Geography essay †earthquakes Essay

At a conservative brink both home offices try to sneak previous(prenominal) to each cardinal other slowly. Quite often, the two plates stick and extort builds up the step down of this pressure creates a severe earthquake. on that point atomic number 18 no vol foundationic eruptions along conservative plate margins because the crust is incomplete universe created nor destroyed. The classic example of a conservative plate margin is the San Andreas erroneousness in atomic number 20. The North Ameri merchant ship and peace-loving Plates be moving past each other at this margin, which is the location of many a(prenominal) earthquakes.These earthquakes are caused by the accumulation and cease of strain as the two plates slide past each other. The vast bulk of Earthquakes occur along plate margins. In fact the locations of the earthquakes and the kind of ruptures they produce admirer scientists define the plate margin. Many earthquakes influence a narrow spread at whats oever plate margins than others gener eithery speaking, the earthquakes at destructive plate margins strike a greater spread and at that placefore happen upon more than places than at conservative plate margins.According to plate tectonic theory, great slabs of plates are in constant figurehead caused by convection currents, a lot of pressure builds up at the plate margins, which when released causes a sudden jolt or earthquake. This accounts for a large number of earthquakes that occur at plate margins. The fact that the most deathly earthquakes occur at destructive/ alter plate margins suggests that greater pressure builds up than at constructive plate margins. Earthquakes are probably the most frequent of all hazards, yet their impact on wad, situation and communities varies from one place to another.When it comes to expressions the type of create materials and designs used jakes pick at impairment of life, mainly in soaked areas. This was the type with the Loma P rieta earthquake where very few muckle were kil conduct, however in some areas were more vulnerable with older buildings. With the Kobe earthquake (1995) there were less(prenominal) strict building regulations which led to high death toll of everywhere 6,300. In poorer parts of the world building design is often inadequate, even though building design standards are in place they are rarely enforced, which was the lesson for Mexico City (1985).Here several modern font high rise buildings collapsed as concrete crumbled and the thin steel structures tore apart. The interchange hospital just collapsed in do cleanup position around 30000 people. It can in any case have different make on different parts of the world callable to the frequency of the earthquake and the levels of development. In wealthy areas where earthquakes are common, such(prenominal) as California and Japan, a lot is done to define for an earthquake there are unbendable earthquake drills in schools and office s.Poorer countries tend to be less well contrived this is partially due to the lack of money to grace in materials and educational programs. Also because earthquakes are perceived as infrequent problems in a society facing fooling struggles for survival. It is often said LEDCS remain firm much more from the effects of earthquakes than MEDCs which is true in terms of homosexual costs. A poor country with UN elusive buildings and its inability to cope with the after effects of an earthquake, lead erect greater departure of life, homelessness and loss of livelihood than a well-to-do country.In recent years some of the greatest earthquake disasters have occurred in LEDCS including India 1993 which killed 10,000 people, Afghanistan 1998 which killed over 6,000. MEDCs do not tend to suffer as much human loss, alone they do suffer a lot of pecuniary loss, as insurance companies and governments re-fund building programs and kick in compensation. Afghanistan 25th display 2002 t here were a series of earthquakes that lasted 10 hours and killed 800-1000 people, injured 4,000 and left hand 20,000 homeless. Towns were flattened the earthquake only account 6. 1 on the Richter carapace.There were a few reasons why this earthquake caused so much widespread disaster. The region is contrasted and very poor, after suffering droughts and wars they have no resources left to cope with such an earthquake. The houses were very poor and couldnt stand firm the shaking much housing had menacing roofing to insulate their houses which just collapsed killing people inside. Although the earthquake was not so strong it was a shallow one occurring at a depth of 8km. instanter comparing it with a wealthier place you can see the difference that money can make and buildings.mainland China 30th March 2002 measured 7. 1 on the Richter scale so was more powerful than the Afghanistan one, and was at 10km deep so again was shallow this earthquake only killed 5 people. The Taiwan earthquake was significantly more powerful than the Afghanistan earthquake yet it caused far less loss of life, this was due to the fact that, many of the buildings were modern and coped well with the ground shaking, people were also aware of the dangers and had prepared themselves to minimize the dangers and damage to the properties.Taiwan is significantly wealthier than Afghanistan and its therefore better able to prepare and then to react after an earthquake. In conclusion 2 earthquakes of a same magnitude might be judge to have similar effects but this is not always the case. Whilst there can be no doubt that a big powerful earthquake will caused a lot of damage wherever they occur, it seems to be the case that all things being equal LEDCs tend to suffer more than MEDCs.