Earthquake as a Great Disaster - Essay Example

Jiazhen Tang Goksel-Demir ESLL 26 21 March Earthquake Earthquake is one of the natural disasters human have come acrossmost in the recent times. Earthquake has a history as old as earth itself. Earthquake is cause of lot of devastation for human and animal life. Interestingly, animals and birds can sense earthquake beforehand which human cannot. Earthquake is more prominent in China and Indonesia, however in a decade Japan is also a victim of earthquake. According to (Japanese National Police Agency) “ This earthquake and tsunami caused 15,884 deaths, 6,148 injured, and 2,633 people missing across twenty prefectures, as well as 127,290 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 272,788 building ‘ half collapsed’, and another 747,989 buildings partially damaged. The earth is constantly undergoing turbulence and tremors of minor nature are frequent event. However, majority of earthquakes are unpredictable and cause huge damage. Earthquake is a natural disaster which has threatening consequences and government and public need to be more cautious towards it. (Thesis) Earthquakes have put governments and international organization alert on ways to counter it. There are not many precautions one can take to face it. Earthquakes happening at night hours can take many people’s life. It not only damage life but also destroys the whole infrastructure and economy of a country depending upon the intensity. Tsunami is also another aftermath of earthquake and people hence are more scared of earthquake than any disaster. Around the world, Japan, China, Indonesia and India are more prone to earthquakes than any other part. According to the article (Annissimov) , natural disaster is an event with as opposed to human, cause tharesults in large-scale loss of life or damage to property. It could be related to weather, geology, biology or even factors outside the Earth. Examples are earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts and flooding. Disease epidemics are sometimes considered natural disasters, but may be put into a different category. In some cases, natural and human factors may combine to produce a disaster. Actually, earthquake occurs due to the movement and pressure on earth’s platonic belts and scientific world has no much ways to predict them. Earth is a planet which is in motion internally and externally. In the internal crust of earth, there is plate – tectonics- the plates at the surface of the earth due to the flow of rock within the earth. The entire surface of the earth is covered with plates. As they are in constant motion they rub against or separate from each other most of the time. When there is strain built upon the plates due to the interference of rocks then the rockbreaks which shake the earth’s surface. The earthquake is due to the compression and tensional stresses on the lithographic plates’ on earth’s surface. Earths crust consist of a jigsaw puzzle of continental and oceanic plates that are constantly sliding ,pulling apart or ramming each other”(Vergano) . The movement of rocks which are huge in nature and their friction with each other can cause enormous vibration which pass through and around the earth. These vibrations create ripples as a pebble creates one on water surface when dropped. Shock waves from a powerful earth quake can trigger smaller earthquake in near locations with hundred miles in distance. According to the (National Geography) “It really takes the movement of crustal plates to uncork a massive earthquake, such as the magnitude 9.0 quake off the coast of Japan in 2011, which was caused by the Pacific plate moving under Asia”. The sudden release of energy results in seismic waves that result in earth’s surface shaking. Earthquake, is simple terms happens when the rocks break due to pressure upon them. The spot where the rock breaks is the epicenter of earthquake. In the past decade, world has faced some frightening earthquakes which threatened people regarding the wrath of Mother Nature. People are recently more scared of earthquakes than any other natural disaster and also due to its connection to tsunamis. The major earthquake is the one happened in Japan in 2011. It not only caused heavy damage but also had been a reason for a massive tsunami. According to ( Kurtenbach) “The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that slammed into northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, killed or left missing some 19,000 people, devastating much of the coast. Unfortunately, this earthquake triggered a 30 foot tsunami. This also damaged the nuclear plant on coastal shores which leaked toxins to the atmosphere which doubled the fatality. However, a minute ago, however, a minute ago, the Japan government did warn about the upcoming earthquake. . In the 2010 , the South Japanese residents were threatened by a strong offshore quake which set off a tsunami. This earthquake was of 7.4 magnitude and people scrambled to the community centre for shelter. According to (Yamaguchi) “Japans Meteorological Agency issued an alert for a tsunami of up to 6 feet (2 meters) for Chichi and nearby islands and warned of a milder tsunami for the southern coasts of the main Japanese island”. There was no reported damage to this event but it could evoke much feat among the people. There was a minor tsunami around the coastline and people were more feared of tsunami which is dire consequence of earthquake nowadays. In 2010, the California state also experienced an earth quake which measured 6.5 on the Richter scale. The earth quake left thousands of people in black out in Northern California. As per ( Valencia) “A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck off the shore of Northern California, leaving thousands of households without power. The quake, which ran about 13.5 miles deep, hit offshore at 4:27 p.m, Saturday, about 33 miles from the coastal city”. This earth quake did not cause any fatal injury or damage to people or property but did cause much panic among residents. However few people were reportedly suffered from minor injury and bruises and admitted to hospital. There were also many aftershocks after the earth quake. The earth quake did manage to break water line, power line, windows, and unreinforced buildings. Another earth quake which hit America was the one in 2011 in Virginia State. An earth quake of 5.8 magnitude occurred at Virginia which rocked the East Coast and as far as the North Carolina and tremors were felt in Buffalo and Boston and Detroit. According to ( Green) On August 23, 2011, the East Coast was hit with a 5.8 magnitude earthquake at 1:51 pm. The epicenter of the quake was about five miles south of Mineral, Virginia, but the shocks could be felt from Georgia to Canada. Anyway this earth quake did not cause any fatalities to people