a. strain buildup only b. location of foci c. magnitude of P-waves [pic] d. reoccurrence rates of earthquakes in an area and the rate of strain buildup 2. What are most earthquakes associated with? a. rift valleys b. mid-ocean ridges c. divergent plate boundaries [pic] d. plate boundaries 3. At what point in the graph would a rock be permanently deformed? [pic] a. at the start of the stress [pic] b. past
It registered a 7.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake’s epicenter was extremely shallow at only 8.1 miles below ground, which released the energy close to the surface and intensified the shaking. The increased level of destruction led to a high loss of life. The earthquake epicenter was only 15 miles from Port-au-Prince and was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since 1770. “The 7.0-magnitude earthquake would be a strong, potentially destructive earthquake anywhere, but it is an unusually strong event for Haiti, with even more potential destructive impact because of the weak infrastructure of the impoverished nation” (Thompson, 2010, p.1).
Haiti Earthquake, January 2010 Terrah-Leigh Ann Pietersen On the 12th of January, 2010, an earthquake struck Haiti which measured up to 7.0 on the Richter scale. This caused an estimate of 230, 000 to 316, and 000 to have died. The earthquake was produced form the fault line that separates the Caribbean tectonic plate from the North American plate. The fault line ran from east to west. It was miles away from the capital called Port au Prince.
Discuss the view that the impact of the earthquake hazards depends primarily on human factors? An earthquake, a sudden violent shaking of the ground can be caused by a number of things from seismic activity and resulting in varying impacts. The cause of an earthquake are a result of built up pressure under the earth’s crust, the pressure comes from the movement of the tectonic plates, they can occur on any plate boundaries. Although the majority of the earthquake hazards come from the physical factors, human factors can determine the severity of the event. The impacts created from an earthquake can come from the physical factors of the size, the location of the epicentre and the surrounding areas such as a ground type and the lithology of the rocks.
According to CBC News World, “The storm hit Haiti's rural western tip hard, flooding the refugee-camp homes of quake survivors.” (2010). The storm was actually downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm but still caused massive flooding with the vast amount of rain and mudslides that were rampant. The country also has a long history of earthquakes dating back to 1564. The most recent in this list is the 2010 earthquake close to Port-Au-Prince. The nation is located in a region seismic activity due to the movement of the Caribbean tectonic plate, which is compared with which a finger shoving away against two larger plates, the North American and South American.
Take for example the two earthquakes that affected Northridge and Haiti. The Northridge earthquake that hit California in 1994 had a magnitude of 6.7 and killed 57 people. Whereas the Haiti earthquake in 2010 was magnitude 7 and killed 300 000 people. These two case studies emphasize the stark differences in vulnerability between two populations. Although building and infrastructure damage was extreme in both the Haiti and Northridge events, the impact of this damage could not be more different.
This tells us that it’s a powerful earthquake, reaching and being felt by farther away places. This earthquake makes itself more dangerous with little or no warning. Earthquakes are probably the most dangersome natural occurring disaster encountered. South Carolina is located within the interior of the North American plate, far from any plate boundary. An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of earth suddenly slip past one another.
Non-explosive eruptions tend to produce mostly lava flows, which do not represent a particularly serious hazard to people, however they will destroy farmland and buildings. Ash clouds are explosive eruptions that blast solid and molten rock (called tephra or pyroclastics) into the air with tremendous force. Ash clouds pose a considerable threat to aircraft, can cause buildings to collapse and can also cause death by asphyxiation. Pyroclastic flows are a potential product of volcanic activity; clouds of incandescent gas, ash and rocks with temperatures up to 800°C and speeds of over 200kph. They can cause widespread destruction, such as the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting tsunami (Boxing Day Tsunami) was an event that caused great loss, destruction and trauma. Within this essay, the nature of the natural hazard, the factors that contributed to this disaster, and the preparedness of the region to handle such an event will be discussed. Furthermore the extensive recovery process and lessons learnt from this disaster will also be looked at. Hazards are a “potential threat to humans and their welfare arising from a dangerous phenomenon… that may cause loss of life, injury, property damage and other community losses of damage.” (Smith 2006, p.11) In the case of the Boxing Day Tsunami, it was the resulting tsunami, not the earthquake, which caused the destruction and ‘displacement of around 1.8 million people.’ (Smith 2006) When the water first receded, many peopl, ‘rushed out onto the once-covered reefs to pick up the stranded fish.’ (McCall 2014) Subsequently when the water eventually returned in the form of a tsunami, the chance of survival for those on the reefs was almost non-existent. Both natural and human factors contributed to transforming the hazard into a disaster.
Haiti in the other hand, was not prepared for their earthwuake and they didn’t now expect an outbreak after. Haiti’s earthquake was big but not as big as Japan’s earthquake. Japan had a tsunami nuclear crissis, but they didn’t have an outbreak like Haiti. Both countries received horrible damage and the death toll in both countries were very high. In both places there were atleast millions of people who were homeless and some people were missing afterwards.