We have to know what earthquakes are in order for us to be prepared against them. Earthquakes are tremors that move the earth. They can create a lot of damage. Earthquakes have happened around the world. What causes earthquakes to happen? How do we protect ourselves against the powerful earthquakes? Earthquakes can cause a lot of damage to homes and places so it is important to know where it has happened. Also what causes them and how do we protect ourselves against earthquakes.
To begin with earthquakes can happen around the world. A 6.3 earthquake destroyed historic buildings in Italy. On January 12, 2010 a powerful 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti and left a powerful impact on people. It caused people to die and made people want to help the people of Haiti. Five years ago one of the largest earthquakes on record ripped through eastern Indian Ocean. Last year a strong earthquake measuring 6.1 in magnitude struck Iran. Only four states never have had an earthquake and those s...
Earthquakes are best described as a shaking or vibration of the ground caused by breaking of rock. Sometimes they are very strong and other times you would hardly notice them. This shaking occurs when stress that builds up in the crust is suddenly released as the crust breaks free and/or slides against the other pieces of crust. Earthquakes may also be thought of as the breaking of a popsicle stick by applying pressure to both ends at the same time. Should you try this experiment , you will feel the pressure build up as you apply more force until the stick snaps. When the stick snaps you will feel an instant of pain at your fingers as the stress reduces and energy waves move throughout the stick. When the earth's crust is placed under similar types of stress, binding as the stress builds, it will also snap and release the energy into the surrounding rocks, 'ooch'. Thinking about earthquakes will become more clear if you try another experiment.
Earthquakes, by Webster’s dictionary definition, are, “a shaking or trembling of the earth that is volcanic or tectonic in origin.” World Book Encyclopedia reports scientists believe that more than 8,000 earthquakes occur each day without causing damage. A little more than 1,000 each year are strong enough to be felt. Earthquakes occur in the general sense, anywhere on land. Other earthquakes go by different names, such as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, large tidal wave storms that occur underwater, primarily in the Pacific Ocean.
This is one of the most commonly asked questions around the world. Earthquakes are very common because the Earth’s tectonic plates are constantly moving, because they are constantly moving earthquakes are happening quite often across the globe. Statistics show that over 1 million occur each year worldwide (see source 9), but earthquakes don’t have to be felt for them to have occurred. Statistics prove that 1 100 000 earthquakes happen per year worldwide that can’t be felt by humans. Statistics show that about 11 670 earthquakes occur that can be felt in the area of occurrence and sometimes even further
D.J. Dowrick (”Earthquake Risk Reduction”in Wiley) explains that seismic hazard is any physical phenomenon associated with an earthquake that may produce adverse effects on human activities. Earthquakes occur very suddenly without any warning. Thus, earthquake not only destructs people’s living environment, but also affects people’s mental health. People are more scared of earthquake. In 2010, there are two severe earthquakes, which are Haiti Earthquake and Chile Earthquake. Both of these two earthquakes produced the various impact considerably across countries and regions. The purpose of this essay is to analyse those two earthquakes according to knowledge such as why they occur, how strong they are, and what the impact they made. Even though people still can not predict earthquake, through analyse earthquakes, they can prevent it bring huge losses.
Earthquakes have been recorded throughout history for thousands of years. Even before seismographs in early times, there are records and accounts of mysterious ground shaking. Earthquakes occur when rocks break along an underground fault (UPSeis, 2007). This, in return, causes vibrations through the earth which causes ground shaking. The magnitude of the shaking varies depending on how great the movement along the fault is; the greater the movement, the bigger the earthquake. Some earthquakes are huge and cause significant damage, while others are small and cause little or no damage what-so-ever. Earthquakes are unpredictable, and can happen at any time. It is uncertain where an earthquake will strike, but there is a greater risk of an earthquake for areas lying on or near a fault. No one is ever prepared for an earthquake, so the people affected must face a sometimes terrifying reality and can be scarred for life. One country in particular that has been severely affected from an earthquake is Italy. Over a century ago Messina, a city located in Sicily, was to face one of the most devastating natural events of the century.
