# Ancient earthquakes - why so many deaths? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498 "2004-12-31T23:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/1 "2004-12-31T23:36:43Z")
From this site: [http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/disaster.html](http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/disaster.html) The worst natural disaster in history: Shensi, China, 1556: earthquake (800,000 dead). I was wondering what kind of shelters people lived in so long ago that so many would die. They wouldn’t have lived in high-rises. There were some quakes in the middle east in centuries past that killed thousands upon thousands also. Unless folks centuries ago lived in large stone or brick houses which collapsed upon them, I’m mystified why so many would die. I don’t THINK the earth opens up and swallows cities, even during very large quakes. Anyone have an answer for me? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/2 "2004-12-31T23:49:30Z")
I’ll venture that the death toll was so high because the quake struck at night when most persons were inside, and because construction methods of the 1500s weren’t resistant to collapse from seismic events. Corollary damage from fire and flood is also likely, although I’m lacking cites. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/3 "2005-01-01T00:07:16Z")
“So long ago”? In 1556, most major European cities were built of stone and brick. (A fair number of those buildings are still standing in Rome and other cities.) Last year, Bam, Iran suffered a devastating quake that killed thousands. I suspect that much of Bam was built using construction methods similar to those of 16th century China. A large quake in a more populous region would kill more people. China has a tradition of using stone and brick that is very much older than the 16th century. In addition, with ancient cities (just as in San Francisco in 1906), a principal problem was fire–especially when _every_ source of light and cooking and the vast majority of heat sources were open flames. Beyond that, people living in valleys are susceptible to mud slides and avalanches. Then, with large numbers of the population dead or injured, sanitation suffers and pestilence threatens the survivors. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/4 "2005-01-01T00:38:01Z")
Wooden buildings + candles + fireplaces + braziers/forges/incence burners = devastating fires in the wake of the quake. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/5 "2005-01-01T00:41:48Z")
Did some research. There were multi-story dwellings - earthen ones, in the fifteenth century. Okay, I’m happy now. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-earthquakes-why-so-many-deaths/282498/6 "2005-01-01T01:00:53Z")
Also I guess more casualties would have died due to lack of modern medicine, which in modern times would have saved lives.