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¶ … Earthquakes
As a resident of California, few things have the ability to terrify me as the thought of a major Pacific coast earthquake. Earthquakes are terrifying for a variety of reasons. First, they are sudden and occur without any immediate warning. In addition, they are very violent; when major earthquakes strike densely populated areas, death and destruction is inevitable. Furthermore, while earthquake activity is heavily focused in areas that lie along major fault lines, earthquakes can theoretically impact almost anywhere, and their major damage can occur miles away from their epicenters. There are approximately half-a-million detectable earthquakes each year, about 100,000 of those can be felt by humans, and only about 100 of them cause any type of damage or death.
The element that makes earthquakes so terrifying is the fact that they are relatively unpredictable and sudden. Of course, it is incorrect to state that earthquakes are unpredictable. There are certain areas of major fault activity, most notably Japan, and one can certainly predict that earthquakes will continue to plague the area, bringing large-scale destruction of property and deaths. However, it is not feasible to remove human populations from the most earthquake-prone areas, some of which are incredibly densely populated. Furthermore, the reality of modern life is that there are some activities, such as driving under freeway overpasses, which greatly increase the risk of death during significant seismic activity. However, what if there was a way to increase warning time, and give people sufficient notice of a coming earthquake, so that people could end high-risk activities and get to safer locations? It would not end the death and destruction of earthquakes; the force of the earth is simply too powerful, but it might go far to mitigate such suffering. I am interested in studying earthquakes, because I believe there must be a way to develop such a warning system.
The quake intensity as per the Mercalli scale that was used at that time was between 8 and 9, which seismologists today equate to a value of 7.9 on the Richter scale. [Dr. Frank J. Collazo] the quake created a rupture of 296 miles, which rates it as one of the biggest quakes ever. Geologist John M. Clarke said, " the heavy waves travelled at the rate of about
Earthquakes Over the past 25 years, powerful earthquakes have struck different parts of the planet with alarming regularity. In this relatively short time span, there have been more than 30 earthquakes that have resulted in death tolls of more than 1000 people, with several of this disaster measuring over 7.0 on the Richter scale (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010). One of the biggest earthquakes in the last 25 years is the 2010
earthquakes, fires, and mudslides. The community selected for this activity is San Diego, California, and area regularly experiencing natural disasters of often high magnitude. This module will be a Hazard analysis of each disaster. Fires: Brush fires are by far the greatest threat to San Diego and its surrounding communities. San Diego's brush fires have a consistently catastrophic magnitude, burning everything in their paths. This disaster has a frequency of
UCSD Application As a resident of Taiwan, I know all too well how devastating an earthquake can be. Japan and Taiwan both experienced earthquakes in March, 2011. The lives lost and physical damage sustained remind us of nature's power. Japan's earthquake continues to be major news because of the nuclear accident that resulted, the worst since Chernobyl. Taiwan's recent earthquake was, fortunately, far less dramatic, with damage to buildings and roads
San Francisco Earthquake Massive Earthquake Results in Human Tragedy and Economic Loss" Exploring the Impact of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake San Francisco CA was hit by one of the most devastating earthquakes recognized by man on April 18, 1906. The earthquake affected 430 kilometers of the famous San Andreas fault ranging from northwest of San Juan Bautista to Cape Mendocino (Ellsworth, 1990). The city that was once San Francisco was reduced by
California Earthquake Consequences of a Major Earthquake in California On March 11, 2011 a powerful, magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit northeastern Japan, triggering a tsunami with 10-meter-high waves that reached the U.S. west coast. The earthquake was one of the five most powerful events since modern record keeping began in 1900, triggering tsunami waves of 40.5 meters (133 ft.) on Japan's coast. One year after the event Japanese authorities reported 15,831 deaths, 6,107 injured,