Before I begin talking about earthquakes I should explain how earthquakes begin and their results. The movement of the earth plates are the ones that causes earthquakes. It occurs when plates meet along plate boundaries. When they move towards each other, one of the plates can be pushed down the bottom of the other plate, into the mantle. This is consider the subduction zone. When the plates gets stuck, it causes a lot of pressure on the surrounding rocks. The pressure will released and produce shock waves, they are called seismic waves and in other words, this will be called an earthquake. In this essay I will talk about the earthquake in Chile from 1962. I will speak how this earthquake affected the earth and the damages, not only to earth,
The dangerousness of earthquakes are rated from one to ten. One being you aren’t able to feel it and ten being VERY powerful. There was a deadly earthquake, almost no one survived. A deadly 7.2 earthquake occurred in the Central Philippines. All signs and clues pointed to the East Bohol Fault. A 6 rated earthquake that happened before, injured 300 people and caused a tsunami. But the 7.2 earthquake didn’t cause any tsunami. All of the dangerous earthquakes damaged ports, schools and airports; even a hospital collapsed killing at least 18 people. Children were injured in stampedes at two sports complexes while others rushed to the exits. Five people were killed in a earthquake - triggered landslide. People respond to a natural disaster by gathering resources, spreading the word, and government help.
On the 12th of January 2010, a quake 15 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince devastated the people of Haiti. The magnitude of the quake was 7.0 with many aftershocks to follow the initial quake. The damage was so cataclysmic which led to the occurrence of many casualties, about 300,000 people were injured and over one million were left homeless. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and is still struggling to rebuild itself. (Poster of the Haiti Earthquake, USGS Newsroom)
Mr. Adams describes the San Francisco earthquake as his most profound human suffering experience because the horror of shaking floors, parts of his mom’s house collapse to the floor, and got a broken nose from stumbling into a brick wall (Ansel Adams & The 1906 Earthquake 2008). Earthquakes are part of natural disasters of the earth and normally caused by shaking ground and rapid movement of one block of rock slipping past another a long fractures in the earth crust called faults. Faults that are usually locked excluding abrupt movements, which slippage creates an earthquake (Lutgens, F. & Tarbuck, E.
Earthquakes can be very dangerous but what matters the most is that everybody is safe, and that we need to work together. One earthquake, in the Philippines, was truly devastating. It was classified as a 7.2 magnitude. The Philippines responded very well by gathering their resources, spreading the word, and giving donations. They bounced back very quickly.
There are about 15 tectonic or lithospheric plates on the earth’s surface, which have different size and move relative to one another over the earth’s surface. As a result, the crust around the boundaries of the plates bends or deforms, accumulating strong energy during these processes (Briggs, 2006). When the strain becomes too great to bear by the crust in the future, the crust will snap or slip causing earthquakes. As a type of geophysical hazard, earthquakes are inevitable for mankind living on the Earth, which destroy tremendous buildings, and take human life away. However, influences of earthquakes can be reduced if people take appropriate actions. This report provide an overview of two earthquakes that happened in Haiti and Chile in 2010, and compare and contrast these two earthquakes to see how the consequences of earthquakes can be reduced.
The effects caused by earthquakes are devastating. They cause loss of human life and have effects on infrastructure and economy. Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. In January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 hit the nation of Haiti. An estimation of 316,000 people were killed, and more than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless (Earthquake Information for 2010). Haiti was in a terrified chaos. After the earthquake, families were separated because many of the members were killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished. People lost their most valuable belongings. It will take time for the country to recover from this terrible disaster. The long damages are economic issues, health-state, and environmental issues that effect in the beautiful island of Haiti.
Earthquakes are vibrations felt at the surface of the earth which are caused by disturbances of the energy in the earth's interior. These vibrations are known as seismic waves. (Skinner Robinson McVerry 1) There are different type sof seisimc waves such as Primary (P) waves, whcih travel the fastest, Secondary (S) waves which cause the earth to vibrate vertically, Surface (L) waves. P and S waves are "affected by changes in the density and the rigidity of the materials through which they pass." (Columbia Encyclopedia) Earthquakes vary in their intensity and duration. Often times they are strong enough to cause massive destriction. Tall buildings often suffer as a result of these natural disasters. In recent years this has become a larger and larger threat with both the number of large buildings, and their number of occupants increasing. In an effort to try to minimize the damage caused by earthquakes many some engineers focus primarily on designing and constructing earthquake resistant buildings. Earthquake engineers have gathered much of their information from analyzing past earthquakes, and learning which buildings can and can't withstand the tremors. The goals of these engineers is to design buildings that can withstand moderate earthquakes and obtain minimal damage, and that the buildings will not collapse lowering the probability of human deaths.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the