When Disaster Starts - Essay Example

Mohammed Al-naama Rebecca James English April 27, When Disaster Starts On Saturday, May 16 2009, I was in Qatar, my small country located in the Arabian Gulf. I was in deep sleep when suddenly my mobile phone started ringing. I woke up and took a look at the phone and then glanced at the clock on the wall in front of my bed. It was 07:30 in the morning. The caller was Ali, my best friend, who told me that we were supposed to go to his cousin Ahamad’s wedding in Saudi Arabia, to leave at noon. We arrived there exactly at one o’clock in the afternoon. The wedding was supposed to take place the next day that is Sunday, May 17 when Ahamad would marry Sarah. But unlike the European marriage tradition, our wedding ceremony was usually conducted at night. As per our custom, once a couple is married, the groom stayed at the bride’s residence and then took her his home. I woke up at five in the morning to do the Fajer which is the first prayer in the day that Muslims offered Allah. We should pray five times a day during five different occasions. When I was on my way back to the hotel, I heard prayers in the mosque, as well as the talk about an earthquake. However, I did not have any clue about the episode until I arrived at the hotel again. Quakes resulted from Earths natural need of releasing stress. When the Earths plates moved against each other, stress was developed. When this stress became severe, the structure of Earth (plates) broke or shifted. As the plates moved, the earths crust put force on itself. When this force was strong enough, the crust broke. When such break occurred the stress got released as energy which moved through the earth in the form of waves, which we feel and call an earthquake. Therefore, an earthquake could be perceived as a vibration of the earth produced by a rapid release of energy (Tarbuck 1996). Hearing the news of the quake, people were leaving the hotel and there was a big commotion in the lobby. The staff was shouting, “Calm down! Calm down! Nothing is certain yet." I did not understand what is happening, and I went to my room thinking it was a problem between the staff of the hotel and some of the guests. I turned on the TV and, by coincidence; the channel was Al Jazeera, which was one of the biggest news channels in the Middle East. The news in the red bar read “A volcano might hit Saudi Arabia because of an earthquake". My jaw dropped and I stayed completely still with an open mouth. Ali asked me what happened, so I pointed with my finger to the news. We called Ahmed, who told us that the wedding will be cancelled because of the big earthquake that might happen in Al-Ais, a small town in Saudi Arabia . Everything including the wedding and accompanying celebrations, was cancelled and we decided that we should run away from this potential earthquake. We thought for a while that it was just a bad dream, the kind of dream that made you feel bad first thing in the morning after you have woken up. Unfortunately, this was not a dream. This was an occasion when natural disasters spoke. At this time, we felt that every second was a minute and that every minute was an hour. We started to collect our clothes, pack up our luggage, realizing that with every minute wasted we drew closer to death. Some stuff we lost, leaving them behind, but they were not important items. Nothing was important at that moment in our life, which was hanging on the line, and that was what we have all thinking about. We ran down the stairs of the hotel and it was a melee down in the lobby. Everybody was shouting and screaming and hundreds of people were scrambling to the hotel’s exit. We did the same, ignoring the fact that we had to check out, because at this moment nothing seemed more important than saving our lives. We went to our black car as if death were following us, put our bags in the trunk, and moved off wanting to escape to a safer place. When we were trying to find our way out of the hotel garage and I started to think about my life and what I did for myself. I thought of my mother and father and wondered if there was a chance to see them at least one more time, or if death would come and take me away before I had that opportunity. I remembered all the bad things I had done against my father, mother and brothers. I started to think about if I had been a good son. I hoped so. Suddenly, I was wrenched from my thoughts. A white GMC white truck had hit us in the passenger side as soon as we had left the garage. I was not injured, thank God. The truck had an old man with his wife and children. I still remembered the looks on their faces. It was the look of fear of losing everything, even the small things like stories before bed, but they were confident because they had their parents, and they knew that they would protect them no matter what happened. "I wish I was a small child," my heart was thinking. We got out of the car and started running to the red firefighter car, leaving everything behind, bags and the car. Then the land beneath our feet began to shake. I stayed still, like a tree that had all of its roots in the ground. My heart started beating like a drum, and I started to see my veins, and I was terrified. After three minuets, I looked around and saw that the land was cracked, trees had fallen down, and houses were destroyed, but thanked God, all the same that I did not see blood, for now at least. I was thinking that everything was finished by now and that this was the worst damage that happened or would happen, but unfortunately I was wrong. After fifteen minutes, the land started to tremble