2010 Facts: The Year Remembered For Its Horrific Earthquakes

Earthquakes, big or small, have rocked the planet on several occasions throughout history, and not only these have damaged many structures, but they have also led to a lot of casualties.

Did you know that the strongest earthquakes are not always the ones that cause the most deaths and injuries? The deadliest ones are the ones that are shallow, because these quakes cause more damage in populated areas and to buildings.

2010 had many significant events happen throughout the year. Some of the biggest earthquakes all over the world happened in 2010. On a different note, from brilliant movies to the release of the iPad, the year was one to look out for. A huge political crisis, the release of an exciting new season of 'The Big Bang Theory,' a two-week-long traffic jam in China, and a lot more happened in the year 2010.

There have been earthquakes spanning a few decades where tsunamis were caused by earthquakes, which led to thousands of lives lost. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2011 Great Sendai earthquake of Japan are two such examples of these earthquakes. The Chile earthquakes of 1960-2010 are known to be two of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded across the world, however, the death toll is comparatively low than other earthquakes that have been measured. On October 8, 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 jolted the Pakistan portion of the Kashmir region along with Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Tremors were also felt in some parts of India and Pakistan. More than 79,000 people were killed and around 32,000 buildings collapsed in the Kashmir region alone. There were more deaths and destruction in India and Pakistan. This was one of the most dangerous earthquakes of this generation, and apart from the deaths and injuries, thousands of people were left homeless and wary of the coming winter weather. The Sichuan earthquake of 2008 was another devastating one as the earthquake in China left around 5 million people became homeless in the region. Half of the town of Beichuan was damaged by the initial shock and water from the nearby lake. The earthquake was of 7.9 magnitude, and the epicenter was in Wenchuan city. Towns and villages in the mountain were completely destroyed by this event. The Great Peruvian earthquake of May 31, 1970 was devastating as it created large landslides, thus destroying many buildings. Around 70,000 people died in this earthquake and there was huge damage done in the Santa River Valley. On December 26, 2004, an underwater earthquake of magnitude 9.1 struck Sumatra's Indonesian coast. A tsunami was triggered and it spread across the Indian Ocean and even to areas in East Africa for the next seven hours. Reports claim that the tsunamis went up to a height of 30 ft (9 m). The tsunamis killed more than 225,000 people in many countries. The Indonesian government believes that the death toll alone reached 200,000 in the Aceh Province of Sumatra. The Haiti earthquake in 2010 ruined the capital city of Port-au-Prince and this devastating earthquake left 1.5 million people in the country homeless. On January 12, the earthquake hit an area 15 mi (24 km) away from the capital, and the initial shock had a magnitude of 7.0. However, it was soon followed by two aftershocks of magnitudes greater than 5.5.

Earthquakes in pop culture history have been significant, and now we will discuss some of the most important ones according to pop culture news throughout 2010.

2010 Pop Culture History

2010 was significant in many ways. Here are some of the most notable events from the year 2010.

2010 was special and it had some world-changing events. It was the year the Instagram app became available for everyone and also when the iPad tablet from Apple came out. The top song fr0m 2010 was 'Tik Tok' by Ke$ha. Movies like 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1,' 'Toy Story 3,' 'Megamind,' and 'Inception' were released in 2010. During this year, the most famous people among all age groups were Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O' Brien. Some notable books from the year include 'Have A Little Faith' by Mitch Albom and 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett. Kevin Hart was probably the funniest guy in 2010, while gamers enjoyed the new Xbox. Some top baby names of the year were Isabella, Sophia, Lady Gaga, Emma, Michael, Jayden, William, Olivia, Ava, Jacob, and Ethan. 'Red Dead Redemption,' 'Kinect Adventures,' 'Pokemon Black And White,' and 'Call Of Duty: Black Ops' were the famous video games of the year. Additionally, the most famous fashion icons were Katy Perry, Audrina Patridge, Lady Gaga, Olivia Munn, Eva Mendes, Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively, Lauren Conrad, Beyonce, Marisa Miller, Scarlett Johansson, Amanda Bynes, Bar Refaeli, Olivia Wilde, Milla Jovovich, Danica Patrick, Christina Aguilera, and Nicole Scherzinger. Leonardo DiCaprio, Colin Firth, Hugh Laurie, Taylor Lautner, Zac Efron, Adam Levine, David Beckham, Tim Tebow, Justin Bieber, and Joe Manganiello were all the hype in 2010. Mark Zuckerberg was Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year'. Caressa Cameron was 'Miss America' and Rima Fakih was 'Miss USA.'

