Damage And Scale Of An Earthquake example essay topic

Contents Page. Page 1 - Introduction to report and Afghanistan Earthquake. Page 2 - Afghanistan Earthquake Page 3 - Afghanistan and beginning of Colombian Earthquake Page 4 - Colombian Earthquake Page 5 - Colombian Earthquake and Start of comparison Page 6 - comparison and Preparation Page 7 - Preparation and explanation of Richter Scale. 15/5/02 Think We " re Badly Off?

Think again, recently hit Afghanistan shows us what really can happen. Afghanistan, particularly around Nahrin, was hit on the 25th of March 2002 by an earthquake that reached magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale. It struck just before 5: 30 pm catching people at the end of their daily routines, awake and subject to panic. 1,800 were known to be dead at the beginning as they began to cleanup the mess caused by the earthquake.

20,000 people were thought to be homeless, with the figure rising. The town of Nahrin was the worst hit with the whole area being flattened completely to the ground. There is at least 4,000 people injured in Nahrin alone and the death toll was rising. "From the helicopter we didn't see any standing homes in and around the villages around Nahrin", General Khalil Afghanistan's small attempts to help people were floundered by aftershocks continuing into the next day killing and injuring yet more people, including rescue workers. The government appealed to other countries within the U. N to send help, help has been sent and including a six-strong international team from the French-based aid organisation Medecine Sans Frontieres is treating the injured in three large tents at the scene and has delivered three lorry loads of aid with a fourth due to arrive soon.

The charity ACTED has dispatched 500 tents and 1000 blankets to help the survivors live throughout the freezing night-time temperatures. The UN, Red Cross and other aid agencies have sent more than 50 lorries carrying tents, blankets and other supplies from the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. This help is all desperately needed as people wander around aimlessly with no where to go their friends and relations dead. Despite all the help that is being sent, it just isn't enough you can barely see a doctor, hospital or tent in most area's just dead people and flattened buildings. "There are no non-governmental organisations, there is no hospital, there is no doctor to help these people", said S hoja Are Recent Afghan quakes The list on the left shows the 3 March 2002: 70 killed in devastation that has been sent northern province of Sa mangan upon Afghanistan in the last May 1998: 5,000 killed in few years. northern provinces of Takhar and Badakshan February 1998 - 4,500 killed in Takhar Another badly hit area was Burqa which much like Nahrin was almost completely flattened by the quake, almost didn't last long as the already damaged buildings fell to the aftershocks and it did become a barren landscape. To add to the problem the area of Afghanistan which the earthquake hit worst was actually already receiving relief support in the means of food as a large percentage of the population was thought top be subject to a lack of diet.

Ros O'Sullivan, of the aid agency Concern, said that before the quake the area was already considered "high-risk regarding vulnerability to malnutrition", Other doctors in the area including two German doctors had views that depicted the attitude and feeling of people who were on the ground, who new what it really was about. "That's what we expected", said Lt. Col. Mathias Brockman, a German doctor. "Four days after the earthquake, you won't find major injuries". This is explained by his partner in work; "The worst cases have been cared for already - or have died", he said.

Once the disaster was over the numbers mounted to 5000 dead with around 30000 houses destroyed and at least 100,000 people left homeless. Now keep that in mind as you read about the most recent earthquake in our home country, Colombia. The earthquake was magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale The worst hit cities were probably Armenia and Pereira with the whole cities subject to the quake. Not every building has been destroyed, in fact the small majority are still standing, the weaker buildings cover the floor, all concrete and wire.

As you can see in the pictures the ground is littered with the rubbish caused by the earthquake, wood scattered and splintered everywhere, slabs of concrete lying randomly over the road, electrical wires left sparking. Its thought that at least 1000 people are dead, with perhaps 2000 in Armenia alone. The government also warned that 5000 people could be left homeless, miles under the mark. Later accounts indicated that more than half the city's buildings were destroyed in the quake. A major hotel, theater, police station, and city jail were flattened by the quake.

Using shovels, sticks or their bare hands, city residents frantically clawed at the debris to reach victims trapped amid the rubble. Powerful aftershocks continued to attack through the night. Status as of January 27, 1999 Service Armenia Pereira Financial System Total collapse. Many financial institutions functioning normally.

Water Supply System Available to a very low percentage of neighborhoods. Almost completely restored to entire city. Sewage System Major damages. Significant damages. Power Supply System State operating at 50% of normal capacity due to damaged Regi vit substation. State operating at 100% of normal capacity.

Hospital System City's only hospital and large percentage of health centers affected. Minor damages. The quake was unusual in one respect, the epicentre was only 10 miles below the surface when normally earthquakes here occur deep within the earth's crust. The damage caused by the earthquake was going to take a long time to repair, the government immediately pledged $16 million to the rebuilding of homes although they predicted it would cost at least $100 to rebuild all the homes, not including the hotels restaurants and public buildings / attractions that have been knocked down. After the destruction had been done and the mess cleared up the real number started to flood in. There was 1000 people dead and 4000 people injured, with a huge 200,000 people homeless with an inestimable amount of people jobless.

