Geomorphic hazard: Earthquakes Earthquakes are natural disasters that are also referred to as a ‘quake’ or ‘tremor’. It is classified as a geomorphic hazard, which are elements of the physical environment that can cause damage, (economically and environmentally) such as Volcanoes, Tsunamis, Landslides etc. Earthquakes have been around for thousands of years but no one had properly understood the concept. Not one person, but a crowd of geologists and scientists had discussed this hazard and identified
On Earthquakes An earthquake is a shaking or trembling of the crust of the earth caused by underground volcanic action or by the breaking and shifting of rock beneath the surface. The volcanic action and shifting rocks create strain which continues to build to a sudden release of pressure resulting in a shock wave. The vibrations produced in the crust can vary from barely noticeable to enormously destructive. Shock waves can be classified into two broad categories. Waves that send particles
March 2011, 2: 45 PM, local time Japan, a day, a time, a moment which saw what can be termed as the worst natural disasters for Japan – A magnitude-9 earthquake ruptured the fault line that spreads across 500 km along the northeastern coast of Japan. This earthquake was the fifth largest in the world as per some reports by eminent scientists. The earthquake was followed with a giant tsunami whose size was so overwhelming that the 18-feet tsunami walls near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was
I chose to research earthquakes and the prediction of earthquakes because I was curious as to how they work. In this paper, I will discus the history of earthquakes, the kinds and locations of earthquakes, earthquake effects, intensity scales, prediction, and my own predictions. An earthquake can be defined as vibrations produced in the earth's crust. Tectonic plates have friction between them which builds up as it tries to push away and suddenly ruptures and then rebounds. The vibrations can range
what earthquakes are in order for us to be prepared against them. Earthquakes are tremors that move the earth. They can create a lot of damage. Earthquakes have happened around the world. What causes earthquakes to happen? How do we protect ourselves against the powerful earthquakes? Earthquakes can cause a lot of damage to homes and places so it is important to know where it has happened. Also what causes them and how do we protect ourselves against earthquakes. To begin with earthquakes can happen
destruction to lives and property. While the continuing study of earthquakes and volcanoes helps us determine and better understand their powers, they continue to be natural phenomena that we need to learn even more about. Even with many differences in these two forces of nature, it is interesting that they also have commonalities. There are numerous similarities and differences between earthquakes and volcanoes. Merriam Webster defines an earthquake as “a shaking or trembling of the earth that includes volcanic
Earthquakes Earthquakes, one of the most destructive natural phenomena, consist of rapid vibrations of rock near the earth's surface. Because of their unpredictable occurrence and enormous capacity of destruction, they have brought fear to mankind since ancient times. A single shock usually lasts no more than a few seconds, but a series of smaller quakes may last for as long as five minutes. The quake felt on the surface is always the result, not the cause of some underground geologic process,
Alex Lin Mr.Carter Class Title 23 November 2013 The Earthquake Fire extinguisher. Check. Working flashlight. Check. Canned food. Check. These emergency necessities were part of the apartment supplies during one of the most traumatizing, memorable, and scary part of my life. Little did I know that a copy of “Surviving earthquakes for dummies” should have been part of this inventory as well. I was only six years old when this personal and natural disaster happened. We lived in a small, mildly sturdy
Earthquake and Geotechnical Engineering Earthquake Engineering is a branch of Civil Engineering that is in charge of protecting the society from natural disasters like Earthquakes. This branch of Civil Engineering mainly studies how structures behave when they are hit by a seismic wave. Earthquake engineers main responsibilities are to design structures that can stand an earthquake and to make sure that all structures have the required building codes. In addition, they need to estimate the probable
Introduction to Earthquakes An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by sudden release of energy inside the earth's crust. It's the breaking and moving of tectonic plates along a fault line. Earthquakes can range in size from weak where we don't feel them to extremely violent where they actually thow people around and destroy cities. They may be a result of geological faults or other activites such as volcanoes, landslides, mine blasts and nuclear tests. An earthquake is not always naturally
