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1929 Grand Banks earthquake

 
1929 Grand Banks Earthquake

 
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1929 Grand Banks earthquake
 
 
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The 1929 Grand Banks earthquake, also called the Laurentian Slope earthquake and the South Shore Disaster, was a magnitude
Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The scale was developed in the 1970s to succeed to 1930s-era Richter magnitude scale....
 7.2 earthquake
Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph....
 that occurred on November 18, 1929 in the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland

The Dominion of Newfoundland was a Dominion from 1907 to 1949. The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic Ocean coast and comprised the Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland....
.

The earthquake was centered on the edge of the Grand Banks
Grand Banks

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 80 to 330 feet in depth....
, about south of the island. It was felt as far away as New York and Montreal. The quake, along two faults south of the Burin Peninsula
Burin Peninsula

The Burin Peninsula is a Canada peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador....
, triggered a large submarine landslide .






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The 1929 Grand Banks earthquake, also called the Laurentian Slope earthquake and the South Shore Disaster, was a magnitude
Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The scale was developed in the 1970s to succeed to 1930s-era Richter magnitude scale....
 7.2 earthquake
Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph....
 that occurred on November 18, 1929 in the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland

The Dominion of Newfoundland was a Dominion from 1907 to 1949. The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic Ocean coast and comprised the Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland....
.

The earthquake was centered on the edge of the Grand Banks
Grand Banks

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 80 to 330 feet in depth....
, about south of the island. It was felt as far away as New York and Montreal. The quake, along two faults south of the Burin Peninsula
Burin Peninsula

The Burin Peninsula is a Canada peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador....
, triggered a large submarine landslide . It snapped 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cable
Transatlantic telegraph cable

The transatlantic telegraph cable was the first cable used for telegraph communications laid across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. It crossed from Foilhommerum, Valentia Island in western Ireland to Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Labrador in eastern Newfoundland ....
s and led to a tsunami
Tsunami

A is a series of ocean surface wave that is created when a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. The Japanese term is literally translated into " harbor wave."...
 that arrived in three waves, each up to fifteen metres high, that struck the coast at about three hours after the earthquake occurred. The waves travelled at speeds up to at the epicentre; they were recorded as far away as Portugal.

The tsunami destroyed many south coastal communities on the Burin Peninsula, killing 28 people and leaving 10,000 more homeless. All means of communication were cut off by the destruction, and relief efforts were further hampered by a blizzard that struck the day after. It took more than three days before the SS Meigle responded to an SOS signal with doctors, nurses, blankets, and food. Donations from across Newfoundland, Canada, the United States and United Kingdom totalled $250,000.

, it is the only recorded tsunami to have struck Canada's east coast.

See also

  • List of earthquakes in Canada
    List of earthquakes in Canada

    This is a list of earthquakes in Canada:*1663 Charlevoix earthquake*1700 Cascadia earthquake*1732 Montreal earthquake*1791 Charlevoix earthquake...


External links

  • Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster - Maura Hanrahan
    Maura Hanrahan

    Maura Hanrahan is a Canada author.She is the author of Tsunami, which tells the story of a 1929 tidal wave in Dominion of Newfoundland. The book received the Heritage and History Award and was short-listed for the 2005 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Non-fiction....
     (2004) ISBN 1894463633
  • - Natural Resources Canada