Earthquake Prediction Essay

Over more than 50 decades there has been multiple earthquakes that have been caused by the activity that takes place beneath and above the surface of the earth. For every earthquake there are various effects and consequences, these are generally not preventable but teachable moments. As we study and explore landforms we learn and better understand how today 's structures came about, what took place decades ago and where do we go from here. Thanks to the technology and inquiring minds we are able to study past events like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaska earthquake. In comparing these two events we can get an overview of what happened and better prepare ourselves for something like that in the future.

A ‘hazard’ can be defined as a geophysical process operating within the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere or biosphere which could potentially lead to the loss of human life or property. However, an earthquake only becomes hazardous and therefore needs management if it occurs within close proximity to a vulnerable population. To some extent, any human settlement around the world situated close to or on top of an area of seismic activity is vulnerable. However, not all nations suffer equal devastation.

The following paper is on the economic effects of the Cascadia subduction fault line earthquake. This earthquake is predicted to happen within the next fifty years, and it's predicted to devastate everything west of Interstate 5. The earthquake can range from a 8.0 magnitude to a 9.2 magnitude, and will impact "some hundred and forty thousand square miles... and some seven million people" (Schulz).

Critical incidents require immediate action (Levinson & Granot, 2002). Additionally, they also require ongoing support in order to ensure that they are correctly managed and the long-term effects are mitigated (Schneid & Collins, 2001). Addressed here are four specific events - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. There are ways to mitigate the damage of these events, and there are also ways to try to prepare for them. Additionally, the type of response to these events is important as is the recovery from them. For earthquakes, mitigation is limited. It is possible to build houses and buildings stronger and more able to withstand shaking, and in earthquake-prone areas the cabinets often have latches and large appliances are strapped to the wall (U.S., 2007). People who live there should also have emergency supplies of food and water, and should be prepared for an earthquake by knowing information about evacuation routes (U.S., 2007). The response to earthquakes and the recovery from them are usually strong, because the areas that are most prone are also most prepared. When an earthquake hits in an unusual area, however, it can take much longer to help people and to rebuild the infrastructure.

Professor H.F. Reid introduced observations provided the basis for the landmark "theory of elastic rebound .This theory describes how the earth's crust gradually and elastically distorts with accumulating plate motion until it is suddenly returned to its undistorted state by rapid slip along a fault, releasing the years of accumulated strain and, in the process, generating seismic waves that produce shaking. Before 1906 and Reid's theory, this basic mechanical concept of earthquakes -- that the faulting causes the earthquake and that the earthquake does not cause the faulting -- was not well recognized as a universal principle applicable to the San Andreas

2. Aren’t there policies that already insure the structure of buildings? In California, there are significant building codes already in place, but other places do not. According to

In order to map earthquake hazard zones correctly geologists found that not only should they be mapping historic earthquake epicenters but also a detailed map of every single fault line. Not until the deadly Long Beach earthquake of 1933 did politicians and engineers feel the need to start earthquake proofing the structures around them (Mualchin 2011). With the passing of the Field Act school buildings in particular were constructed with earthquake safety in mind. But the Field Act only covered schools. It wasn't until the San Fernando earthquake of 1971 where major infrastructure and hospitals were severely damaged that more policies were put in place to earthquake proof these structures (Mualchin 2011). The schools which were structurally designed to withstand earthquakes from the Field Act faired surprisingly well during this earthquake. The new policies that followed the San Fernando earthquake required hospitals and infrastructure to be designed to withstand an earthquake, also they required rupture hazard zones to be mapped so that development here would be

400-700 People died in the 1906 San-Francisco earthquake. The mass destruction, was unpreventable, and was also chaotic, obliterating over 25,000 buildings. Emma Burke, and Fred Hewitt were the author’s of one of the few Eyewitness novels that wrote about the quake. Would you like to be in that town? Would you like to have your house get destroyed? I hope not!

This report will focus on examples of different earthquakes happening around the world and explain why some countries cope better than others. To cope well, the country should have low death tolls, good communication with rescue services and other countries willing to help, evacuation and other emergency plans are planned well, and minimizing the amount of damage done to the country.

The earthquake lasted a total of 45 seconds, but 26 aftershocks occurred over an extended amount of time afterwards. When the earthquake hit, most people, other than some police officers, were asleep. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the richter scale, so the not so earthquake proof buildings, fell on people as they woke up. 400,000 people in San Francisco underwent this terrible shaking. There were reports of people feeling the shake from southern Oregon to Los Angeles and inland to Central Nevada. Although, there were rich people that had their houses in places such as Nob Hill. Nob Hill was made completely upon bedrock, making the earthquake quite small and unproblematic. The reason the city had the earthquake so bad, was because the city wasn’t built on bedrock, but built on some dirt and such. During San Francisco’s gold rush, they decided to expand the city, by literally creating their own land, by packing a combination of trash, dirt and sand, and then building over it. They were not anticipating what an earthquake could do to that particular land. That land, also called South of Market, was hit so badly, some buildings sunk in the loose sand, dirt and trash, up to three stories. During the fires, the water mains in the city broke due to the earthquake's intensity. The water was leaked into the soil, creating mud. One building that was over the broken water mains, sunk into the wet mud 3 stories, and the last

A hazard can best be defined as a 'situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property or the environment.' The overall impact of earthquakes as a natural hazard varies greatly from one place and timeframe to another. As do the types of hazards, which are categorised into primary and secondary. Primary hazards are created by the direct seismic energy of an earthquake; this could include liquefaction, slope failure and tsunamis. These primary hazards can in turn trigger secondary hazards such as floods, fires, disease and destabilisation of infrastructure. A number of factors play a part in determining the severity

Did you know in 1906 an earthquake with a 7.1 on the Richter scale hit San Francisco? Not only that the damages were huge, the fire resulted from the earthquake burned down twenty-eight thousand buildings alone! But, the earthquake made around two hundred and twenty-five thousand residents homeless which was more than half the amount of residents in San Francisco at the time. Also, if we presume that there were four people in a house then that’s fifty-six thousand two hundred and twenty-five housing that's been demolished, oh you might have noticed, but that is just a 7.1 earthquake which isn’t even the strongest earthquake to hit the world! Now here is an interesting question, what makes these earthquakes so dangerous? Or rather how does earthquake destroy things anyway because you know that earthquakes are just the shifting of the earth's crust.

The proximity of settlements to an area of seismic activity and the growth of urbanisation are two more human factors that affect the impacts greatly. These factors can cause many fatalities, but the impacts can be decreased by using land use regulations. These include land use zoning and exclusion zones, where there are laws as to the type and size of buildings able to be built in that area. This prevents many fatalities unlike in the Gujarat Earthquake, where it was estimated that 800,000 buildings were seriously damaged.

The earthquakes above give a brief glimpse into the importance of analyzing past and present fault configurations. If scientists could make a breakthrough in this area perhaps we could better predict earthquake activity and better prepare ourselves if it is deemed a potential disaster is looming.

Thesis statement: In the speech, I will continue to improve the earthquake’s knowledge of my audience by analyzing cases; introduce the significant idea of earthquake prediction; deeply develop rescue methods.