Today in History: Earthquake rocks Algeria, killing thousands
Ten thousand people were left homeless by the earthquake which rocked the Cheliff River Valley in Algeria.
On this day in 1954, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6,8 on the Richter scale struck Algeria, near Orleansville, killing 1 600 people.
The Cheliff River Valley features some of the best farmland in North Africa. Orleansville, the centre of the area, can trace its history back to ancient Roman days. About 32 000 people lived in the popular trade centre in 1954.
Since about 50 tremors are detected in the area each year, the residents were used to some degree of shaking, but they were not prepared for the massive quake that struck at 1.07am on the morning of 9 September. For approximately 12 to 15 seconds, violent rumbling rocked the entire valley.
Thirty construction workers who were sleeping in a partially completed building all died when the structure collapsed. The Cathedral of St Peter was reduced to a pile of rubble topped with a steeple bell.
A stadium, a prison, a hospital and the army headquarters all collapsed during the earthquake. The earthquake was also felt outside the city. One nearby shepherd reported that a few of his sheep were actually swallowed by the earth. A rupture in the ground resulting from the quake ran 38,6km north to Tenes on the Mediterranean coast.
Another 5 000 people suffered serious injuries during the strong tremor and series of aftershocks that followed.
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