It’s 2021, why are we still talking about earthquakes- a remark no one in their right minds will make. Even years after scientific progression, we haven’t been able to identify a sure-shot way to predict earthquakes and reduce the casualties caused by them.
WHY WE NEED EARTHQUAKE AWARENESS
Back to back earthquakes in Chile and Haiti in 2010 are probably the biggest example to shed light on this topic. The 8.8 earthquake in Chile released 500 times more energy than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake did in Haiti, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) yet the smaller quake left the more extensive damage. According to the New York Times, The Haitian quake killed more than 200,000 people and left more than 1.2 million people homeless, whereas the Chilean quake killed at least 711 people and displaced 2 million people.
Certain geological differences as well as social factors help determine why one fared better than the other. SinceChile has a history of major seismic activity, it maintained stronger building codes than Haiti. Chile, Japan have long ago accepted their fates with earthquakes and learnt to live with them by constructing buildings engineered to resist earthquakes.
According to earthquake and engineering experts at Oregon State University, the far greater death toll in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is a result of substandard construction, and acts as an alarm for many other heavily populated cities if they are to avoid a similar catastrophe. Awareness, adequate preparation, emergency planning and drills can help reduce the lives that earthquakes claim every year.
“There is a tremendous difference in the effects of an earthquake in a developed country and in the developing world,” said Robert Yeats, a professor emeritus of geosciences at Oregon State University, earthquake expert and author of an upcoming book, “Active Faults of the World.”
“Earthquakes like Northridge, Calif., in 1994, Kobe, Japan, in 1995, and even the recent huge earthquake in Chile did take a significant number of lives, but much of the damage was confined to buildings and infrastructure,” Yeats said. “There are other cities around the world where similar earthquakes could kill a million people, and they will unless we better prepare for them.”
PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE, BETTER
On average, a magnitude 8 quake strikes somewhere every year, and some 10,000 people die in earthquakes annually as stated by a National Geographic report. Moreover, collapsing buildings take the majority of lives and often more complex turmoils follow in forms of mudslides, fires, floods, or tsunamis. Besides, the smaller scale quakes that usually occur the following days can further complicate rescue efforts.
The key to preventing chaos during emergencies like earthquakes is to prepare better, simply. Not just individually but as a family, community and nation. Aftermath drills, first aid and first response everything included. Being prepared can reduce the fear, anxiety and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of an earthquake and where to seek shelter during a fire. They may not overlook the scenarios that require immediate attention if they are aware of the earthquake situations. For example, if they have a damaged roof but choose not to replace it to save a few bucks, it could cause them a lot of problems when the natural calamity hits. Therefore, when they are aware of such situations, they may want to contact the professionals who can provide roof replacement Brisbane (or elsewhere) so that when the earthquake strikes, it causes as little damage as possible to their home.
Building design is a major part of preparing for an earthquake. If you think about it, standing in an open field during an earthquake is pretty safe. Standing in a house full of falling masonry and glass, on the other hand, is dangerous. Earthquakes don’t kill people – buildings do. If you want to survive an earthquake, you’re always told to get to an open outdoor space, and if you can’t, get under a table or doorway instead. Buildings can, however, be built to be safe during an earthquake. The main issue is rigidness causing materials to crack and fall. Buildings should actually be built to be flexible so that they sway along with the ground. A heavy roof is also an issue, so if your roof is old and heavy, you should use a Raleigh roof replacement specialist or similar specialist closer to you to have your roof replaced with something lighter, and therefore safer. Earthquakes can also cause damage by bursting the pipes in your house and causing the water mains to possibly flood a property. In the unfortunate eventuality, this was to happen you might need to seek out a Property Damage Restoration Company to help you with any potential repairs that might need to be done in this smaller scaled damage situation.
International Shakeout Day is coming up in the 21st of October this year, By observing this day we can actually embark on the journey of actively introducing the topic of natural disasters to children. Instead of looking at the natural disaster as ensuing chaos, they will learn how to react in these situations whether they face it alone or with siblings.
Disaster has lasting effects, both to people and property. If a disaster occurs in your community, local government and disaster relief organizations will try to help you. But you need to be ready as well. Local responders may not be able to reach you immediately or they may need to focus their efforts elsewhere. You should know how to respond to severe weather or any disaster that could occur in your area, including earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, pandemics, flooding, terrorism and more. You should also be ready to be self-sufficient for three to seven days. This may mean providing for your own shelter, first aid, food, water and sanitation. After the earthquake, you may want to inspect the damage to your home to ensure it’s safe to shelter in place in. This foundation inspection Houston based service can help you out if you’re worried that your foundations may be damaged. Signs of foundation damage include subsidence and dampness on the corners of your house, so make sure to check before you shelter.
Further, recognising the importance of this day helps us remember those who endured natural disasters and extend our hand to those currently devastated by it despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even though Japan and its citizens have become well versed in handling earthquakes with buildings that sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake along with their mindsets- Japan is still concerned for the large volume of tourists set to visit Tokyo because of the upcoming olympics. They acknowledge they can’t expect visitors to react as calmly as their residents in the quake prone city. So they are planning accordingly to prepare their visitors with adequate knowledge and emergency plans upon arrival to make their stay hassle free. More so as less than six weeks before the Olympic torch relay was supposed to begin in Fukushima, marking recovery from a catastrophic nuclear disaster a decade ago, it experienced a powerful earthquake . Earthquake awareness can help minimize casualties and the lives that perish because of this disaster that science has not been able to tame.
500,000 earthquakes occur every year and about 100 are strong enough to cause notable damage. Like Robert Yeats said, “Major earthquakes near large cities around the world are inevitable. The loss of hundreds of thousands of lives is not.”
By Tasnuva Tasfia Puspita
