Earth and space sciences topic - Essay Example

In this article, an earthquake off of the coast of central Chile frightened thousands of people. The citizens of this nation were frightened for several reasons. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake was centered about 31 miles off of the Chilean coast. It was powerful enough to make people’s homes sway, knocking things off of shelves and causing light fixtures to dance about. Panic sent many people fleeing from their homes. Cell phone service broke down because the system was not able to handle all of the calls from people calling loved ones to let them know they were unharmed.

Social media sites also were buzzing with news of the earthquake. Another reason people in central Chile were so upset is the fact that this same area suffered a massive 8.8 earthquake that killed hundreds of people and created a tsunami. Over 200,000 homes were destroyed in the quake two years ago. Many of the survivors blame the government for the high death toll because a faulty tsunami warning system led people to believe that the tsunami would not be destructive. The opposite turned out to be true.

Over 30 billion dollars in damage resulted from the combined destructive forces of the earthquake and tsunami. Government officials assured people once again that there would not be a destructive tsunami after this earthquake, but many individuals did not trust the warning system. They evacuated coastal areas anyway. In the end, seismologists were correct in their prediction that this earthquake would not create a tsunami. They could tell that the movement of the plates was not the right king of movement necessary for a tsunami to form.

In this case, there was no sudden uplift of the ocean floor, which is a necessary element in the creation of a tsunami.Work Cited"Quake Just Offshore Chile Disaster Area Causes Panic, but Government Says No Tsunami." Washington Post. Washington Post, Inc., 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. .