The Valodivia Earthquake

In Valdivia, Chile 1960 an earthquake changed the lives of many. An earthquake is the violent shaking of the ground that will destroy homes, buildings, landforms, historical monuments, and lives. Earthquakes begin with the breakage of rock along a fault line. When two tectonic plates rub against each other they create an earthquake. Earthquakes will ride along a fault line which will determine how long the quake will go on. The larger and longer the fault like the bigger the earthquake. Earthquakes send out waves, primary waves or, p waves and secondary waves or, s waves travel along the interior of the earth. These two waves are called body waves. While detecting the waves, the primary waves appear first then the secondary waves. Primary waves travel through solids, liquids, and gasses, which means they are about to travel through the liquid center. Secondary waves are only able to travel through solids which are why scientists have found that there is a loss of these waves once they reach the center.

Earthquakes can be created on any of the plate boundaries. Earthquakes occur when tension is released from inside the crust. Plates do not always move smoothly alongside each other and sometimes get stuck. When this happens pressure builds up. When this pressure is eventually released, an earthquake tends to occur. The point inside the crust where the pressure is released is called the focus. The point on the Earth's surface above the focus is called the epicentre. Earthquake energy is released in seismic waves. These waves spread out from the focus. The waves are felt most strongly at the epicentre, becoming less strong as they travel further away. The most severe damage caused by an earthquake will happen close to the epicentre.

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.

Of all the naturally occurring events on Earth, earthquakes are among the most devastating and bring a lot of truth to the statement, “Just because something is natural does not mean it is not dangerous.” Earthquakes are one of the most natural things I can think of that can cause massive damage and loss of human live in many instances, and the effects are sometimes long term. “Nothing happens without a force. Many geophysicists accept the theory that continents move as a result of the forces generated by mantel convection deep within Earth – motions driven by our planet’s internal heat energy” (Trefil & Hazen, 2010). According to National Geographic (1996-2012), constant movement in the tectonic plates that make up the Earth’s

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 first few seconds of your first earthquake are disconcerting. You don’t know what’s happening. The undulation, the noise, the inability to focus -- it’s all disconcerting. But once you’ve been in a few, you know the feeling. You don’t relax, but you don’t panic, either.

People are killed injured and left homeless. This earthquake in 1906 was the most devastating and most memorable. Earthquakes can destroy towns, cities, and even countries. Earthquakes most occur under the ocean and very rural areas. Thy only occur at fault lines where the earth's plates are moving opposite of eachother.

Imagine yourself home doing a couple of sets of jumping jacks but then you feel weary so you stop for a water break. You notice that you kept on bouncing but it wasn’t your body moving it was the Earth that was shaking you, an earthquake occured. Earthquakes happen when the underground continental plates move. Earthquakes can affect the Earth, people, and property. To begin with, when an earthquake happens something on Earth is most likely to change.

Earthquakes are caused when two blocks of earth suddenly slip past one another. The surface where the two blocks slip is called the fault. The earthquake starts below the earth’s surface at the hypocenter, and the location above the hypocenter is called the epicenter. Earthquakes can have foreshocks which is a smaller earthquake that happens before the larger quake. Earthquake can also

An earthquake also causes the ground to shake. Which some buildings can’t take the intensity

The energy coming from this rupture is called seismic waves. These waves fan out in every direction from the earthquakes epicenter and results in intense shaking. Once this shaking reaches the earth’s surface, everything from the ground up will also proceed to shake (Wald 2012). In order to measure the size of an earthquake, scientists use seismographs. Seismographs consist of a base, a spring, pen, rotating drum, and a heavy weight. The base is placed in the ground while the weight hangs above. When an earthquake occurs the spring absorbs the shaking and the weight and pen, which remain motionless, record the difference between the shaking and motionless part of the seismograph. Seismograph recordings consist of short and long wavy lines, with long lines indicating a larger earthquake (Wald 2012). These recordings are then

The world’s largest earthquake occurred on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia, in southern Chile. It was a magnitude of 9.5; it is refereed to as the “Great Chilean Earthquake” and the “1960 Valdivia Earthquake”. Before the Great Chilean earthquake, three earthquakes stuck Chile which were a fore-shock to the main event and are known as the “1960 Concepción earthquakes”; the first earthquake struck on 21st May 1960 it had a magnitude of 8.1 and lasted for about 35 seconds which destroyed a third of the buildings and city of Concepción in Chile. The second happened the following day with a magnitude of 6.8, while the third was a 7.9 magnitude on May 22, just 15 minutes before the Valdivia earthquake (Anirudh, 2016). In the case of this enormous earthquake, the subduction (downward movement) of the Nazca plate under the the South American continent is what caused the major quake back in 1960. In fact, the Nazca plate continues to dive down below the continent and it's this constant slow movement (with some occasional rapid shifts leading to big jolts) that creates earthquakes throughout that region (Extreme

     An Earthquake is the shaking of the earth's surface caused by rapid movement of the earth's rocky outer layer. The sudden shaking of the ground that occurs when masses of rock change position below the Earth's surface is called an earthquake. The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes are two of the most intriguing natural disasters that can occur on earth. Unlike hurricanes and tornadoes, they can awaken at almost any point in time throughout the year. These two natural disasters are also different from others because they occur on the layers of the earth itself. Volcanoes, while large to us, are actually small, conical patches of earth that spurt and ooze hot molten lava from the core, and can destroy areas of land triple their size. Earthquakes, on the other hand, are severe jolts felt on land due to the movement of earths tectonic plates. Some may describe earthquakes as being similar to riding a bike down a flight of stairs. The impact of an earthquakes can take down even the largest buildings and strongest structures. All natural disasters can have damaging effects on land, some more than others, and all can be measured or predicted in different ways. Although earthquakes and volcanoes are similar to each other, the two are still very comparable. A few of these similarities and differences include the cause of their occurrence, and how their occurrence impacts the environment.

An analysis on the mechanism of destruction, impact, recovery, responses and future steps of the 2011 M6.3 Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.