In the longer term there is the challenge of ensuring the quality of repairs and reconstruction for future safety. The difficulties are most severe for the poor, who cannot afford to demolish and rebuild, or even to strengthen their homes. In most cases in practice they will simply plaster over the cracks, storing up problems for another disaster in the future. If you had returned a week later, initial relief operation was over and the water and electricity supplies, that had been so severely affected in the south of the city for the first week, had been largely restored. Roads had been cleared and basically everything was running smoothly, the only difference is that there are large areas of destroyed land, still covered in rubble, with flowers spread around the edges.

Now if we compare the two earthquakes, the one in Afghanistan and the one here, near Armenia, we can see a number of things, for instance the devastation caused by the earthquakes was different, even though they were at the same magnitude of 5.9/6.0 on the Richter Scale. This is because of modern and safer buildings being built here that have safety standards of surviving any earthquake with limited damage. The earthquakes act in 1984 shows the improvement on our behalf, the high majority of buildings built after this act have survived with little, or no damage, but buildings before this suffered greatly. On the other hand Afghanistan's buildings were far from earthquake proof, the majority were just stuck precariously next to each other, buildings fell to the quake easily, and the ones that didn't get flattened immediately, fell to the aftershocks Another difference was the time it took to recover from the earthquake, we can compare these as there were roughly the same amount of aftershocks in the next few days to hamper both rescue efforts. The Afghanistan earthquake devastated buildings, as discussed before, and people were trapped, but the majority that were trapped didn't actually get out as they didn't have the tools and rescue equipment ready to hand to get them out, whereas here there was an immediate response to get people out from under concrete and rubble, and with the tools here, we were able to get the majority out. That was one reason why the death and injury count here was much less than in Afghanistan.

Another was the fact that many people here and in Afghanistan were just injured, here they were treated fast and survived but over in Afghanistan most injured people received no help from doctors and world aids, yes there was some, but nowhere near enough to actually effect the overall death toll. Prevention. There is absolutely no way to predict exactly when or where an earthquake will occur. Seismologists can say that numerous minor to moderate earthquakes will be felt in the United States in the next year or two and that a major one will occur within the next 25 years. However, no one can say exactly where or when these quakes will happen. Therefore, if you live in earthquake country, you must be prepared.

Here are some earthquake safety tips and information for you and your family. Some of these tips may save your property. All of these tips may save your life. Your best defense against an earthquake is careful preparation. By acquainting yourself with the likely possibilities now, you " ll be less likely to be unpleasantly, and possibly dangerously, surprised later. With no electricity, you " ll need batteries.

A lot of them. Keep plenty of flashlights and a radio at hand. It may be your only contact with the outside world for news and information. You " ll need a fire extinguisher to stop small fires and a pipe wrench turn off broken gas lines. Gas leaks are extremely dangerous, so take the necessary precautions. (Smell for gas, have a wrench to turn off the gas in the event of a leak, open windows for ventilation and do not use flame materials such as matches, lighters, cigarettes and candles.) With no sewage lines, you " ll want plastic bags for garbage and toilet waste.

You " ll need a first aid kit. It's also a good idea to keep extra medications around, as well as an extra pair of glasses. Preparation. If the quake occurs at a time when your family is not altogether, where will you meet? If someone is injured, do you have basic knowledge of first aid?

Power lines are knocked down. How will your family manage without power? When the lights are out, will you be able to find the supplies you need in the dark? Earthquakes break water lines. What will you do in a water shortage? The phone lines will certainly be out or overloaded with life-and-death emergencies.

Does your family have an emergency communication plan? If the sewage lines are out and you can't use the toilet, do you know what to do? If your gas line is broken, do you know how to shut it off? To have the best chance to survive all these things there are a few things you should always have around, ready to hand, in your car, in your house, work place, and such.

You will need flashlights, with batteries separate from it to prevent drainage. You will need a portable radio with spare batteries. Batteries. More and more batteries, if you run out, you " ve had it. Fire extinguisher to help put out encroaching fires. You need a wrench so you can turn off water and gas pipes, to prevent flooding and being gassed.

You will need at least one week's food and bottled water sufficient for everyone of your family, remember to save much more than you need, anything could happen, and always remember your pets, pets need food and water too! You need a can opener. You also need matches, lighter fluid and charcoal, but make sure you never burn the charcoal indoors with no ventilation as the carbon monoxide may poison you. You need disposable dishes and knives, forks spoons. Large trash bags. Emergency telephone numbers, extra clothing and shoes.

A plan for reuniting your family, and last but defiantly not least a medi-kit, this is an absolute must have, as little injuries can lead to infections especially with sewage systems down. The Richter Scale. The richter scale is a way of measuring the damage and scale of an earthquake. Richter Earthquake Magnitudes Effects Less than 3.5 Generally not felt, but recorded. 3.5-5.4 Often felt, but rarely causes damage.

Under 6.0 At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. 6.1-6.9 Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 kilometers across where people live. 7.0-7.9 Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over larger areas. 8 or greater Great earthquake.

Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred kilometers across. This concludes the article about how we are better off than other less developed countries, so everyone, feel lucky!