Taking off and going to somewhere far away for a while is very tempting when you are young, but what if you go somewhere where there is a risk from an earthquake or volcano? South and Central America are among the most exciting places in the world to visit but also some of the most at risk.

What sort of trip?
Anyone taking time off from education in the form of a gap year or extended holiday will need to decide what sort of thing it is that they want to do as there are several options. One option is to literally make your trip into a holiday and to spend your time taking in the sights of as many places as possible. Alternatively, you could spend some of your gap year doing something worthwhile by volunteering abroad on community and wildlife projects.

Central America
Costa Rica and Guatemala in Central America are two places where there is a risk from both earthquakes and volcanoes but this should not deter visitors on their real gap from visiting either of these amazing places. Costa Rica is a popular place to visit for those who are interested in wildlife and ecology. The country has a huge variety of flora and fauna, all the more amazing given how small this country is. The country does have some active volcanoes which can be visited although care must be taken. All of them have warning signs and these should be heeded. Anyone climbing them should do so with care. As with Costa Rica, Guatemala also has a rich and diverse history with some amazing sights. It is also home to many volcanoes, with a lot of them over 3,000 metres high and there are guided walking tours available to many of them.

Acapulco Mexico, a Pacific coast holiday heaven which is shaken regularly by earthquakes – Image courtesy Wikipedia

South America
The only country in South America with coastlines on the North Pacific as well as the Caribbean Sea, Colombia is the ‘gateway’ between Central and South America. The country has some amazing landscapes in every direction and is equatorial so has no real seasons to speak of. It is however subject to some natural hazards which need to be borne in mind if you are considering this country as part of your Real Gap. The highlands are subject to the risk of both volcanoes and earthquakes. Sharing a border with Colombia is Peru which is probably most famous for being the centre of the Inca Empire and home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Machu Pichu. Visitors to Peru should be aware that the south of the country is home to the Sabancaya Volcano and that Peru has been affected by many earthquakes.

So, if you are thinking about taking some time off from studies or work and going travelling, then do your research and look carefully into the places you are thinking of going to. Although the risk of a volcano or earthquake in most of these places is small, it may still be something to bear in mind when you are making the final decision about your destination.

Pacaya volcano, Guatemala

Preparedness
When you are living in the age of technology, taking help of some smart gadgets can be a better choice to avoid the potential risks of earthquakes. There are some smartphone apps which are quite beneficial for making you aware of the impending danger of earthquakes.
You can also be informed by mails or keep yourself updated about the upcoming danger on Twitter. For specific earthquake data, Quake_tracker4 can be a good option to get information on triggering earthquakes.
Make also sure that you know what to do during and after an earthquake : The Be Earthquake Prepared guidelines do tell you in a couple of minutes what to do if you are  suddenly in the midst of something unexpected.
When staying along the coast, there are 2 very important signs that a tsunami may be inundating the coastline. The first one is a strongly receding sea . This is not normal and you should immediately evacuate to higher ground. The second one to run for higher ground is experiencing 30 seconds of very strong shaking. Always follow instructions from the authorities if they are present.

AUTHOR BIO:
Jennifer writes regularly on travel for a range of travel websites and blogs. This includes writing about travel for young people, particularly those who are embarking on a real gap from education.

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November 30 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Alaska, 1987 – Magnitude : 7.8
Damage (VI) at Yakutat from earthquake and tsunami. Felt (V) at Anchorage, Copper Center, Gakona, Haines, Homer, Juneau, Levelock, Petersburg, Seward and Skwentna. Also felt (V) in sections of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Felt (IV) throughout southern Alaska from the Ketchikan area to Glennallen and Kodiak Island and (III) as far away as Bethel and Fairbanks. Also felt at Sand Point and (II) at Anaktuvuk Pass. Some damage caused to 2 ships at sea in the epicentral area; felt strongly on 3 other ships in the area. Tsunami generated with wave heights (peak to trough) 85 cm. at Yakutat and 25 cm. at Sitka, Alaska; 15 cm. at Hilo, 12 cm. at Nawiliwili and 5 cm. at Honolulu, Hawaii; and 5 cm. at Presidio, California. Complex event, with major subevent occurring about 15 seconds after onset of the foreshock, observed on broadband displacement seismograms.

The deepest place on earth
The Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean just east of the Mariana Islands, is the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans, with a maximum depth of about 11 km (6.8 miles). This is the deepest location on the surface of the Earth. The bottom of the trench is farther below sea level than Mount Everest is above it.

November 29 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Indonesia, 1998 – Magnitude : 7.7 – 34 people killed
At least 34 people killed on Mangole and 153 people injured on Mangole and Taliabu. Seven people killed, 8 injured and several buildings damaged at Manado, Sulawesi. A timber factory sustained extensive damage and dozens of houses destroyed on Mangole. Landslides blocked a highway on Mangole. Felt (VI) at Luwuk and (I) at Palu, Sulawesi. Also felt (IV) on Ternate and (III) on Ambon.

