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Physical and human impacts of earthquakes
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Earthquakes Stretching from the Flathead Lake region in the northwest corner of the state of Montana, to the Yellowstone National Park where the borders of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming get together, the Intermountain Seismic Belt exists. The Intermountain Seismic Belt has an unbelievable width of 100 kilometers in western Montana alone. This is one of the major reason why Montana is one of the most seismically-active states in the United States of America. During the period of October 3 to November 28 1935 a series of earthquakes, in the state capital of Helena, causing major damage. On the day of October 18th, a major earthquake was felt in western Montana and parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Canada. That is approximately 596,000 sq. kilometers
The Fredonia Earthquake that took place in Fredonia, Arizona on July 21st, 1959 was the largest earthquake to ever strike the state and it triggered a rockslide at Mather Point in the Grand Canyon.
The town of Orting is built in the valley of Mount Rainer in western Washington. Located 30 miles from the volcano, Orting is built upon deposits of 500 year old lahar erupted from the volcano. Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano of andesitic rock, located along the convergent plate boundary where the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate meet. Mount Rainier is the most prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and is approximately 500,000 years old (The Cardinal). Although Mount Rainier is considered to be an active volcano because of its lahar flow, it is currently in resting state.
The geological arrangement was largely influenced by the Western Interior Seaway, which swept through the continent millions of years ago. It was during this time when frequent alterations in climate caused the waters to surface and withdraw. The Dakota Sandstone deposited within the sedimentary profile of Mesa Verde is in large part due to these events.
Earthquakes, by Webster’s dictionary definition, are, “a shaking or trembling of the earth that is volcanic or tectonic in origin.” World Book Encyclopedia reports scientists believe that more than 8,000 earthquakes occur each day without causing damage. A little more than 1,000 each year are strong enough to be felt. Earthquakes occur in the general sense, anywhere on land. Other earthquakes go by different names, such as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, large tidal wave storms that occur underwater, primarily in the Pacific Ocean.
Let’s begin with a little knowledge of Mt. Rainier and Yellowstone. Well, they are both in Washington. Rainier’s last few eruptions had lahars; we know this because of previous paths of destruction. This volcano is dormant, just blowing off a little steam sometimes. The last lahar was 500 years ago. If that happened again,
In Montana, tall mountains create two distinct climate regions. To the west of the mountains, the weather is milder (Av2 books). Yellowstone National Park lies mostly in Wyoming, but three of the park’s entrances are located in southern Montana. People go to Yellowstone National park to see the view and the glaciers, some people go there to just go on a vacation to see the wildlife (Av2 books).
When the quake, registering 6.1 on the Richter scale, first struck, it was thought to be centered along the Old Whittier Fault. However, after extensive study, it was determined that it was actually the result of a "new" fault, or a fault that had not previously been discovered by scientists.
On the night of April 18, 1906, the whole town was woken by erratic shaking. Although the earthquake lasted under a measly minute, it caused significant damage. Many fires started all throughout the city; San Francisco burned in turmoil.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes in the United States. Even though it only lasted less than a minute, the damages and aftermath of the earthquake were disastrous. These damages were not just from the earthquake, but also from other hazards that occurred because of it. It also had a huge effect on the people living in San Francisco. Many people, the government, and other countries helped the city of San Francisco with relief goods like food and clothing. The city used up their resources in order to rebuild the city and spent a lot of money. This earthquake also started a scientific revolution about earthquakes and its effects.
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18th, 1906, the California city of San Francisco was awoken by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Chaos erupted with the earthquake leading to fire break outs throughout San Francisco (Cameron and Gordon. Pgs 69-73).The earthquake and the resulting fires caused destruction to majority of the city with buildings crumbling and igniting into flames. Many people died along with thousands and thousands of people being left homeless. This devastating earthquake left the city and United States in a financial crisis. Although the 1906 earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the city of San Francisco was able to overcome these substantial physical, social and economic impacts it had.
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...
October 17, 1989. Damage for this San Francisco Bay Area quake are close to 4 billion. The
The Yellowstone supervolcano is in Wyoming, a sparsely populated state in the American West. Yellowstone National Park is in the northwest corner of Wyoming. This volcano is underneath the park, and scientists suggest that it is capable of destroying a large amount of the nation. Scientists discovered this volcano in Yellowstone decades ago, and
The United States of America should spend more money on volcano and earthquake monitoring. Although the states are in debt, this is a good idea because the government would be more in debt from rebuilding the buildings and homes. If the government agrees to prevent more earthquakes and volcanoes from happening, then the U.S. would not be in debt. This could be very effective only if the government put in the money and the effort.
There are many earthquakes to study, but we have chosen some of the most devastating ones that have occurred somewhere in the near past. San Francisco San Francisco, in 1985, was one of America's largest and most populated cities at the time, far ahead of other cities in its size when it came to technology. San Francisco is modern as ever with large and long bridges and bays, and plenty of rural areas. There were also skyscrapers and tall buildings, which towered over the population. San Francisco was never peaceful as it lies on the fault line and earthquakes usually tend to occur there, so San Francisco is usually prepared for an earthquake with police, fire fighters and rescue teams and even volunteers if needed, this is all done before the actual disaster if predicted, if it isn’t they are still very quick to get to the scene.