This is an analysis on what is known to be the largest earthquake and biggest tsunami ever to hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The earthquake and tsunami Japans coast lies in ruins after the earthquake hit followed by the tsunami picking up everything in its path like cars, houses, and warehouses. Seismometers, strain gages, and title gages records the disaster. P-waves travel at four miles a second and within seconds warnings flash across the country. The S-waves shake the ground making earthquakes so damaging and the reactor core is shut down (Kerger, 2011.
As a result of an earthquake in Haiti (2010) up to 230,000 people were killed. The city of Port-Au-Prince lies close to the fault line where the epicentre of the earthquake was located, which meant that the city bore the brunt of the destructive force. A large proportion of the population live in poverty in slum areas, where buildings are built close together and in some cases on top of each other, resulting in a high population density. When the earthquake struck many buildings collapsed, killing people as rubble collapsed on top of them. However, the L’Aquila earthquake in Italy resulted in a mere 300 deaths.
The initial impact was devastating which left about 300,000 people homeless out of a population of about 410,000. Many of the people were evacuated to nearby cities, and the others lived in makeshift tents on the beach of North beach. In fact years later in 1908 these refugee camps were still in operation. The overall cost of the damages was estimated at the time to be 400 million US Dollars (around 8.2 Billion present Dollars). The fires that were a direct result from the main shock and the aftershocks were just as damaging because of the uncontrollable burning from ruptured gas lines.
Upon the bombing of the two cities, the Japanese citizens that lived near the explosion had been through a devastating and horrifying experience. These experiences are told by John Hersey in his book “Hiroshima”, where he interviews survivors from the bombing. One of the survivors he interviewed was named Miss Tashinki Sasaki; she worked as a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works during the crisis. When the blinding flash from the bomb had taken place, she was about to talk to the female worker on her right but had become paralyzed with fear from the light. Within seconds the ceiling collapsed along with a bookshelf that fell on Miss Sasaki, leaving her unconscious for three hours.
The Health Impacts of Earthquake on Yushu County Yushu County in Qinghai Province was hit by 7.1-earthquake on 14 April 2010.1 The epicentre was located 30km west of the capital town of Yushu County, where 90% of the houses were destroyed.2 The earthquake left 2046 people dead, 12135 injured, and 175 missing.3 Approximately 100 000 people have been evacuated to overcrowded camps, where high risks of communicable diseases such as measles, acute respiratory illnesses, and tuberculosis were developed.4 These people were also threatened with hypothermia and high altitude diseases, resulting from extreme climate and high altitude.5 Thousands of injuries were severed and infected due to destruction of medical facilities and roads, which hindered the arrival of emergency medical staffs and supplies.6 Higher risks to vaccine preventable diseases arose, resulting from cold storage facilities damages.7 Water borne diseases such as diarrhoea escalated from water and sewer system damages.8 The Chinese government raised level 1 health response and urged all efforts in initial response.9 By 15 April, the Ministry of Health deployed 2402 health staff and rescue teams, and sent 6 tons of medical supplies and 235 ambulances.10 Field hospitals were established in neighbouring provinces.11 United Nations worked with the local and national government to provide massive health and nutrition supplies, to provide essential health services to remote areas, and to support vaccination campaigns covering Hepatitis A, tetanus, and MMR, though organizations like WHO and UNICEF.12 Local NGOs formed small coalitions to collectively raise donations for medications.13 Although appropriate measures were done in sending the emergency staff and medical supplies, the government and the above organizations lacked in effective management of the homeless
One problem that caught my eye was the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed so many during that time. It was a serious health problem because of the fact that we lost a lot of people and there seemed to be no cure in the beginning. 675,000 Americans
Using a tectonic activity you have studied, how effective was the management of the event? On 12th January 2010, at 16:53, a Magnitude 7 earthquake struck with epicentre just a short distance west of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital city. 3,000,000 people required aid, 230,000 died, and 1,000,000 people were made homeless. It is true to say that a M7 earthquake would cause devastation in any country, but this was particularly so in Haiti due to the poor management of the event. There are three main factors to consider when assessing the management of a tectonic event: prediction, preparation, and response.
Earthquake in Haiti January 12, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit Haiti. Earthquake caused a lot of damage in Port-Au-prince, Leogane, Jacmel, and many of the surrounding communities. The earthquake left many Haitians homeless and with ruined crops. After 15 days the earthquake hit, the government estimated that their was 230,000 deaths, and about one million displaced people within the area of port-au-prince. 598,000 people migrated from the affected areas to other locations in Haiti.
Moral Obligation and Moral Distance The given statement invokes several moral questions and concerns in light of our moral obligations and boundaries. “There is an earthquake that wrecks havoc in Farawayistan so that 1000 people are left without homes or livelihood; and there is a hurricane in the USA that does the same”. Both cases depict a grave catastrophe that supposedly attract similar attention despite occurring in different geographic locations. At stake is not only victims’ basic welfare but also their lives. At this point, the ball is in our court.
The Great Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Japan and sent a thirty-three foot tsunami raging down the coast to devastate their towns even further. To make matters even worse, the earthquake also triggered a nuclear emergency that has been compared to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. (McCurry, 1) This earthquake was the worst earthquake in Japan’s recorded history. (McCurry, 1) It would not be surprising if people will still talk about it for centuries to come. The earthquake began off of the north-eastern coast of Honshu and caused catastrophic damage.