. [4]

Earthquake

On Martinique, intensity IX was felt throughout the island. [6] On the island of Saint Lucia and Dominica, intensity IX persisted, but weakened to VIII at the southern and northern part of the islands respectively. [7] Level VIII to VI was felt in Guadeloupe and on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Barbados was hit with VII shaking. Weaker intensities of V and lesser was felt in the northern Lesser Antilles and in Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. A moment magnitude of 8.0 is more consistent with the intensities reported. [6]

It is believed that the megathrust ruptured for 140 km and had an average slip of 8 meters. Estimates for the earthquake's magnitude varies between 7.5 and 8.0 on the Mw  and Ms  scales. [8] [9] A probable epicenter location is east of Martinique, west of where the Saint Lucia Ridge subducts. This area is known for its high seismicity, and small earthquakes are recorded regularly. A seismic swarm was reported in the Valley of Desolation on Dominica in 1841; a similar observation made in 1843 after the Mw  8.5 Guadeloupe earthquake. Both earthquakes likely increased the coulomb stress on shallow faults within the island arc which promoted two significant earthquakes in 1897. They also raised the extensional strain on several volcanoes except Soufrière Hills. [6]

Impact

The morning of January 11 in Martinique was disrupted by three instances of violent shaking which varied in duration from 30 seconds to two minutes. The earthquake was felt throughout the Lesser Antilles but the most serious damage was on the island of Martinique. At Fort Royal, the entire city was near totally destroyed. Of the 800 buildings, only 50 to 60 were still safe for occupancy, with 600 completely collapsed and the other 200 partially destroyed. Hotels, a theater, artillery barracks, hospital, and official buildings were among the infrastructures destroyed. The earthquake also damaged the aqueduct which supplies the city with water. Heaps of rubble up to three meters high was left in the quake's aftermath. The devastation was great due to the city being built on marshlands rather than on a stable rocky base. [10]

Other cities saw serious destruction but not as severe like in Fort Royal. An area in Saint-Pierre was heavily affected where all but two or three houses were left standing. [10] In other parts of the island, churches and stone construction collapsed. About 300 to 4,000 people died from the earthquake; the death toll varied because officials had not counted the number of slaves killed to avoid compensation requests by their owners.

Like the earthquake which occurred in 1843, no tsunami was generated.

See also

Related Research Articles

Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes (Mw) that can exceed 9.0. Since 1900, all earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Plate</span> A mostly oceanic tectonic plate including part of Central America and the Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of South America.

The 1968 Hyūga-nada earthquake occurred on April 1 at 09:42 local time. The earthquake had a magnitude of Mw 7.5, and the epicenter was located in Hyūga-nada Sea, off the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, Japan. The magnitude of this earthquake was also given as MJMA 7.5. A tsunami was observed. One person was killed, and 22 people were reported injured. The intensity reached shindo 5 in Miyazaki and Kōchi.

The 1942 Peru earthquake occurred on August 24 at 17:50 local time and was located near the border of the departments of Ica and Arequipa, Peru. It had a magnitude of Mw 8.2 or Ms 8.4.

The 1787 New Spain earthquake, also known as the San Sixto earthquake, occurred on 28 March at 11:30 local time. It caused a large tsunami that affected the coast of the Puebla Intendancy and the Oaxaca Intendancy in Southwestern New Spain. With an estimated magnitude of 8.6 on the moment magnitude scale, it was more powerful than any instrumentally recorded Mexican earthquake.

The 2004 Les Saintes earthquake occurred at 07:41:07 local time on November 21, 2004 with a moment magnitude of 6.3 and maximum European macroseismic intensity of VIII. The shock was named for Îles des Saintes "Island of the Saints", a group of small islands to the south of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas department of France. Although it occurred near the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, this was an intraplate, normal fault event. It resulted in one death, 13 injuries, and 40 people being made homeless, but the overall damage was considered moderate. A small, nondestructive tsunami was reported, but run-up and inundation distances were difficult to measure due to a storm that occurred on the day of the event. Unusual effects at a volcanic lake on Dominica were also documented, and an aftershock caused additional damage three months later.

The 1974 Lesser Antilles earthquake occurred at 05:50:58 local time on October 8 with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Four people were injured in what the United States' National Geophysical Data Center called a moderately destructive event.

The 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake occurred at 10:37 local time on 8 February in the island of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5, making it the strongest recorded earthquake in the Caribbean and a maximum perceived intensity of shaking of IX on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake was felt widely throughout the Caribbean and as far away as New York. Around 1,500 to 5,000 people were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami</span> Earthquake and tsunami in the Caribbean

The 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami occurred on November 18, at 14.45 in the Anegada Passage about 20 km southwest of Saint Thomas, Danish West Indies. The Ms  7.5 earthquake came just 20 days after the devastating San Narciso Hurricane in the same region. Tsunamis from this earthquake were some of the highest ever recorded in the Lesser Antilles. Wave heights exceeded 10 m (33 ft) in some islands in the Lesser Antilles. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in no more than 50 fatalities, although hundreds of casualties were reported.

On January 30, 1973, at 15:01 (UTC–6), a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck 35.3 km (21.9 mi) beneath the Sierra Madre del Sur range in the Mexican states of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacán. On the Mercalli intensity scale, the earthquake reached a maximum intensity of X (Extreme), causing serious damage in the region. At least 56 people were killed and about 390 were injured. The event is commonly referred to as the Colima earthquake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 Kushiro earthquake</span> Earthquake in Japan

The 1993 Kushiro–Oki earthquake was one of two large earthquake to strike the Japanese island of Hōkkaido within the same year. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 Mw or 7.8 MJMA struck at 11:06 UTC or 08:06 pm JST on January 15 near the town of Ashoro. Shaking reached a maximum intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale, causing considerable damage, and was felt throughout the island, into northern Honshu, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. As a result of the tremors, two people were killed and more than 600 were wounded.

