and
technological disasters
of the 1950's
Earthquakes
Minamata Disease
Tsunamis
Tornadoes
North Lakhimpur
Assam Bridge on RanganadiUpper Assam Earthquake of 1950
On August 15, 1950 at 7:39pm at earthquake hit a relatively populated area of the Indo-China border. It had a magnitude of 8.6 and was rated as one of the strongest earthquakes in the 20th century. The earthquake was felt throughout most of north-eastern India and some parts of eastern India. It was felt over 4.5 million square miles and the shock laster 4-8 minutes. The earthquake caused sand vents (represent intense liquefaction due to intense ground shaking) which caused vast areas of land to be subsided or elevated. This altered the drainage of the region and large land slides. The large land slides dammed up many of the rivers which caused mass flooding. Some dams held, the one in the Subansiri River held for 8 days, but when it broke it caused a large wave and killed 532 people. Most life lost was due to this flooding and not the earthquake itself. 1,526 deaths were recorded and in the Arbor Hills 70 villages were destroyed and 156 deaths occurred due to land slides.
Temple in Dibrugarh, Assam Fissures in the upper Assam
Trunk Road, Khowang
Minamata is a small factory town dominated by the Chisso (in Japanese it's meaning is nitrogen) Corporation. Minamata faces the Shiranui Sea and Minamata Bay is part of it. From 1932-1968 the Chisso Coporation dumped an estimated 27 tons of mercury compounds into Minamata Bay. People who's diet relied heavily on fish suddenly became ill with what had symptoms like methyl mercury poisoning. This illness became known as "Minamata Disease". On May 1, 1956 Dr. Hajime Hisikawa reported that "an unclarified disease of the central nervous system has broken out." He linked the disease to the fish diets and investigators began to speculate that the sea was being polluted by the Chisso Coporation. To avoid more accusations the Chisso Coporation began dumping their waste into the Minamata River, but soon inhabitants living near the river began to show the same signs of "Minamata Disease". The government created a ban saying that no fish from the bay or river were to be sold to other parts of the country, and it released them from any responsibility for those who developed the illness. In July of 1959 researchers from te Kumamoto University concluded that organic mercury was the cause of the "Minamata Disease". Dr. Hosokawa performed a sealed experimentation infront of the Chisso Coporation to prove they were the cause but had no luck. He was banned from performing any more experiments or research and his findings were concealed by the coporation. Approximately 3,000 people would wait for verification from physicians that they had "Minamata Disease" while 798 had already been confirmed.May 1,1956
Minimata, Japan
Child stricken with "Minamata Disease" (Mercury Poisoning)Minimata, Japan Disaster
An elderly man with later signs of the Minamata
Disease
Midway Atoll- first Hawaiin island to be struck
by Tsunami waves
Tsunamis of the 1950's
Children playing in the bay after the Tsunami hit, but A car left in the road by it's owner in the
about 7 minutes later another giant tidle wave hit the tsunami that hit in '57.
same spot.
May 11,1953
Waco,Texas
The Waco Tornado
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