The Earthquake originates from the hypocenter, and the location above it is called the epicenter. In that location, the earth plates could rupture and slip past one another. Based on the reports covered by USGS, although the edges of faults are stuck but there is energy building up that would cause the blocks to slip. When the earthquake happens, the friction causes the edges to unstick subsequently this factor triggers the release of the energy. The shaking of the ground causes the energy to radiate in the form of seismic waves. Geological caucus determined the severity of an earthquake based on the depth, intensity and magnitude of the natural phenomenon. These 3 categories are distinctively from one another: intensity observed the effects of earthquakes in the disturbed regions (accounts for factors such as people, buildings, and natural features) as it varies depending on the location of the observer with respect to the location of epicenter. The magnitude of an earthquake refers to the energy released in the seismic waves which creates an amplitude of waves that can be recorded by a seismometer. Through that the depth of an earthquake could be one of the setpoints to determine the severity of an earthquake. Based on phys.edu, shallow earthquakes tend to be more damaging due to the fact that seismic waves from deep quakes need to travel farther to reach the surface.
This can be compared to both case studies being discussed, both which are renowned as the most catastrophic earthquake events from the past decade. The Nepal earthquake that occurred in 2015 and Japan that happened in 2011, have different earthquake behaviours and severity due to the dissimilarity of geographical location. As divulged in reports by World Vision, the earthquake in Nepal is very shallow (15 km) as it is situated in the mountains of Everest and below the indian - eurasian plate consequently it causes an excessive amount of seismic waves being released; carrying 7.8 magnitudes of quakes which produced a great deal of shaking. After the first earthquake, interluding the preceding aftershocks an avalanche was triggered first which decimated hikers and even villages near Everest (Guardian.co.uk). Furthermore, in Gorkha district where the earthquake originates, buildings are poorly constructed where temples and multi-story lacked steel reinforcement and more of heavy bricks in its structure. Hence, heavy bricks make it deadly when they fall. As a result, the earthquake itself killed at a staggering amount of 9,000 deaths with 22,000 being injured. The Nepal government needed to rebuild 600,000 structures which needed $9 Billion dollars (Britannica.com). The upheaval brought by the earthquake causes the country to be more vulnerable economically, and people labelled the event as the most devastating since the 96’ earthquake.
Video 1: 2015 Nepal earthquake caused panic as temple collapses
On the contrary, the geographical caucus tagged Japan's 2011 Earthquake as the “mini judgement day”. The earthquake also known as the Great Sendai, spawned an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 originating from a 50 meter faults slip (2nd largest after Aceh 2004) - (NatGeo). The earthquake that triggered the tsunami which wiped out 561 square kilometers managed to kill 15,894 people and 2,000 reported missing as of June 2016. The devastating secondary hazards caused buildings to rumble and affected the nuclear power plant in Fukushima where it releases radioactive materials due to the failure of its cooling system. The radioactive leak managed to reach the North American coast although it comes in such a small amount. A possible reason for the leak is due to the fact that the seismic and Tsunami waves radiated and struck several countries including Hawai’i, Chile and Alaska. For instance, in Chile a tsunami with 2 meters high was recorded. The waves created carried 5 million tons of debris from wreckage of ships, trash, and household items. Furthermore, due to the earthquake generated the earth’s geological framework has shifted. The Great Sendai released thousands of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, in addition to that it causes a tore of huge chunk off Antarctica due to the waves produced (LiveScience).
Video 2: 2011 Japan earthquake that causes the tsunami in Sendai
Outweighing the effects brought by the two marked catastrophic events of the decade, I would say that the Earthquake that struck Japan is far more devastating than what happened in Nepal. Although the earthquake in Nepal formed a horrific avalanche on Mount Everest, the tsunami generated by Japan’s earthquake managed to impact the whole world. This means that the earthquake in Japan is a global devastation and causes a lot more secondary hazard than Nepal. Moreover, Japan’s earthquake became the second deadliest earthquake in the 21st century after 2004 proves that the event should be viewed seriously. Even after 4 years the tragedy happened, there are still people missing.
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