A Discussion On Earthquakes Perhaps Mother Nature offers no greater force than that of the earthquake. Across the span of time, earthquakes have been recorded for their incredible destructive forces, and their abilities to awe mankind with their unparalleled force. Earthquakes can often strike without any notice, leveling large cities and killing scores of innocent people. Not only can earthquakes bring harm to society through these methods of destruction, but they can also cause millions of dollars
An earthquake occurs when there is a shaking of the Earth, caused by a buildup of energy in volcanic or tectonic form (“Earthquakes”). Essentially, an earthquake results from sections of the Earth moving, causing slippage. When two chunks of the Earth slip past each other, the point at which this happens is called the fault plane. In fact, an earthquake begins in the hypocenter beneath the Earth’s surface. Next, located right above the hypocenter is the epicenter (Wald). And finally, the main, and
Earthquakes are vibrations produced in the earth's outer layer, or crust, when forces pushing on a mass of rock overcome the friction holding the rock in place and blocks of rock slip against each other. The vibrations can range from barely noticeable to verry destructive. There are six types of shock waves. Two are classified as body waves which means they travel through the earth's interior and the other four are surface waves. The waves are changed by the rock types or formations they hit. Primary
much the same as housing in rural areas with densely populated houses. Overcrowding in these slum leads to hygienic problems and are very dangerous if a fire breaks out. These poorly constructed houses contributed to the devastating effects of the earthquake on Port-au-Prince. ‘Haiti is situated to the north of the Caribbean Plate, on a transform (slip/conservative) plate boundary with the North American Plate. The North American plate is moving west’ . Haiti is situated in a place where plates are
Firstly and most importantly, you need to understand what is an earthquake ? Here’s a brief introduction. An earthquake is the shaking of the ground, caused by shockwaves from movements and collisions of tectonic plates, mostly near fault lines, which is the edges of the plates. There are huge and minor earthquakes depending on the type and how the plates collided. Earthquakes affect our daily lives in many ways, once an earthquake hits a city or a town, it could cause a huge amount of destruction
Turkey Earthquake Introduction The terrible earthquake that struck western Turkey on August 17, 1999 measured a massive Mw7.4 on the Richter scale (also known as the Kocaeli, Turkey, earthquake) Turkey has had a long history of large earthquakes that often occur in progressive adjacent earthquakes. Starting in 1939, the North Anatolian fault produced a sequence of major earthquakes, of which the 1999 event is the 11th with a magnitude greater than or equal to 6.7. Starting with the 1939
Dowrick (”Earthquake Risk Reduction”in Wiley) explains that seismic hazard is any physical phenomenon associated with an earthquake that may produce adverse effects on human activities. Earthquakes occur very suddenly without any warning. Thus, earthquake not only destructs people’s living environment, but also affects people’s mental health. People are more scared of earthquake. In 2010, there are two severe earthquakes, which are Haiti Earthquake and Chile Earthquake. Both of these two earthquakes produced
Earthquakes occur almost all over the world and often cause many casualties and injuries, but it is a common misconception to think that all earthquakes or even most of them cause destruction. In fact, most earthquakes aren’t even strong enough to be felt by humans and most animals, and can only be recorded by seismometers that are strategically placed in all corners of the world in order to get a reliable and precise reading on the earthquakes strength. Another common misconception about earthquakes
The death toll climbs to over 10,000 and is still rising (Branigan 2). The disaster in Japan began without warning on Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46pm with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the country (Fackler 3). A massive thirty-three foot high tsunami, generated by the earthquake, swept over lands in northern Japan, taking objects and debris with it. To make matters worse, the tsunami caused the cooling systems at several nuclear power plants to fail. The disaster in Japan
Earthquakes are sudden, violent shakings in the ground that is caused by the movement of the Earth’s crust or volcanoes. More than 10,000 earthquakes take place every year, most of them not recognized by humans. Earthquakes do not occur at random locations, however, as some people believe. A pattern can be seen where most earthquakes occur at or near the plate boundaries. In fact, these earthquakes are what help scientists discover where these plate boundaries are. Plate boundaries are the cracks