and shake again but this time I was in the firefighter truck. They were taking people outside of the city to somewhere safe. But we had not reached the safe side just yet. At that moment, a huge building collapsed in front of my eyes, causing the truck to hit the street lamp post. A big piece of glass got into Ali’s arm, and my head was slammed into the front seat. Blood covered my face, and everything I started to see was blurry. I was thinking that this was the last minute of life, and I lost consciousness for the next three hours, as I learned from the doctor who treated me. Earthquakes often caused massive devastation, resulting not only in the loss of property but also of lives. Earthquake impacts are many and varied, ranging from minor structural damage to a few buildings to complete devastation of large areas. A powerful earthquake (greater than magnitude 6.5) would be capable of annihilating major urban areas and severely disrupting the social and economic fabric of nations. As a consequence, the range of earthquake phenomena and impacts had been of concern to a broad spectrum of professions including insurance, construction, engineering, land-use planning, and disaster management. I woke up, finding myself in a hospital with Ali in the bed nearest to me. I asked the doctor if everything was done and he said, "Everything is good now, you should call your family." Before picking up the phone and calling my family, my eyes went to the remote control of the TV, so I turned it on to watch the news. The broadcast informed me that there had been three earthquakes; the first one was 4.5 on the Richter scale, the second one was 4.8, which was the one that I had been injured in. The last one hit after I left the city, which measured at 5.2. It was hard to believe that an earthquake with 5.2 on Richter scale could cause such destruction, but I really did not think that these were the correct numbers. In Saudi Arabia or in the Middle East in general, the news was controlled by the government most of the time, and they did not provide the real data to the public. This was on the basis of the apprehension that accurate information would create a panic situation. Some of the print media carried pictures of what happened to the land, how deep did it cracked. Such things could not have happened if the earthquake was 5.2. On the next day of the earthquake, the news show claimed that there were no losses of life or houses on that everyone was safe, but unfortunately that was a lie to make people feel better. When a small school in Qatar was raided by a terrorist, children, their parent, and their teachers died but we did not know that. Our news did not reveal anything about the losses till we heard from news broad casts from out side the country. The earthquake happened in Al-Ais, small town in the desert with tiny and very old houses which meant a small densely populated area and the “eruption forced clouds of volcanic dust up to 15 km into the air.” (Harrison). The government main concern was that the earthquake would reach Al-Maddena, one of the biggest cities is Saudi Arabia, which is about 100 miles from Al-Maddina, the city of Muslim’s Prophet Mohammed. This city had visitors from all over the world. We were thankful that the earthquake did not reach that far, but why the government did not give us the real numbers and the true story of what happened in Al-Ais would never be clear. Many people lost something or the other that day and their story should be told to those who did not know about it. After that, I called my family in Qatar and let them know that I was okay and that everything was good. My mother was crying, thinking that she had lost her son. I felt the pain that she had in her heart, her tears were my tears, and her pain was my pain. I would say this exactly was the love between a mother and her son. When the phone was disconnected, my heart was full of sadness. Ali said, “What about Ahmed?" "Yes, what about him? I should call him." I called Ahmed on his mobile phone but he did not pick up, so I called him at his house and then he picked up. "Hey Ahmed, how is everything?" I asked. He replied, "Everything is okay and everybody is safe." He told me that his wedding was postponed to next month. His voice was mixed with sadness and happiness. I thought he was sad because of the wedding; he loved this girl more than anything in the world. And I believed he was happy because everyone was okay, his bride, her family and his. In recent years, large earthquakes have caused two of the most costly natural disasters of all time - the 1994 Northridge quake in southern California, and the Kobe earthquake that rocked Japan in 1995. This last event resulted in over six thousand deaths and economic losses estimated at around 100 billion US dollars. Such devastation and loss definitely can be mitigated through advance assessment of seismic hazard and risk and the implementation of appropriate land-use, construction codes, and emergency plans. Together, such initiatives can substantially reduce the level of death and injury, dramatically diminish the economic impact, and limit the exposure of insurance companies. The Bhuj earthquake that shook the Indian Province of Gujarat on the morning of January 26, 2001 is one of the most deadly earthquakes in Indian history and “the Indian State Department estimates that the earthquake affected, directly or indirectly, 15.9 million people out of a total population of 37.8 million. More than 20,000 cattle are reported killed.” (Kalita). Given the earthquakes all over the world including USA, it is important to recognize