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Effects of earthquake Essay
the consequences of earthquakes
Effects of earthquake Essay
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There are many pro’s for attempting to forecast an earthquake or volcano. Forecasting an earthquake or eruption saves lives and property, mainly by preparation, as there is no way to prevent these events with today technology. On February 4th 1975 in Haicheng China there was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake. Over a period of months there were changes in elevation in land, ground water and unusual animal behavior which are all precursors to an earthquake. Days before the 7.5 magnitude earthquake there were foreshocks that triggered an eviction warning that effectively saved over 150,000 lives or injuries. This is a pro as this forecast saved thousands of lives and had the people of this area (knowing this was a place of seismic activity) took precautions, like that of earthquake resistant buildings, evacuation points, preparing disaster supplies among other preparations the following may not have happened or would have been less of a disaster. There are also many cons for attempting to forecast earthquakes and volcanic activity. A couple of possible cons are false warning or evacuations which cost the people money as well as their economy (Example: if this was a tourist attracted place, then they would have less tourists and thus less money). I spoke of an example of a pro for the forecasting of the Haicheng earthquake above, this was also a con as I will explain in this next paragraph. After the Haicheng earthquake forecast, the area essentially would feel more optimistic on the forecasts of earthquakes. The following year in July 28, 1976 a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the city of Tangshan and caused as estimated 250,000 fatalities and 164,000 injured, without a warning or forecast. As you can see the con in the situation I just described would be the fact that one good forecast created an overly optimistic population in regarding to forecasting earthquakes. Volcanic forecasts are more accurate then earthquake predictions. These predictions are generally forecast in the same way as an earthquake (temperature increases in geothermic waters gaseous concentrations, changes in elevation of land and water etc… Because we generally know where Volcanoes are, we can predict when an eruption may take place. In March 18, 1880 Mount St. Helens there was a catastrophic eruption that caused a huge volume of ash; the ash plume would be over central Colorado within 16 hours. After years of dedicated monitoring (knowing where to volcano is, unlike an earthquake not knowing exactly where this geological even is exactly) there was been increasing accuracy in forecasting eruptions.
Problem Statement: Earthquakes are a natual part of the environment. They do,however,cause devistating effect on the environment. Since Earthquakes can not be avoided, maybe there is a way to determine when they are going to occur so precautions can be taken to get people to safety and protect as much of
Although volcanoes are difficult to predict, geologists have made many efforts in order to caution the people of Orting and other surrounding towns of possible lahar slides. Residents have been made aware of emergency response plans and they know the proper precautions to take in the case of a volcanic activity emergency. Sirens have been put into place by the fire department and governing bodies of surrounding communities that detect volcanic activity and warn the community of ...
Although there is no way of knowing exactly when an earthquake is going to occur. Scientists have been able to predict an earthquakes range for them to occur. For example, if a fault hasn’t gone off for around 20 years, then this fault is likely to go off in the next five years. This is as close as scientists can get to exactly knowing when an earthquake will occur, although this can still help people to be prepared to some extent. We know that an earthquake will occur with the tectonic plates movements and with them either colliding, sliding or doing both against each other. An earthquake will occur with the force of these movements, but depending on the strength of the movements depends how strong the earthquake is on the Richter Scale (see source 5) or on a Seismograph (see source 6).
Volcanoes are one of the most disastrous yet captivating geological land forms on earth. Many volcanic eruptions are catastrophic, but not all volcanic eruptions are as brutal. The two case studies I have chosen to compare and contrast are the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption with the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano which is still active today.
The most iconic volcanic eruption in history was the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius is located on the west coast side of Italy. Pompeii was the ancient town five miles from Mt. Vesuvius where people would flock to the area in 79 AD to be near the Bay of Naples. Little did they know that the volcano would erupt into the most destructive volcano in history. Mt. Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times and was the most disastrous due to the large population around the area. The volcano, which is still active today, is a stratovolcano. A stratovolcano has pyroclastic flows and erupt explosively and violently. Pyroclastic flows don't necessarily look exactly like “flowing eruptions”. These eruptions are not the “flowing” type of eruptions because they are eruptions with explosions and blowing clouds that fill the air. These clouds are usually dark clouds that are made up of ash. Pompeii had some signs of the volcano erupting, but the technology was not like the technology of today where scientists can monitor the volcanic activity.
One of the largest and youngest volcanoes and considered a super volcano in the United States is known as the Valles Caldera. The location of the volcano is in the Jemez Mountains by Santa Fe New Mexico. New research from the scientists in the Valles Caldera concerning ejected microscopic textured rock and hot magma beneath the caldera can cause an eruption which will cover Las Alamos, and many small towns in the area. The ejected textured rock from the eruption 60,000 years ago, illustrates that the Valles Caldera is in a new stage of volcanic activity. The hot magma beneath the crust may indicate an eruption tomorrow or near future. If the volcano does erupt it will cover Las Alamos and the many small towns in the area; therefore, a monitoring program is to keep a watch on the volcanic activity is recommended.
The eruption on Mount Saint Helens has a specific cause and comes with many effects. A multifold of people would say that the “mountain looked like the site of an atomic blast” (Bredeson 30). That is a very accurate depiction as it took great power to inflict as much damage as it did. The reason for this impressive amount of force is that when magma is built up with pressure and an earthquake hits, the pressure gets magnified and the volcano explodes (Lewis). This is exactly what happened inside Mount Saint Helens. Furthermore, it has been revealed that “The earthquake that triggered the explosion was a 5.2 on the Richter scale” (Gunn 559). The earthquake to the magma can be compared as a match to gasoline. Even though the earthquake was not huge, the scale of the eruption was much greater than that of the earthquake (Gunn 560). The earthquake was only the trigger that allowed for more devastating things to occur. Thirteen hundred feet of the volcano were lost in the explosion followed by landslides, mudslides, and lava flows...
The volcano was expected to erupt soon, but not this soon. Predictions from scientists of the eruption varied from 2018 to 2020. Definitely nobody predicted that it would come this soon in 2016.
Earth has physically changed millions of times due to moving tectonic plates which has formed our planets mountains; altering the way our environment looks. Volcanoes, (formed when magma from the upper mantle heads to the surface, causing the land to rise) are one of nature’s finest spectacles. These geographical forces have erupted many times; from small-scale eruptions to cataclysmic ones; making them a force to consider about. Therefore the past is useful in predicting possible future eruptions as in terms of the effects they can have on civilisation, they are unpredictable in what they can produce.
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.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens and the 1991 eruption Mt. Pinatubo. (Ball, J. n.d.).
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).
...is event ‘ just a coincidence because several small earthquakes happened before the big one’ ( Zhang, 2008), but it proved that if we can predict hazards accurately, much loss can be saved.