or property. Earth quake being a disaster which can be predicted well in advance can only be taken care of as the disaster occurs. Some precaution can make the people safe during earthquake. The people in the event of earthquake need to fall down on knees to protect them from falling and allow minor movements. In case of shaking, hold on to shelter. It is better to get shelter under furniture to avoid falling object injuring them. If possible move out of the building and stand under sky. The main point is not to move once people sense earthquake. At outdoors, the people should move away from electrical facilities and buildings. The forecasting of earthquake is not much possible hence precaution is not very effective in case of earthquake. According to (Jordan 316-91) “Earthquake forecasting and prediction is a highly technical field with a rich literature and vigorous research activities in many countries”. The geologists use historical records to forecast earth quake in many regions. The studies done along many decades and the frequency of occurrence of earth quake gives idea to the experts regarding the forecast however it may not be sure to happen. Accelerated moment release method is another way of forecasting technique. As per (Jones 517-31 ) “ The concept of Accelerating Moment Release (AMR) is based on the observation that in the time leading up to some large earthquakes, the seismic activity in a region surrounding the epicenter of the large earthquake is not constant, but increases as the large earthquake approaches’. Earth quake has been happening since times unknown and it is not necessarily human induced but a natural phenomenon. However, in recent times, there had been a credible rise in earth quakes all over the world. This could be linked slightly to the atrocities we do to environment and creatures in the world. Nature has its own way of paying back the cruelty done to and natural disasters are one form of it. As per (Hardman) “Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters are expressions of Divine purpose, as the forces of nature are always in alignment with God’s will, unlike humans who have free will to align with Divine purpose or not. People need to be more aware of the pollution and atrocities happening in societies and need to understand that respecting nature could make it more benevolent to us. Earthquake is the most dangerous natural disaster and humans do not get much time to save themselves. Spiritually talking, these happen due to the environmental pollution and atrocities people do to the animals and other human beings. Thousands of people die in earthquakes and it is collective killing by nature when it gets hurt or exploited. Many would not think it is a valid reasoning but when thought in right direction, one can understand the logic behind it. Since few decades, the natural harmony is in danger and the imbalance of nature can be seen with the persistent occurrence of earthquakes around world. Modern world which is constantly being told that it is destroying the planet with its carbon emissions and selfish behavior will, by definition, come to believe that it holds all the answers. Government and science can save humanity to an extent but the fury of nature is hard to resist. We cannot get logical reasons for everything happening in this world. Natural disaster does have reason like the discrepancies or abnormal functioning of earth or its atmosphere. But why such abnormalities occur no one can explain. Universe consistently work in an organized patterns however, natural disasters suddenly bring calamity. A natural disaster can even destroy the whole world in a short period of time, so the power of nature is above all science and technology. The cosmic conscious is all knowing and all bad actions have its own consequences and they obviously come in form of earthquakes, tornadoes and floods. Conclusion Man has been facing natural disasters since time immemorial. Earthquake is one of the natural disasters which have been mentioned in many scriptures. The earthquake has been recently increasing which has no much scientific reasoning from experts. Earthquakes are disastrous and can take toll on all things on earth. Earth quake even has the capacity to change the topography of earth. The unpredictable nature of earth quake and its catastrophic effect on a region there is less human can do to contain them. The government can take measure to reduce the damage caused rather than preventions. Earthquake also leads to outbreak of many diseases which are contagious thorough water, air and food. Such diseases and situations need to be managed along with the death toll and injuries happened to victims. This assumption is based on the fact that it will take time to rebuild the houses destroyed in the earthquake and therefore people would be very interested to receive help for this task. According to (Lindell 1-18)“Because few victims develop major psychological problems from disaster impacts, most benefit more from a crisis counseling orientation than from a mental health treatment orientation, especially if their normal social support networks of friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers remain largely intact”. The scientific world has not advanced so much to avoid the occurrence of earthquake and further research need in this area to understand the working of nature Work Cited Annissimov, Michael. "What is a Natural Disaster?." http://www.wisegeek.org. Wise Geek, 20144. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. . Green, Jessica. "East Coast Earthquake 2011: One Year Anniversary Of Mineral, VA Quake." http://www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. . Hardman, Robert. "What fools we are to think we can tame the wrath of nature." http://www.dailymail.co.uk. Mail Online, 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. . Japanese National Police Agency. “The report of Tōhoku earthquake” 10 February 2014 Jordan, Thomas H. "OPERATIONAL EARTHQUAKE FORECASTING." Anals of Geophysics 54.4 (2011): 316-91. Print Jones, David V. "Remarks on the accelerated release model." Geophys 144 (2001): 517-31. Print. Kurtenbach, Elaine. "Japan Earthquake - Strong Temblor strikes NorthEastern Coast." http://www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. . Lindell, Michael K. "Disaster Studies." Sage 2.4 (2011): 1-18. Print. Valencia, Nick. "6.5 earthquake strikes off California coast." http://edition.cnn.com. CNN, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. . Vergano, Dan. "What Causes an Earthquake? Faults Explained." http://news.nationalge ographic.com. National Geography, 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. . Yamaguchi, Mari. "Japan Earthquake 2010: Strong Quake Prompts Tsunami Warning ." http://www.huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. . Read More