that no truly catastrophic earthquake has occurred in a major city in the United States for several years. A national concern about potential economic consequences, however, has been heightened in recent years as scientifically based probabilities of future earthquakes in urbanized areas have increased, and as the social and economic costs of recent earthquakes have increased dramatically. Federal warnings of possible earthquakes seem like a reasonable way to protect against the effects of a disaster. People would not be able to buy earthquake insurance during this period of uncertainty. Another economic problem that this presents is that there would be adverse changes in mortgage availability, property values, investment patterns, and employment opportunities. The town would feel the effects of this with a reduction in tax revenues for the local government, which would lead to a reduction in public services (Berlin 80). All of this becomes possible because an earthquake warning has been issued. Although this seems like a terrible burden to a community, it will lower the risk of casualties and damage. An attempt to lessen the economic effects of an earthquake prediction problem is the only way to get around this problem. I did not know earthquakes were so dangerous, but I knew that we could not defeat nature but we could deal with it. Hundreds of people know nothing about earthquake even in USA. The survey of California residents showed that when residents that lived along a fault line were asked of disadvantages of living in their place of residence, 44.2 percent could not think of any problems and out of the remaining people, nobody mentioned earthquakes (Berlin 80). Unfortunately it seems as if people are unaware of the great dangers that earthquakes present. According to this survey, even when people do realize the dangers all they seem to do for precaution is pray. This is not the most effective way of protecting against earthquake damage. “Earthquakes have occurred in 39 states since 1900, and about 90% of Americans live in areas considered seismically active.” (Get the facts on earthquake insurance). Though conceptually having earthquake insurance is a great idea, earthquake insurance is extraordinarily expensive - it typically doubles a homeowners annual premiums - and most policies come with a 10 or 15 percent deductible, meaning that damage would have to be pretty severe before policyholders would be able to tap into their coverage. According to study, only 12 percent Californians have earthquake insurance even if they live in earthquake prone areas. Generally, people do not take precautionary measures unless they have been greatly affected in the past by an earthquake. Because many people deny about the importance of precautions in the case of earthquakes, damage is done that could have been prevented occurs. The consequences of earthquakes can be catastrophic and it is impossible to predict earthquakes. Awareness among people in the society is the only remedial measure to control damage of the property and loss of innocent lives. Protecting oneself with earthquake insurance, building structures with seismic activity in mind, having earthquake drills, and being prepared with emergency supplies can have a great effect on how people survive an earthquake. We knew the consequences of earthquakes now, so we should not make the same mistake again. We should prepare for it so that we have fewer losses. It had been a terrible day for me and for the people who lived through the same experience. I did not lose someone special and close to me, but I am sure that there are hundreds that had bigger losses. References Berlin, Lennis G. “Earthquakes and the Urban Environment.” vol I. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1980. The survey was done to determine awareness of people during earthquakes in San Francisco. The results were shocking and survey conveyed message to the authority that society is not serious about consequences of the earthquake. The survey results are used in this study. Patel Shirish, Aromar Revi. “Recovering from earthquakes”. Routledge Asian Studies, Taylor & Francis Group (2009): Pages: 340 The experiences of the contributors, many of whom have actively contributed their expertise to disaster management and recovery, help us understand what problems require a swift response and which aspects should be based on detailed analyses keeping in mind local conditions. Findings of this study are used for offering an opportunity to rebuild society such that all sections of the population are empowered and brought into the community’s decision-making process. Tarbuck, Edward J and Frederick K. Lutgens. “Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology.” Prentice Hall: New Jersey, 1996. The study of earthquakes and methodology to define various terms related to earthquake are defined in this book. The basic details about earthquake are being used from this literature which provides basic findings and history about earthquakes. Picture : This photo shows how the land was cracked This photo show when the people moved to the Refugee camps This is photo of Al-Maddena the Muslims prophet city, the city that the government was in fear that the earthquake will reach it but it didn’t Work Cited Get the facts on earthquake insurance. msn Search.2010.Web. 07 May. 2010. . Harrison, Peter. Saudi volcanic eruption ‘imminent’. Maktoob News. 2009. Web. 07 May. 2010. . Kalita, Songhita. Analysis of Resource Inventory and Emergent Relief Needs. An Application Tool for Disaster management. 2007. Web. 07 May. 2010. . Read More