Tokwe Mukorsi Dam failure
The Tokwe Mukosi Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tokwe River, just downstream of its confluence with the Mukosi River, about 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of Masvingo in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. It is 90.3 metres (296 ft) tall and creates a 1,750,000,000 m3 (1,420,000 acre-ft) reservoir, the largest inland dam in the country. The associated hydroelectric power station has a 12 megawatts (16,000 hp) installed capacity. Heavy flooding in February 2014 caused a partial failure on 4 February, on the downstream face of the dam. By late February the dam had not been fully breached but the unplanned rising reservoir behind the dam caused evacuations upstream.
Turin Metro opened
The Turin Metro is the modern VAL rapid transit system serving Turin. The system comprises one 15.1-kilometre (9 mi 31 ch) line with 23 stations connecting Fermi station in Collegno with Piazza Bengasi in Turin, near the border with the municipality of Moncalieri. Works on the line began on 19 December 2000, part of the works for the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics. The first section from Fermi to XVIII Dicembre was opened on 4 February 2006.
Iannis Xenakis died
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music, while integrating music with architecture. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the priory of Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, on which the two collaborated, and the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed by himself.
1976 Guatemala earthquake
The 1976 Guatemala earthquake struck on February 4 at 03:01:43 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.5. The shock was centered on the Motagua Fault, about 160 km northeast of Guatemala City at a depth of 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) near the town of Los Amates in the department of Izabal. Cities throughout the country suffered damage, and most adobe type houses in the outlying areas of Guatemala City were destroyed. The earthquake struck during the early morning (at 3:01 am, local time) when most people were asleep. This contributed to the high death toll of 23,000. Approximately 76,000 were injured, and many thousands left homeless. The main shock was followed by thousands of aftershocks.
Ludwig Prandtl was born
Ludwig Prandtl was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of aerodynamics, which have come to form the basis of the applied science of aeronautical engineering. In the 1920s, he developed the mathematical basis for the fundamental principles of subsonic aerodynamics in particular; and in general up to and including transonic velocities. His studies identified the boundary layer, thin-airfoils, and lifting-line theories. The Prandtl number was named after him.
1797 Riobamba earthquake
The 1797 Riobamba earthquake occurred at 12:30 UTC on 4 February. It devastated the city of Riobamba and many other cities in the Interandean valley, causing between 6,000-40,000 casualties. It is estimated that seismic intensities in the epicentral area reached at least XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, and that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.6-8.3, the most powerful historical event known in Ecuador. The earthquake was studied by Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited the area in 1801-1802.
