Why some earthquakes are so deadly and wreak more havoc than others

The classic saying among geologists is that earthquakes don't kill people - buildings do. Or bridges. Or failing dams. Or fires from ruptured gas lines

You feel a jolt. Was that … no, it couldn’t be. Wait, it is an earthquake.

Now the whole house is shaking. What do you do?

The answer depends less on the magnitude of the earthquake than you’d think. What matters more is what country you live in and how close you are to water.

Take, for example, the biggest earthquake you’ve never heard of. It happened on February 27, 2010, off the coast of Chile. It was the sixth largest ever recorded, with a magnitude of 8.8.

It didn’t exactly go unnoticed. It caused three minutes of intense