Significant Earthquake

Date Earthquake Location Earthquake Parameters
Focal
Depth		 Magnitude MMI Int
Year Mo Dy Hr Mn Sec Name Latitude Longitude Mw Ms Mb Ml Mfa Unk
1980 10 10 12 25 23.5 ALGERIA: NORTHERN 36.195 1.354 10 7.7 6.5 10
Significant Earthquake
Earthquake Effects Total Effects (Earthquake and Tsunami, Volcano, etc.)
Deaths Missing Injuries Damage Houses
Destroyed		 Houses
Damaged		 Deaths Missing Injuries Damage Houses
Destroyed		 Houses
Damaged
Num De Num De Num De $Mill De Num De Num De Num De Num De Num De $Mill De Num De Num De
5000 4 9000 4 5200.000 4 25000 4 5000 4 9000 4 5200.000 4 250000 4


Comments for the Significant Earthquake

Comments for the Significant Earthquake

Display listing of nearby significant earthquakes

At least 5,000 people killed, 9,000 injured and extensive damage in the El Asnam area. Felt throughout northwestern Algeria and in southeastern Spain. Approximately 42 kilometers of surface rupture observed. (Reference #1053)

On October 10th, 1980, the region of El Asnam, in the Algerian Atlas, experienced an earthquake of Ms = 7.3, which was the largest ever instrumentally recorded in North-West Africa. The earthquake destroyed at least 25,000 houses and killed about 2,500 people. The shock, which was felt within an area of a radius of about 360 kilometres, as far as Spain, was followed by a damaging aftershock of Ms = 6.1. The earthquake occurred on a previously unrecognised reverse fault and it was associated with a 35 kilometre long rupture on which the observed overall movement was up dip by about 280 centimetres. Ground motions in the epicentral area were significantly in excess of those anticipated by engineers, particularly in the vertical direction in which ground accelerations were very large. (reference #4022)

October 10, 1980, 11,000 deaths, $5200 million dollars damage. (reference #1250)

October 10, 1980, El Asnam, 2590 deaths. (reference #1051)


References for the Significant Earthquake

References for the Significant Earthquake

ID Author Year Citation
1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) 1971 to present Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to present.
1193 Mezcua, J. and J.M. Martinez Solares 1983 Sismicidad del Area Ibero-Mogrebi. Presidencia del Gobierno, Instituto Geografico Nacional, Madrid, 210 p.
1231 Berz, G. 1988 List of Major Natural Disasters, 1960-1987. Natural Hazards, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 97-99.
1250 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) 2001 EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, link
4022 Ambraseys, N.N. 1982 The seismicity of North Africa: The earthquake of 1856 at Jijelli. Bollettino di geofisica teorica ed applicata, vol. 24, no. 93, p. 31-37.