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1960 Agadir earthquake
Date	February 29, 1960
Magnitude	5.7 Mw
Countries affected	Physical: Morocco
Casualties	15,000

The 1960 Agadir earthquake took place on February 29, 1960, at 23:40 in the evening. It was the most destructive and deadliest earthquakes in Moroccan history with a magnitude of 5.7 M_w, killing around 15,000 people (about a third of the city's population of the time) and wounding another 12,000.^[1] At least 35,000 people were left homeless. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... February 29th, or bissextile day, is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The moment magnitude scale was introduced in 1979 by Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori as a successor to the Richter scale and is used by seismologists to compare the energy released by earthquakes. ... Panorama of the seaside from the Kasbah Agadir (Arabic: أكادير, Berber (Amazigh): ) is a city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Souss-Massa-Dra region. ... An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... February 29th, or bissextile day, is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... The moment magnitude scale was introduced in 1979 by Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori as a successor to the Richter scale and is used by seismologists to compare the energy released by earthquakes. ...

After the earthquake

The city was evacuated 2 days after the earthquake in order to avoid the spread of disease. Agadir was rebuilt 3 kilometers to the south of the original site after the request of late king Mohammed V stating that "If Agadir is doomed to be destroyed then its rebuilding depends on our will". Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco visiting Lawrence Livermore Lab, United States, in 1957 Mohammed V (August 10, 1909–February 26, 1961) was Sultan of Morocco from 1927 to 1953 and 1955 to 1961. ...

See also

• List of earthquakes

The following is a list of major earthquakes. ...

External links

• Historical Earthquakes - Agadir - USGS
• 1960: Thousands dead in Moroccan earthquake - bbc.co.uk (On this day)
• Pictures of the earthquake
• A hotel, before and after the earthquake

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ...

References and notes