How an Earthquake can Impact the Society
Earthquakes can effect the society in various ways. They can destroy houses and buildings to the
ground and people will have nowhere to live. The dangers of and earthquake causes major mid-term risks to health, safety and economic life of many parts of Chile and throughout the world. Recent earthquakes showed the dangers of modern industrial societies from tragic events, affecting from a huge number of lives lost to the corruption of buildings to not being financially stable. There are primary effects of earthquakes which includes property damage, loss of lives fire and
tsunami waves. The secondary effects of earthquakes are the economic loss, disease, lack of food
and lack of clean water. People needs to be concerned with collapsing buildings and falling debris such as flying glass. The majority of the injuries and deaths that occur from earthquakes are due to falling objects and structures. Dangerous landslides, fires, gas line and electric explosions, floodwaters from
collapsing dams could be an effect from an earthquake.
Tsunamis are one of the most destructive effects of earthquakes. On the ocean floor, giant waves
are formed and when it hits land, it can cause serious destruction. Underwater landslides caused
by earthquakes may also form tsunamis.
Buildings and property are the focus of an earthquake’s destruction. Many are built using strict
building codes which can withstand swaying motion of the ground during an earthquake. Some
buildings with weak walls may collapse completely during a quake. Extremely tall buildings, like
skyscrapers, may sway so violently that they may tip over and cause damage to lower structures
nearby. One thing that affects the earthquake’s intensity is geology. It is the type of land that is
underneath the buildings can determine the way the buildings respond to an earthquake. Buildings
on solid ground are more likely to withstand an earthquake than buildings that are constructed on
loose soil and ground.
ground and people will have nowhere to live. The dangers of and earthquake causes major mid-term risks to health, safety and economic life of many parts of Chile and throughout the world. Recent earthquakes showed the dangers of modern industrial societies from tragic events, affecting from a huge number of lives lost to the corruption of buildings to not being financially stable. There are primary effects of earthquakes which includes property damage, loss of lives fire and
tsunami waves. The secondary effects of earthquakes are the economic loss, disease, lack of food
and lack of clean water. People needs to be concerned with collapsing buildings and falling debris such as flying glass. The majority of the injuries and deaths that occur from earthquakes are due to falling objects and structures. Dangerous landslides, fires, gas line and electric explosions, floodwaters from
collapsing dams could be an effect from an earthquake.
Tsunamis are one of the most destructive effects of earthquakes. On the ocean floor, giant waves
are formed and when it hits land, it can cause serious destruction. Underwater landslides caused
by earthquakes may also form tsunamis.
Buildings and property are the focus of an earthquake’s destruction. Many are built using strict
building codes which can withstand swaying motion of the ground during an earthquake. Some
buildings with weak walls may collapse completely during a quake. Extremely tall buildings, like
skyscrapers, may sway so violently that they may tip over and cause damage to lower structures
nearby. One thing that affects the earthquake’s intensity is geology. It is the type of land that is
underneath the buildings can determine the way the buildings respond to an earthquake. Buildings
on solid ground are more likely to withstand an earthquake than buildings that are constructed on
loose soil and ground.
Impact on the Biosphere
Earthquakes can effect one or more of the spheres, they usually have an impact on the biosphere
and the lithosphere. This is how:
Impact on the biosphere-
The biosphere is the part of the earths crust, waters and atmosphere that supports life and the
ecosystem, taking care of the entire earth and the living organisms that inhabit it. Earthquakes can have a huge impact on the biosphere as the intense shaking of an earthquake can cause damage and loss of human and animal life. The earthquake itself does not kill or harm life itself it is when the damage is made to structures and flora is when the natural disaster effects human and animal life. The potential damage a earthquake can cause are things such as floods, changes in food chain and causing animals to behave differently, in the long run earthquakes cancause animal extinction and also new species being formed.
Earthquakes can effect one or more of the spheres, they usually have an impact on the biosphere
and the lithosphere. This is how:
Impact on the biosphere-
The biosphere is the part of the earths crust, waters and atmosphere that supports life and the
ecosystem, taking care of the entire earth and the living organisms that inhabit it. Earthquakes can have a huge impact on the biosphere as the intense shaking of an earthquake can cause damage and loss of human and animal life. The earthquake itself does not kill or harm life itself it is when the damage is made to structures and flora is when the natural disaster effects human and animal life. The potential damage a earthquake can cause are things such as floods, changes in food chain and causing animals to behave differently, in the long run earthquakes cancause animal extinction and also new species being formed.
food
moni
moni moni moni moni moni moni moni very
f
f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f |
Impact on the Lithosphere
The lithosphere contains the crust and upper mantle, the earth has two types of lithosphere, oceanic and continental. Earthquakes can also have a huge impact on the lithosphere causing shaking, ground rupture, landslides, avalanches, fires, forests destroyed, extreme building damage and the release of hazardous materials. Plate tectonics is the main cause of strain in the lithosphere. The interaction of plates takes place over thousands of years, and strain builds up slowly over time. In contrast, the release of built-up strain in the form of an earthquake can take just minutes. For this reason, earthquakes are considered high energy releases. Deformation of the lithosphere occurs most actively at tectonic plate boundaries, which makes these areas the most vulnerable to earthquakes. At these boundaries, fractures occur in the lithosphere. A fault exists when the two sides of a fracture slide past one another. If there is strain buildup in the area of the fracture and the fault slips, an earthquake occurs. Impact on the Atmosphere Earthquakes indirectly contribute the enhanced greenhouse effect. They are known to release methane from pockets within the ground to the atmosphere by the movement of tectonic plates. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases that contribute to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Methane, as well as carbon dioxide, absorbs the sun’s radiation that is re-radiated from the Earth as infrared radiation. This warms the atmosphere and since the levels of these gases are higher than usual, the atmospheric temperature has been increasing. If an earthquake is at an appropriately high magnitude they can increase the height of mountains by a few inches to a few metres. Evidence for this is seen at the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. This increase in mountains occurs due one side of the fault line moving up relative to the other side of the fault line, creating steep elevation. Methane is classed as a greenhouse gas and is much more harmful than carbon dioxide when released uncombusted into the atmosphere. Although methane only remains in the atmosphere for around a decade, it is 25-times more damaging than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. Excess uncombusted methane in the atmosphere traps heat from the sun and contributes to the Earth's increasing surface temperatures. Impact on the Hydrosphere Earthquakes may modify groundwater flow from springs by causing expansion and contraction of the aquifer from which the spring flows. The change may be either temporary or permanent. Earthquake faults may also result in offset stream channels and sag ponds, water that collects in the depression along a strike-slip fault line. By far the largest effect of earthquakes in the hydrosphere is the tsunami, which means "harbor wave" in Japanese. Tsunamis result from a sudden vertical shift in the ocean floor, usually where tectonic plates meet, that can be caused by an earthquake, a landslide or a volcano. A small wave, generally only a few feet tall, is generated. As the depth of water decreases near land, however, the height of the wave increases many times, and is capable of causing massive destruction hundreds or thousands of miles from the site of the earthquake. |