Introduction 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. Earthquakes Before examining the Northridge event, understanding the naturally occurring hazard that is an earthquake will help to better understand exactly what happened and why it was such an important geological event. With four distinct layers, two layers, the crust and upper portion of the mantle, compose the skin that is the surface layer of the Earth. The crust is not a single, continuous piece. It is actually several different pieces, or plates, that come together to form the puzzle that comprises the surface of the Earth. These plates are in constant motion rubbing against one another. These areas, known as fault lines, where the plates rub up against one another have spots where one plate ”gets stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. When the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick and is how most of the earthquakes around the world occur” (Wald, 2012). The energy stored from the friction of the two plate... ... middle of paper ... ...e earthquake: 1994 quake still fresh in Los Angeles minds after 20 years. Retrieved from http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140111/northridge-earthquake-1994-disaster-still-fresh-in-los-angeles-minds-after-20-years Crisan, B. (2010). Disaster case study: The Northridge earthquake of 1994. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/684114/Disaster_Case_Study_The_Northridge_Earthquake_of_1994 Gordon, K., & Emerson, J. (2010). Governing through a disaster: Lessons from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/08/07/206563/governing-through-a-disaster/ Oskin, B. (2013). Foreshocks announce future earthquakes on some faults. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/28134-earthquake-slow-slip-foreshocks-found.html Wald, L. (2012). The science of earthquakes. Retrieved from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake hit the Northern California coastline. The San Andreas fault shook 296 miles of the coast causing major damage throughout San Francisco, destroying about 80% of the city. Fires broke out throughout the city that lasted for several days. This was one of the worst Earthquakes recorded in history, killing 3,000 people.("The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake")
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 in California are certainly not a surprise. What is a surprise is their unpredictability and randomness. Geologists say there is roughly a 50 percent chance that a magnitude 8 or more quake will hit the Los Angeles area sometime over the next 30 years. And, over the past twenty years, the Los Angeles area has witnessed several earthquakes, and in particular, two that were quite devastating; the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and the January 17, 1994, Northridge Earthquake. Given the certainty that earthquakes will occur, they still seem to come as a surprise, and leave many communities unprepared to deal with their aftermath.
"The Great Quake: 1906-2006 / Rising from the Ashes." SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
The Haitian government’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes despite the fact that earthquakes are common to the region is indicative of the governments inability and lack of resources to properly plan and protect it’s population against natural disasters. This lack of preparedness is not an isolated incident. Prior to the disaster, the World Bank and others were working with the Haitian government to incorporate disaster risk management into Haiti’s development strategy and to develop its capacity for disaster response. This capacity building was in its early stages of development when the earthquake hit, on January 12, 2010, and was mainly focused on hurricanes, which are the most common cause of natural disaster on the island (Margesson, 2010, p. 4).
Gordon, Mary, and Cameron King jr. "Earthquake and Fire in San Francisco." University of California Press. 48.1 (1985): 69-79. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. .
Catastrophes impact large areas, crossing regional and often, state jurisdictional boundaries, and will require m...
Federal intervention in the aftermath of natural disasters began after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. This 8.3 magnitude earthquake killed 478, and left over 250,000 homeless. While the disaster itself was obviously unavoidable, the subsequent fires that burned throughout the city were a result of poor planning. (1, 17) In an effort to consolidate existing programs, and to improve the nation’s level of preparedness, President Carter created FEMA in 1979. Initially, FEMA was praised for improving communication between various levels of government, and multiple agencies during a crisis. (1,19)
One of the major aftermaths of the Northridge Earthquake of January 17, 1994, was the widespread connection damage that posed a major question regarding the behavior of field-welded, field-bolted moment frame connections, also known as Pre-Northridge connections.
October 17, 1989. Damage for this San Francisco Bay Area quake are close to 4 billion. The
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2010).Introduction to emergency management. (4th ed., pp. 1-26). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
When it comes to a natural disaster, there often is no way of seeing what is coming. Sometimes a tornado, flash flood, or hurricane alert might pop up on your phone or appear on the news, but it is easy to simply overlook these warnings. You never know where you will be at the time of striking. It is near impossible to perfectly time your location and surrounding resources when calamity will hit. The Nepalese boy, who survived for 5 days under a collapsed parking garage due to the devastating earthquake in 2015, had the will to live, determination, and resilience. After disclosing that he had
The epicenter of the earthquake in Alaska was about 10km east of the College Fiord, approximately 90km west of Valdez and 120km east of Anchorage, Alaska largest city. The earthquake was felt about 1,300,000 square kilometers away from the epicenter. (Christensen, Doug PhD.) About 30 kilometers deep, the first slip occurred under northern Prince William Sound, and an 800 kilometer rupture in the rocks extended horizontally, roughly parallel to the Aleutian trench. (Bolt) The cause of this massive earthquake was the vertical displacement of northwest motion of the Pacific plate. Also, it was estimated that about 200,000 square kilometers of the crust were deformed, making this the greatest area of vertical displacement ever measured. (Bolt)
Earthquakes are vibrations produced in the earth's outer layer, or crust, when forces pushing on a mass of rock overcome the friction holding the rock in place and blocks of rock slip against each other. The vibrations can range from barely noticeable to verry destructive. There are six types of shock waves. Two are classified as body waves which means they travel through the earth's interior and the other four are surface waves. The waves are changed by the rock types or formations they hit. Primary or compressional waves (P waves) send particles moveing back and forth in the same direction as the waves are traveling, secondary or transverse shear waves (S waves) send vibrations perpendicular to their direction of travel. P waves always travel at higher velocities than S waves. Three general classes of earthquakes are now recognized as tectonic, volcanic, and artificially produced. The tectonic variety is by far the most destructive. The most commen cause of tectonic quakes is stresses by movements of the dozen of major and minor plates that make up the earth's crust . Most tectonic quakes occur at the boundaries of these plates, in zones where one plate slides past another
Of the four phases of emergency management, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, perhaps the place that individuals can make the biggest difference in their own state of resiliency and survival of a disaster is in the preparedness phase. Being prepared before a disaster strikes makes sense yet many people fail to take even simple, precautionary steps to reduce the consequences of destruction and mayhem produced by natural events such as earthquakes, volcanos and tornados (see Paton et al, 2001, Mileti and Peek, 2002; Tierney, 1993, Tierney et al, 2001).