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Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts

Thursday, April 15, 2010

China hit by 6.9 magnitude earthquake

Yushu, Qinghai Province in Northwestern China was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake according to the China Earthquake Administration in Beijing. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was at 6.9 on the richer scale. The epicenter is at the town of Rima, 30 miles away from Jiegu (one of the worst hit by the quake).

In 2008, a neighboring Sichuan province was struck an earthquake leaving 90,000 people dead or missing. 5335 Chinese students were buried when their schools collapsed during the magnitude 8.0 Sichuan earthquake. Now they have to face the same nightmare as students were trapped when several schools were trapped. Among the worst hit, 22 students of the Yushu Vocational School has died according to an official of Xinhua News Agency. President Hu Jintao has allocated S30 million (200 million Yuan) for relief and has ordered 5000 soldiers, medical workers and rescuers to go to Yushu to help the 700 troops who are already in Yushu.

The problem that they now face is the lack of medical supplies, medical equipments, and medical workers. The nearest big city is 530 miles away. That is 12 hours away under the best conditions. Majority of the houses in Jiegu were made of wood and mud. 85 percent of the houses in Jiegu have been destroyed. Survivors had to no choice but to spend the night outdoors. Since Yushu is 13,780 above sea level, the temperature could drop below freezing point. Survivors had nothing but blankets to shield them against the cold winds.

Earthquakes are increasing by frequency and intensity. This year alone, several powerful earthquakes have caused massive destruction in infrastructure and have claimed the lives of so many people. According to earthquake experts, a lot of earthquake hit different parts of the planet yearly. People are just becoming more aware and more concerns about the earthquake due to what has happened in Haiti and Chile. Is this something to worry about? Does the frequency and intensity of earthquakes of 2010 fall on the margin of normal?

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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Indonesia struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake

After Haiti, Chile, Taiwan and Turkey, A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Northwest Indonesian island of Sumatra at 05:15 a.m. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the center was 125 miles northwest of Sibolga in Sumatra. Depth of the earthquake was measured at 31 miles. The epicenter was 215 km from the largest city on Sumatra, Medan. Three aftershocks were recorded after the initial earthquake.

The earthquake caused mass panic and power outages but fortunately there were no deaths. 80% of the electricity terminals in North Sumatra province were damaged. 25% percent were restored immediately. Several Injuries were noted from falling roof tiles, broken glass and damage electricity poles

A tsunami alert was issued but was lifted two hours after. Neighboring countries Thailand and Malaysia also announced tsunami warnings but cancelled them shortly after they were issued. Even though, the tsunami warnings have been lifted, several are still taking precautions in case a tsunami hits.

Earthquakes are frequent in Indonesia. Sumatra is along the of the world’s most active seismic fault lines, the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”  In September 2009, A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Padang killing more than 1000 people. In December 2004, a 9.5 magnitude earthquake in Aceh caused a Tsunami that killed 226,000 in Indonesia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and nine other countries.

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Earthquake hits Turkey


An earthquake struck Turkey at 4:32 a.m. (0232 GMT, 9 p.m. EST Sunday) turning building to a pile of rubble. The Kandilli seismology center recorded a 6.0 magnitude quake near the village of Basyurt located in the Elazig province. The province is 340 miles or 550 kilometers east of the Turkey’s capital Ankara. The U.S. Geological Survey however listed the quake as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake.

Hundreds of people had huddled around bonfires to keep them warm against the winter cold after the earthquake has their destroyed their homes or damage it enough to make it unsafe to be use as a shelter. The Kurdish Village of Okcular was almost razed leaving 15 residents dead. The poor mud-brick building infrastructure was blamed for the many deaths. More than a hundred aftershocks in the region were noted on Monday. These aftershocks were at least 5.5-magnitude. People had to use shovels and their bare hands to dig people buried in the rubble out. People from neighboring provinces of Tunceli, Bingol and Diyarbakir had to rush the streets in panic and had to stay outdoors.

