Natural Disasters Paper
Hunter Herdt Dr. Schiesser Geological Disasters 12 October 2011 What Should We Be Doing? Natural disasters occur on Earth every day. They range from earthquake that can’t be felt to Tsunamis that kill and destroy millions of dollars of property. No matter big or small they happen and the best geologist can predict them to a certain degree yet no natural occurring disaster can be entirely predicted or stopped. People seem to look to blame something or someone for these things but we are only able to do so much to lessen the consequences of these disasters.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A. D. It killed 16,000 people and preserved the city of Pompeii by completely covering it in a pyroclastic cloud of searing hot ash and rock. The cloud moved at speeds of 100-650 MPH at temperatures that ranged from 100 Celsius to 1200 Celsius. These people had zero knowledge of any of the dangers they were putting themselves in on a daily basis. They were not living on the age or thought it was cool to live by a giant destructive volcano. They were simply unaware of the danger because there was no knowledge of it.
These people cannot be blamed for this horrific disaster they were caught up in. And in that day in age nobody was aware of the danger. For the people of Pompeii there was no way to lessen the consequences of their disaster because they had no knowledge of the possibility of the disaster itself. The Sumatra earthquake disaster was extremely devastating. It claimed 286,000 lives and caused irreversible damage to the landscape. It recorded a 9. 0 on the Richter scale and induced megathrust, with a vertical displacement of between 30ft and 50ft and 75 miles long(Iris).
It lasted for eight minutes and without warning systems the victims of these disasters didn’t have a chance. In this case money was a huge reason why the death total was so big. Without enough funds to provide the city of Indonesia with the proper early warning system countless lives were lost. Education was also a huge reason why so many lives were lost. If the people of Sumatra had been properly educated on the precursors and the possibilities of what might happen living that close to such a major fault line that some lives would have been saved.
Yet at the same time there is no way for Geologist to predict the day of such a catastrophic disaster. Geologist read signs the earth gives and are able to make educated guesses during specific cycles that they know when disasters will occur. Geologist could have told the people of Sumatra for a fact they knew they would have a devastating earthquake with resulting tsunamis because of the timing and movement of the plates. Yet they are unable to give a specific date.
The people of Sumatra could have been more prepared and lessen the consequences of their disaster if they would have had more funding for early warning systems and education of the danger they were in living as close as they were to a major fault line. The Johnstown flood killed 2,209 people. It claimed more lives at the time then any disaster in U. S. history(Jaha). It was caused by novice dam built above the city. The city had the misfortune of being in a flood plain below the dam when it broke. During a long hard night’s rain the dam built of clay became saturated and unable to hold the water back.
The water raced down towards the town, picking up trees and railroad on its path of destruction. Now some would say that the people had prior knowledge to the possibility of a dam break, yet it was never taken seriously. The dam was the major problem. The people were unable to see that the original dam was no longer up to par and was under immense pressure to break. With more awareness of the dangers of living in a flood plain and a more secure dam the people of Johnstown could have lessened their disaster dramatically.
All of these prior instances bring us to the problem of the San Andres Fault. The fault is the outcome of the North American plate and the Pacific Coast plate sliding along each other(Lynch). They have been doing this for a long time. These sliding movements have caused major disasters in the past for California such as the San Francisco Fires due to a massive earthquake. The major problem is that the plates keep shifting yet the ground isn’t moving it with it, therefore causing built up tension that when released will cause a devastating earthquake to the state of California.
Geologist know for a fact that when the San Andres goes it will be a catastrophic disaster, yet California continues to be a destination of paradise. People move there with full knowledge of the problem, and potential consequences. In the case of the above mentioned disasters there were always elements missing which might have saved lives but in the case of California they have all the knowledge, education, and technology money can buy; yet they have succumb to the fact that the earthquake will come and then they will move on with their lives.
These circumstances go to show that education, knowledge and technology all might help in the lessening of a disaster but there is no stopping one. Natural disasters will continue to come and will continue to destroy. Geologist have interpreted their patterns and have a good understanding of what the ramifications will be; but in the end all we can do is watch. There is only so much mitigation we can do as people when it comes to natural disasters.
We can stand clear and warn others but when push comes to shove nature always wins. Work Cited “History of Johnstown Flood. ” jaha. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://www. jaha. org/FloodMuseum/history. html>. “Sumatra. ” Iris. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://www. iris. iris. edu/sumatra/>. Lynch, David. “San Andres Fault Line. ” Geology. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://geology. com/articles/san-andreas-fault. shtml>.