The UK did not have election debates televised until 2010. Due to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, the largest air traffic shut down was seen where 95,000 flights were canceled over a period of six days. Since 2010, the International Space Station has been purifying water, which allows 93% of the water to be reclaimed. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, a record-breaking number of people tuned in for the gold medal final featuring the United States men’s hockey team. 26.6 million Canadians tuned into the final, which is almost 80% of the whole population of the country. A traffic jam in China happened on August 13, 2010 and lasted for two weeks. This traffic jam stopped up cars for over 62 mi (100 km). Drivers moved approximately 0.6 mi (1 km) a day!

A new device was invented that sits around the shoulders and translates stereo sound into stereo vibrations for gaming consoles, mp3s, and much more. The name of the device is KOR-fx. 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' was the best-selling book of the 2010s. Actually, the second best-selling book was 'Fifty Shades Darker,' and the third best-selling book was 'Fifty Shades Freed.' MTV stopped focusing on music and re-branded. It removed the 'Music Television' tagline from its logo. The toddler sister of Barbie, called 'Kelly', was discontinued in 2010 and then replaced the next year. In the 2010 two-part episode of 'South Park', 'Cartoon Wars' did a parody of 'Family Guy'. The writing staff of 'The Simpsons' sent them flowers to show their appreciation.

Betty White was made an honorary forest ranger by the Forest Service in 2010. When White was a child, she wanted to become a forest ranger, but women were not allowed to choose it as a profession then. A new unique species of ant was found when biologists found some at 63rd and 76th streets in 2010. The species ManhattAnt is found only in New York City. This species, native to New York City, does not match any other species of ants, and they feed on corn. The last printed edition of 'Britannica Encyclopedia' was published in 2010. The fastest computer in the U.S. Defense Department was made by the U.S. Air Force in 2010 with the 1760 PS3s. The National Film Registry added the 1980 comedy film 'Airplane' after it was labeled as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. These are the other films that were added to the National Film Registry in 2010: 'All The President’s Men,' 'The Bargain,' 'Cry Of Jazz,' 'Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB,' 'The Empire Strikes Back,' 'The Exorcist,' 'The Front Page,' 'Grey Gardens', 'I Am Joaquin,' 'It’s A Gift,' 'Let There Be Light,' 'Lonesome,' 'Make Way For Tomorrow' 'Malcolm X,' 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller,' 'Newark Athlete,' 'Our Lady Of The Sphere,' 'The Pink Panther,' 'Preservation Of The Sign Language,' 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'Study Of A River,' 'Tarantella,' 'A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,' and 'A Trip Down Market Street.' 'The Hurt Locker' was presented with the award for Best Film at the Oscars in 2010. The top 10 films of 2010 were 'Toy Story 3,' 'Alice In Wonderland,' 'Iron Man 2,' 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,' 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1,' 'Inception,' 'Despicable Me,' 'Shrek Forever After,' 'How To Train Your Dragon,' and 'Tangled.' 'American Idol,' 'NBC Sunday Night Football,' 'The Voice,' 'Modern Family,' 'Dancing With The Stars,' 'Big Bang Theory,' 'Grey’s Anatomy,' 'Survivor: Nicaragua,' 'NCIS,' and 'Glee' were all popular shows as well.

The San Francisco Giants were the World Series Champions; the New Orleans Saints were the Superbowl Champions; the Los Angeles Lakers were the NBA Champions; Graeme McDowell won the U.S. Golf Open; the Chicago Blackhawks were the Stanley Cup Champs; Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters won in U.S. Tennis for men and ladies, respectively; Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams won Wimbledon titles for men and ladies, respectively; the Villanova Wildcats were the NCAA Football Champions, Super Saver won the Kentucky Derby, Duke was the NCAA Basketball Champions, and Spain won the FIFA Soccer World Cup.

In American history, Guns n Roses became quite popular in 2010. Did you know that on June 24 of 2010, Julia Gillard became the first female prime minister of Australia?