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey. In 1999, two earthquakes claimed the lives of 18,000 people. In 2003, 84 children were killed when their school dormitory collapsed in Bingol. The Total number of deaths reached 177. In 2007, buildings in Elazig were damaged by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. Bernard Doft, a seismologist for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in Utrecht, said that the Haiti and Chile earthquake was direct connection between the Turkey, Haiti and Chile Earthquake. According to the USGS, there are around 134 earthquakes ranging from 6.0 to 6.9-magnitude a year. That is about two earthquake of that magnitude a week

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Magnitude 6.4 earthquake Struck Taiwan


Less than a week after the Chile earthquake, Taiwan was hit by 6.4 magnitude earthquake at 8:18 am local time followed by several aftershocks. Taiwan is hit by at least three quakes of over magnitude 6 every year. On December 2010, a 6.9 magnitude quake was recorded 21 kilometers from Hualien City. The quake was centered is the county of Kaohsiung and was at a depth of 3.1 miles or 5 kilometers. Kaohsiung is located 249 miles south of Taipei

According to Kuo Kai-wen, director of the Seismology Center of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, there is no geological connection between the Haiti and Chili earthquake and that there is nothing unusual with number of recent big quakes. People are just paying more attention to earthquake now because of what has happened to Haiti. The Activity is normal and is not so scary according to Mr. Kuo. In every 5 years, Taiwan is hit by a magnitude 7 or higher earthquake and a magnitude 6 or higher every 100 days.

The quake has caused power outages in Taipei while telephone service in some parts of Taiwan was affected. A train in southern Taiwan was slightly shifted off its tracks. Subway service in the city Kaohsiung was disrupted temporarily as well.  64 people were injured in the quake.

Taiwan, Chile and Haiti quakes are not within the same tectonic plates. In a year, there are around 17 magnitude 7 or higher quakes, around 170 to 180 earthquakes with a 6 magnitude or larger and at least one earthquake with a magnitude 8 or higher. Last year there were 16 earthquakes were recorded with a magnitude of 7 or higher.

So far this year, there has already been one earthquake with magnitude of 8 or higher. Chile was struck by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake only days before the Taiwan earthquake struck. The mainshock of the Chile Earthquake lasted for at least three minutes while the earthquake in Taiwan lasted for only a minute. Earthquakes are quite frequent in Taiwan. Majority caused minor or no damage at all. However, a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.


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Monday, March 1, 2010

Chile hit by one of the most powerful earthquake in the last century



Only 46 days after a powerful earthquake hit Haiti, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile. The earthquake was the fifth largest in the past 110 years. A half century ago, Chile was also hit by an even stronger earthquake with a recorded magnitude of 9.5 that killed 1,655 people in the city of Valdivia. The 1960 quake is the largest earthquake recorded in the last 200 years and has caused tsunamis that killed 61 people in Hawaii, 138 in Japan and left 32 dead or missing in the Philippines. According to U.S Geological survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was 70 miles northeast of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles. The earthquake tremors have reached as far as Argentina’s provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. 

The earthquake started at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST) and lasted from three long minutes. Residents of Santiago, Chile were awoken from their sleeping prompting them to leave their beds and seeking shelter on the streets.  The destruction to the infrastructure was relatively low compared to the Haiti. This would be attributed to Chile’s solid building standards. The death toll has risen to 700 people from the initial count of 214 people reported on Feb 28, 2010. 

Chile produces 34 percent of the world supply of copper and the leading producer in the world. Several copper mines in Chile acquired minimal damages and was operating normally within a few hours after the quake. Several buildings were damaged including three hospitals which had partially collapsed. Debris blocked streets in Central Chile as Building and bridges were severely damage by the earthquake. In Concepcion, one of Chile’s largest cities with a population of around 670, 000 people, some residents were looting Medicine, grain and wheat. 175 miles south of Concepcion lies Temuco where residents have reported that there is no water and electricity. 

Due to high magnitude of the earthquake, tsunami warnings have been sent to Hawaii, Japan and Russia. Evacuation and other contingency plans have been implemented in attempt to minimize the possible damage that the Tsunami might bring. Six US Navy ships in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor were moved to different location to prepare for the big waves which were forecasted to reach as high as 8 feet. Fortunately, the tidal waves were not as big as expected.

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