Earthquakes Geologists today define an earthquake as the shaking and the trembling of the earth’s surface, known as the ground. Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy, usually as a result of faulting which involves displacements of rocks along fraction. All of this energy has been building up for a long period of time and then suddenly just blows. Most earthquakes result from energy being released along plate boundaries and as such “earthquakes are manifestation of earth’s dynamic nature to the fact that earth is an internally active planet” (Hough). After an earthquake’s continuing adjustments along a fault may then generate a series of earthquakes. These certain earthquakes are known as aftershocks. Aftershocks can be as large, destructive and damaging as the first original earthquake that happened or it can be less destructive to not even knowing that this has occurred. An earthquake is one of nature’s most frightening as well as most destructive circumstances on the planet earth. The earthquakes are also most frightening when it first begins. This is due to the fact of the unknown. You have no idea how long the earthquake will occur or how violent it will be. Earthquake’s can be very destructive in many ways. “Collapsing buildings claim by far the majority of lives, but the destruction is often compounded by mud slides, fires, floods, or tsunamis”(National Geographic par.3). They can kill one person up to one hundred thousand people. Loss of life can be avoided through emergency planning, education, and the construction of buildings that sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake. More than 900,000 earthquakes occur per year, with more than 31,000 of those strong enough to be felt. Earthquakes... ... middle of paper ... ...riving when one hits move your car out of traffic and stop driving, and get in an open space. After all the devastating destruction is over there are a few things you should check for. Check for fire or fire hazards, also check for the smell of gas, and shut off all electricity. And most important fall back to your layout plans that you made before, go to your safe place and stay there. Like I said before your supplies and what you need will vary on where you live and how often earthquakes occur in your location. Of course living here in Georgia we might not need all the food supplies and other things, but we should know what to do during an earthquake. Knowing all of this information about earthquakes can help save lives. This can make people aware of how earthquakes happen, what effects they have when they happen, how to prepare and what to do at the end result.
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.
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.
An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by sudden release of energy inside the earth's crust. It's the breaking and moving of tectonic plates along a fault line. Earthquakes can range in size from weak where we don't feel them to extremely violent where they actually thow people around and destroy cities. They may be a result of geological faults or other activites such as volcanoes, landslides, mine blasts and nuclear tests. An earthquake is not always naturally caused.
Earthquakes commonly have consequences that are unexpected by an environment they occur in. The consequences may be tsunamis, buildings collapsing, structures distorting, landslides, and liquefaction.
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).
Earthquakes are a common natural disaster that occurs in China. Earthquakes have become a significant restricting factor for economic and social development. What causes earthquakes are because the movements of the plates in the earth’s crust move and shift violently. These plates do not always move smoothly, causing a build-up of pressure. It is when this pressure is released that an earthquake occurs. In turn, an earthquake under the water can also cause a tsunami, which is also a common disaster in China. The quake causes great waves by pushing large volumes of water to the surface. All of the disasters have taken a death toll and continue to raise that toll every
During 2010, there were over 320,120 annual deaths that were caused by earthquakes according to the USGS National Earthquake Research. Not only do earthquakes cause many casualties, they also obliterate infrastructures, leaving the earthquake victims homeless. Earthquakes are the results of tectonic
Many lives were lost because of collapsing structures during an earthquake. As mentioned in class an earthquake will never kill anybody but the results of an earthquake are what kill people. In 1909, more than 100,000 people died in Italy after an earthquake because of the poor unprepared structures. Sometimes people may not get hurt because of the land shaking but from landslides or tsunamis that happen after an earthquake.
Earthquakes generate three types of seismic waves: P (primary) waves, S (secondary) waves and surface waves, which arrive at seismic recording stations one after another. All of this waves carry extremely high energy.. Both P and S waves penetrate the interior of the Earth while surface waves release it’s energy
Strong earthquakes cause serious damage over a larger area. Intensity of shaking depends on depth. More the depth, more the damage. Earthquakes not only manifest on earth surface but also occur under the seabed. When epicenter of an earthquake is under sea, it can cause high