The most famous quote of 2010 was from Prince Charles, who admitted that he was troubled by modern technology and stated that he was not a part of the PlayStation generation.

Looking back at 2010 pop culture history, you will find that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is the only song to ever have been on the top 100 most streamed songs on Spotify. It was published before 2010.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest marine oil spill ever, and it is also known as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010. The oil rig was located in the Gulf of Mexico. which is around 41 mi (66 km) off the coast of Louisiana. It later sank on April 22. The oil rig was operated and owned by Transocean and was leased to BP, an oil company. The oil well where the rig was located on the seabed, was 4,993 ft (1,522 m) below the surface and extended well around 18,000 ft (5,486 m) into the rock. Halliburton, the contractor, had recently installed a concrete core to seal the well for later use. However, on the night of April 20, a powerful natural gas surge blasted through the core. As the gas was released from the fracture of the core, the gas traveled up the riser of the Deepwater rig to the platform and ignited. It injured 17 and killed 11 workers. On the morning of April 22, the capsized rig sank into the ocean. It ruptured the riser, which was earlier used to counteract the upward pressure of oil and natural gas by injecting it with drilling mud. There was no opposing force anymore, and oil began to spill out into the gulf. BP estimated the spill to be about 1,000 barrels a day, but U.S. government officials estimated it to be over 60,000 barrels a day.

The device that was meant to close the channel through which oil was coming out malfunctioned. This device was called a blowout preventer. The pipe carrying oil had bent under the pressure from the oil and rising gas. Several attempts to contain the flow failed, however, the well was said to be sealed on September 19, 2010. It is one of the largest environmental disasters in American history.

Haiti's Earthquake

Haiti was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, 2010.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the town of Leogane, which is located around 16 mi (25 km) west of Port-au-Prince. Port-au-Prince is the capital city of Haiti. Up until January 24, aftershocks continued rocking the island with at least 52 aftershocks recorded. 3 million people were affected by the Haiti earthquake. The Haitian government said that around 220,000-316,000 people died in this earthquake, however, this data is still disputed. Around 250,000 houses were destroyed, while 30,000 commercial buildings were damaged brutally. Many landmark buildings in the region were damaged to the point of no return. Countries came forward to help send funds and deploy necessary emergency personnel. The morgues were filled with people and spaces were filling up fast. Mass graves had to be made for all the dead bodies. Communication systems and transport facilities for air, land, and sea were damaged. The earthquake left 1.5 million people homeless.

Chile's Earthquake

The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the biggest earthquakes of this generation, and it occurred on February 27, 2010.

Off the coast of south-central Chile, the earthquake originated causing devastation on land and tsunamis that destroyed the coastal areas of the region. Both of these calamities accounted for more than 500 deaths in the country.

The 8.8 magnitude Chile earthquake struck in the morning hours at 3:34 a.m. The epicenter of the earthquake was 200 mi (325 km) southwest of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The following weeks saw hundreds of aftershocks and many among these aftershocks were of magnitudes five or more. The damage to buildings was limited because of the proper building codes enacted in the region after the 1960 Chile earthquake that devastated the region. However, nearly 400,000 houses had severe damage. Biobio and Maule were mainly affected by this earthquake. All major services in these regions were cut and the city of Concepcion was severely damaged. 2 million people were directly affected by the earthquake, and many remained homeless. At first, the estimated death count was said to be around 800. But, in the following weeks, many mission persons were found, the count was said to be around 500. 150 of these deaths were caused by the tsunami.

How did the earthquakes affect the world?

Schools were destroyed, hospitals were damaged, and people were killed. Many were homeless and the whole world wept at these events.

People became homeless and it took a lot of time to sort things out in the cities that were most affected. Although many countries offered funds and personnel help, Haiti has still not recovered fully. Around 300,000 people died in Haiti who did not have any contingency plans in case of a disaster, and that made rescue operations even harder. People are still homeless in the region and due to the poor economy in the country, and citizens are still suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Although the death in the Chile earthquake was less, totaling around 500, damage to cities and buildings was tremendous. However, Chile had gone through such an event earlier that they were prepared. More than 50,000 provisional homes had been erected by June of 2010. Today, the country has gotten back to its feet quite well.