Tens of thousands of buildings damaged beyond repair and destroyed. 60 people killed, approximately 4,000 people injured, and several thousand Californians left homeless. These are the results of a single earthquake, perhaps the most terrifying and destructive kind of natural disasters on the Earth, structure, and the everyday lives of people. What kind of damage can we expect from a typical earthquake? To begin with, earthquakes can cause a great amount of damage, especially to the Earth. For instance, eyewitness reporter Steve Nguyen, the author of his blog “A Rough Commute” from Sacramento, California, wrote, “The scar of the quake is plain to see- a jagged line of raw earth tracing across miles of tomato fields”. Nguyen describes the effects of the earthquake damage force. He adds, “A section of asphalt six lanes wide has been tilted up like a castle drawbridge”, which adds to the description of the earthquake’s aftermath. Secondly, earthquakes can also have negative effects on structure. The Loma Prieta Earthquake struck at 5:04 PM on October 18, 1989 during the third game of the 1989 World Series. The quake measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale and shook the ground for 15 seconds, with an epicenter near Santa Cruz. It is fortunate that nobody was hurt and that the stadium stood, yet …show more content…
Unfortunately, the people affected by the Loma Prieta earthquake weren’t as lucky as the fans who survived in the Candlestick Park during the 1989 World Series. As Esposito previously stated before, a freeway built reinforced for earthquakes in the 70’s was built on marshland, so the soil liquefied during the earthquake, which as a result, “The freeway buckled, support columns failed, and the upper deck crashed, killing 41 people in their
In 1910 a series of fifty-two earthquakes struck Arizona between September 10th-23rd and it caused much of the Flagstaff residents to flee the area as even strong households cracked and chimneys crumbled. The fifty-two earthquakes were all light-shock earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0-4.2 that came right after another. If only one earthquake occurred in that timespan then it is likely that only objects would be knocked from shelves but no damage would be done to infrastructure, but the earthquakes happened right after another causing significant slight
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.
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 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.
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.
Ten million California residents who lived closely from the major fault lines could have been endangered in many extreme ways. (House, 56). A tragic thing was that after the earthquake a multitudes of fire followed right after. The situation led to the water mains being destroyed and the firefighter being left with no water to settle the growing fire which continued blazing. The bay water was planned on putting all of the dure out but it was to far in distance to be able to transport it (Earthquake of 1906, 2). The firefighters who were putting out the fire were either surrounded or being burned by the fire that was blazing in all directions (San Francisco Earthquake, 2). A resident who was present during the event mention that he/she saw men and women standing in a corner of a building praying, one person who became delirious by the horrific ways that were surrounding him while crying and screaming at the top of his lungs “the Lord sent it, the Lord”. Someone also mentioned that they experience themselves seeing Stones fall from the sky and crushing people to death. Reporters say there were 100 cannons going off (San Francisco Earthquake, 3). People who lived fifty miles away from the fire was able to “read the newspaper at
1906 San Francisco Earthquake Jared E. Gatchalian San Jose State University. 1906 San Francisco Earthquake 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 damage 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.
Heller, Arnie. "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake." Science & Technology (2006): 4-12. Web. 8 May 2014.
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...
benchmark for the future, and integrated investigation into the effects of earthquakes in the U.S.
In Heinrich von Kleist’s, The Earthquake in Chile, illustrates the story of star-crossed lovers brought together through a natural disaster. The description of the earthquake presents itself as a scene from hell. The relation between the destructiveness of the earthquake and the image of hell of apocalyptic literature presents the end of the world for the people of Chile. Kleist uses imagery to portray post earthquake Chile as the Garden Eden, the presence of a pomegranate tree symbolizes the start a new life and foreshadows the inevitable end for Josepha and Jeronimo. By introducing a pomegranate tree , Kleist frames the effects of the earthquake as an opportunity for and altruistic community. The symbolism of the pomegranate tree in the “Garden of Eden” symbolizes fertility for the rebirth of the Chilean community. Heinrich von Kleist’s, The Earthquake in Chile, presents the destructiveness of an earthquake as a transition from the image of hell to an opportunity to rebuild the community.
An earthquake occurs abruptly and causes severs damage to people, property, landscape and more. A great mega-thrust earthquake, known as the Great Tohoku Earthquake has shaken Japan at 5:46:24 UTC on March 11, 2011. It caused a severe disaster, including tsunami and nuclear radiation exposure.. This mega-quake located at the latitude 38.297 degree North and longitude of 142.372 degree East, near the east coast of Honshu, Japan (USGS, 2013). An earthquake and tsunami waves caused widespread damage to many areas of Japan. People in Japan are still recovering from the damages.
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the
Earthquakes are vibrations felt at the surface of the earth which are caused by disturbances of the energy in the earth's interior. These vibrations are known as seismic waves. (Skinner Robinson McVerry 1) There are different type sof seisimc waves such as Primary (P) waves, whcih travel the fastest, Secondary (S) waves which cause the earth to vibrate vertically, Surface (L) waves. P and S waves are "affected by changes in the density and the rigidity of the materials through which they pass." (Columbia Encyclopedia) Earthquakes vary in their intensity and duration. Often times they are strong enough to cause massive destriction. Tall buildings often suffer as a result of these natural disasters. In recent years this has become a larger and larger threat with both the number of large buildings, and their number of occupants increasing. In an effort to try to minimize the damage caused by earthquakes many some engineers focus primarily on designing and constructing earthquake resistant buildings. Earthquake engineers have gathered much of their information from analyzing past earthquakes, and learning which buildings can and can't withstand the tremors. The goals of these engineers is to design buildings that can withstand moderate earthquakes and obtain minimal damage, and that the buildings will not collapse lowering the probability of human deaths.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).