Big Effect On Kobe From The Earthquake example essay topic

Japan is on the margin of the south Eurasian plate. The actual earthquake took place with a shock at the shallow depth of the fault, this was caused due to the Philippine plate and the Eurasian plate converging together to cause a sudden movement along the fault resulting in the earthquake. The giant size of the 50 km fault caused the size of the earthquake to also be large with a reading of magnitude 7.2. EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE The earthquake caused many different types of effects; "h Economic effects 1. Houses were either destroyed or collapsed in any case the people would be left homeless and therefore without support. 2.

Kobe had a large infrastructure, which was knocked down in size considerably. Kobe's roads were destroyed leaving more mess for the government to sort out. 3. Businesses will have a huge money loss and some may even be put out of business due to the destruction of their buildings, branches etc. "h Environmental effects 1. The few trees and plants in and around the island will be destroyed but this is not such a large effect on Kobe.

2. Pollution will be both a long and short-term effect. Long term because the existing pollution could lead to illness and disease spread throughput Kobe. Short-term because instant damage in Kobe was burst gas mains and sewage pollution. "h Social effects 1.

Kobe suffered from many homeless people due to the destruction of their homes by the earthquake. These people were not only homeless but some were even starving and numbers of people had died due to the lack of food. 2. A common social and long-term effect in Kobe is depression and sadness towards lost homes, people and loved ones during the earthquake.

This lead to stress and other health related problems... The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe, a region about 5 km by 20 km alongside the main docks and port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved rocks, especially the port itself, which is built on reclaimed ground. Here the ground actually liquefied and acted like thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways, resulting in the huge cranes in the harbour toppling over into the sea. Another big effect on Kobe from the earthquake was the fires which were continually spread as much as they were fought against. These fires started from people leaving cookers, electronic devices etc on and causing fires to start when the earthquake happened.

Also the collapse of the electricity and telephone systems made it almost impossible for people to let the fire teams know where they were needed, whilst the broken water pipes and blocked roads made it hard for fire teams to reach and put out fires. Narrow streets and dense populations are all the needs of a fire. The fire will cause more death rate and trouble for Kobe than it would in any other less dense and more open area. Despite all the effects in Kobe the death rate was not as high as it may have been if people were not prepared. The residents of Kobe were very luck and a lot of these effects could have been avoided. PREPARATIONS FOR THE FUTURE Conclusions The Kobe Earthquake dramatically illustrates the damage that can be expected to modern industrialised society from earthquakes.

Most of what happened could have been predicted, and much of the damage was preventable. Hopefully, the disaster will spur building owners to continue! And to increase where needed! Their efforts to improve the earthquake resistance of their properties. Engineers and scientists have developed estimates of the potential effects of large earthquakes in the United States, Japan, and other countries over the past 20 years. The Kobe Earthquake now provides answers to many!

SS what if!" questions that those scenario studies raised. An event that lasted about 20 seconds caused 5,500 deaths and an economic loss that is greater than the gross national product of many countries. Much of the infrastructure and building stock of a modern city, which many considered to be prepared to withstand a strong earthquake, was destroyed. "h Reinforced Concrete Buildings Typically, pre-1981 concrete-frame buildings performed very poorly in Kobe, with many collapses. Post-1981 buildings performed much better some were extensively damaged, but most had light damage. The buildings that fared best, and those without significant damage, had extensive concrete shear walls..