Eartquakes Essays - Seismology, Earthquake Engineering,

Eartquakes Earthquakes: Why They Occur And How To Prepare For Them An earthquake is one of the most powerful natural disasters known to man. Earthquakes are so powerful that they can knock down buildings and bridges as well as change river routes and cause landslides. With all the damage earthquakes cause the only way to protect oneself from them is to be prepared and well educated about them. Since they cannot be predicted one must always be prepared for them. Strict building codes in earthquake prone areas also help to minimize the property damage caused during an earthquake. Earthquakes throughout history have caused several millions of deaths as well as severe property damage. Earthquakes are more complex than one may think they are. Earthquakes most often occur near plate boundaries because that is where the tectonic plates meet. As tectonic plates slide past each other they cause tension on one another. After a while there is so much tension on these rocks that they just snap. The sudden break of these rocks send vibrations out in all directions. Soon after the first vibration is sent out a second vibration is sent out called the After shock. Humans can also cause earthquakes in many ways. ?Injecting fluids into deep well for waste disposal, filling reservoirs with water, and firing underground nuclear test blast, In limited circumstances lead to earthquakes. All these activities increase the strain within the rock near the location of the activities. So that rocks slip and slide along preexisting faults?(Microsoft Encarta 2000). Earthquakes can cause a lot of damage. They are strongest near the epicenter. The epicenter is directly above the point that the earth's crust snaps. The farther from the epicenter the weaker the vibrations of the earthquake are. That means the area close to the epicenter are going to receive more damage and areas farther from the epicenter are going to receive less damage. As well as distances from the epicenter the type of area an earthquake occurs in has effect on how much damage is caused. Under developed countries seem to suffer much more damage than a developed country. Underdeveloped countries have less strict building codes and are not prepared for natural disaster as well as developed countries are. In underdeveloped countries earthquakes cause much more deaths also. After earthquakes conditions often lead to widespread disease outbreaks. Damage to hospitals, water supply lines, sewage lines, and lack of housing all contribute to the widespread of disease. Developed countrie s have the same problems but thier strict building codes, emergency forces, and preparedness seem to minimize the damage and death caused by earthquakes. No matter if a person lives in developed or underdeveloped country earthquakes still cause damage. A tsunami is probably the effect of an earthquake. A tsunami is a group of giant sea waves that get bigger and bigger as they get closer to the coast that usually strike without warning. As these giant sea waves come crashing down on the coast they cause servere flooding that drowns a lot of people instantly and cause a lot of property damage. Along with flooding from tsunamis rivers are often rerouted during major earthquakes and flood whole town. After most major earthquakes there are fires. The worst part of fires after an earthquake is that usually broken gas mains cause the fires. If the gas mains are broken usually the water mains are also broken so firefighters have a hard time finding water to put out the fires. Another effect of an earthquake is landslides. Landslides are very dangerous if they occur because most of the time anything in the path of a landslide is destroyed. Earthquakes are very dangerous for a few reasons. First of all they cannot be predicted and second they cannot be stopped. If an earthquake occurs all that can be done is wait it out. That is why everyone must be prepared for an earthquake. The first item that must be learned about an earthquake is that they can occur at any time and any place. Two procedures that must be done in order to prepare for an earthquake is make an earthquake kit and prepare one's home for an earthquake. The basic earthquake kit should include food