On the morning of January 5, 1699, a violent earthquake rocked the then Dutch East Indies city of Batavia on the island of Java, now known as the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Dutch accounts of the event described the earthquake as being "so heavy and strong" and beyond comparable to other known earthquakes. This event was so large that it was felt throughout west Java, and southern Sumatra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Chignik earthquake</span> 7th largest earthquake in the US

An earthquake occurred off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula on July 28, 2021, at 10:15 p.m. local time. The large megathrust earthquake had a moment magnitude of 8.2 according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). A tsunami warning was issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) but later cancelled. The mainshock was followed by a number of aftershocks, including three that were of magnitude 5.9, 6.1 and 6.9 respectively.

The 1979 Petatlán earthquake, also known as the IBERO earthquake occurred on March 14 at 05:07 local time in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The earthquake had a surface wave magnitude of Ms  7.6 or moment magnitude of Mw  7.4 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter, onshore, was located 12 km south southeast of Vallecitos de Zaragoza.

The 1843 Nias earthquake off the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia caused severe damage when it triggered a tsunami along the coastline. The earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw ) of 7.8 lasted nine minutes, collapsing many homes in Sumatra and Nias. It was assigned a maximum modified Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme).

The 1858 Prome earthquake occurred on August 24 at 15:38 local time in British Burma. The earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 7.6–8.3 on the moment magnitude scale. It had an epicenter in near the city of Pyay (Prome), Bago. The shock was felt with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme) for about one minute. Severe damage was reported in Bago, and off the coast of Rakhine, an island sunk.

Venezuela and Trinidad were struck by a major earthquake on 21 October 1766 at 4:30 in the morning local time in Cumaná, Venezuela. It caused widespread damage from Caracas in the west to Georgetown, Guyana in the east. Despite the significant damage caused, there are no reports of casualties associated with this earthquake. It had an estimated magnitude in the range 6.5–7.5 Ms and a maximum felt intensity of IX-X on the European macroseismic scale. It was felt from Guadeloupe in the north to the Ventuari River in the south and Maracaibo in the west and Kaw, French Guiana in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1867 Java earthquake</span> Earthquake in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia)

The 1867 Central Java earthquake occurred on June 10 at between 04:20 and 04:30 local time. It struck off the southern coast of the Indonesian island with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.8 (Mw ). Widespread devastation occurred in Central Java, where as many as 700 people were killed. The intermediate-depth intraslab earthquake did not cause a tsunami.

The 1979 Saint Elias earthquake occurred near noon local time on 28 February. It measured Mw 7.4–7.6. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII, damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. The epicenter lies near the Alaskan border between the United States and Canada.

References

  1. ↑ National Geophysical Data Center (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K . Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. ↑ Nathan L. Bangs; Gail L. Christeson; Thomas H. Shipley (2003). "Structure of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone backstop and its role in a large accretionary system". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 108 (B7): 2358. Bibcode:2003JGRB..108.2358B. doi: 10.1029/2002JB002040 .
  3. ↑ G. R. Robson (1964). "An earthquake catalogue for the Eastern Caribbean 1530-1960". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 54 (2): 785–832. Bibcode:1964BuSSA..54..785R. doi:10.1785/BSSA0540020785.
  4. 1 2 Hayes, G. P.; McNamara, D. E.; Seidman, L.; Roger, J. (2014). "Quantifying potential earthquake and tsunami hazard in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone of the Caribbean region". Geophysical Journal International. 196 (1): 510–521. Bibcode:2014GeoJI.196..510H. doi: 10.1093/gji/ggt385 – via USGS.
  5. ↑ Marc-André Gutscher; Graham K. Westbrook; Boris Marcaillou; David Graindorge; Audrey Gailler; Thibaud Pichot; René C. Maury (2013). "How wide is the seismogenic zone of the Lesser Antilles forearc?" (PDF). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 184 (1–2): 47–59. doi:10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.47.
  6. 1 2 3 Nathalie Feuillet; François Beauducel; Paul Tapponnier (2011). "Tectonic context of moderate to large historical earthquakes in the Lesser Antilles and mechanical coupling with volcanoes". Journal of Geophysical Research. 116 (B10): B10308. Bibcode:2011JGRB..11610308F. doi:10.1029/2011JB008443. hdl: 10220/8653 . S2CID   51826757 – via Wiley.
  7. ↑ J. Dorel (1981). "Seismicity and seismic gap in the Lesser Antilles arc and earthquake hazard in Guadeloupe". Geophysical Journal International. 67 (3): 679–695. Bibcode:1981GeoJ...67..679D. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1981.tb06947.x .
  8. ↑ Feuillard, M. (1985). Macrosismicité de la Guadeloupe et de la Martinique. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.
  9. ↑ Chloé Seiber; Nathalie Feuillet; Christian Beck; Gueorgui Ratzov; Antonio Cattaneo; Eva Moreno; Pierre Morena (2017). "Sediment Gravity Flow Deposits Across the Désirade Basin (Lesser Antilles Arc), as Possible Markers of Major Earthquakes". Tectonophysics. 2017. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2017. Bibcode:2017AGUFM.T31D0657S.
  10. 1 2 "Remember… January 11, 1839! (in French)". Collectivité territoriale de Martinique (Territorial community of Martinique). Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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