November 28 2012

The first seismograph or better seismoscope
The first seismoscope was developed by Chang Heng, the Royal Astronomer of the Bureau of Astronomy and Calendar in the year 132 A.D. during the Han Dynasty period. Initially made of bronze, with a diameter of about six feet, the seismoscope resembled a large urn, on the outside of which were eight dragon heads facing the eight principal directions of the compass. Below each dragon head was a toad with its mouth opened toward the dragon. The seismoscope would vibrate when an earthquake occurred, causing a ball to drop out of a dragon’s mouth and be caught by a toad below. The noise produced by the dropping ball served notice of the earthquake, and the particular ball which fell gave the azimuthal direction of the earthquake. The internal mechanism of the seismoscope is unknown, but probably employed either a pendulum or inverted pendulum connected to levers that ejected the balls when the instrument moved. The instrument is reported to have detected an earthquake 400 miles away that was not felt at the location of the seismoscope.

Image courtesy cultural-china.com

November 27 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
India, 1945 – Magnitude : 8.0 – 4000 people killed
4,000 persons reported killed. One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
Severe damage at Pasni and Ormara. A large tsunami was generated that caused damage at Karachi and damage and casualties in the Mumbai (Bombay) area, India. Four new islands appeared off the coast near Hinglaj. The quake was felt as far away as Dera Ismail Khan and Sahiwal.

November 26 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Vanuatu, 1999 – Magnitude : 7.5 – 5 people killed
At least five people killed and forty injured by collapsed buildings and landslides on Pentecost. Extensive damage to roads and telephone lines on Pentecost. At least five people killed at Mortelli Bay by a local tsunami, which was also recorded at Suva, Fiji. Damage and landslides also occurred on Ambrym, Epi and Paama. Felt strongly in much of Vanuatu.

Will California eventually fall off into the ocean?
No. The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate and North American Plate. The Pacific Plate is moving northwest with respect to the North American Plate at approximately 56 millimeters per year (the rate your fingernails grow). The strike-slip earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault are a result of this plate motion. The plates are moving horizontally past one another, so California is not going to fall into the ocean. However, Los Angeles and San Francisco will one day be adjacent to one another (in approximately 15 million years)!

More news about the recent M7.7 Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte islands) earthquake (Canada)
A team of federal government scientists that descended on Haida Gwaii following last month’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake is getting new insights into the fault that caused it — and the fear it generated.
Seismologist Alison Bird is one of about a dozen experts from Natural Resources Canada who were dispatched to the archipelago when the shaking started.
“My heart was in my throat until I started reading the reports, and started realising that everyone’s fine,” Bird said. $$$$$ Read more …

Image courtesy USGS

November 25 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Quebec (Canada), 1988 – Magnitude : 5.9
Damage in the Chicoutimi-La Malbaie area and in the Quebec City area. Maximum intensity VII. Landslides reported in the La Tuque area. Felt in Canada from southern Ontario to Nova Scotia and western Labrador. Felt (V) in parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. Felt in the New England states and in parts of Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and as far south as Washington, D.C.

Can the earth opening during an earthquake ?
One of man’s persistent fears about earthquakes is that the Earth will open and swallow everyone and everything nearby. Shallow crevasses can form during earthquake-induced landslides, lateral spreads, or other types of ground failures. Faults, however, do not open up during an earthquake. Movement occurs along the plane of a fault, not perpendicular to it. If faults opened up, no earthquake would occur because there would be no friction to lock them together.

November 24 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Iran, 1976 – Magnitude : 7.3 – at least 5000 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
The earthquake was located along the Turkish-Iranian border region. It is estimated that at least 5,000 people were killed and many injured. Caldira, Muradiye, and surrounding villages near the Iranian border were completely destroyed. Snow and bitter cold weather hampered the rescue teams from reaching many of the mountainous villages. Some casualties and damage were reported in northwestern Iran. The shock was also reported felt in the area of Yerevan SSR.

What triggers a Tsunami ?
A tsunami is a large wave caused by earthquakes, submarine landslides, and, infrequently, by eruptions of island volcanoes. During a major earthquake, an enormous amount of water can be set in motion as the seafloor moves up and down. The result is a series of potentially destructive waves that can move at more than 500 miles per hour.

November 23 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Italy, 1980 – Magnitude : 6.5 – 3000 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes. Over +3,000 people killed, about 1,900 missing, 7,750 injured, 250,000 homeless and extensive damage in a 25,000 square kilometer area of Campania and Basilicata.

Geology on the moon
Harrison (Jack) Schmitt is the only USGS geologist to do field work on another planetary body. As a member of the Apollo 17 party, he was able to conduct field surveys on the moon.

Quake rescuers faced ‘dual jeopardy’
Frontline rescue workers ”did their very best” to save lives in the aftermath of Christchurch’s earthquakes, often putting their own needs and those of their families aside, early results from a new study say. Some preliminary findings from the joint University of Otago and AUT University study of 600 frontline workers in Christchurch have been released today following recent criticisms of the emergency response to the quakes. $$$$$ Read more ….

November 22 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Egypt, 1995 – Magnitude : 7.2 – 8 people killed
At least eight people killed and 30 injured in the epicentral region, including two killed and 11 injured at Nuwaybi. Damage occurred in many parts of northeastern Egypt as far away as Cairo. One person was killed and two slightly injured at Al Bad, Saudi Arabia. Some damage occurred at Al Bad, Al Ula and Haql, Saudi Arabia. One person died of a heart attack, several people were injured and substantial damage with power outages and liquefaction occurred at Elat, Israel. Some damage also occurred at Jerusalem, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan. Felt from Sudan to Lebanon. High waves were reported along the coast at Aqaba, Jordan.

Movie about Asian tsunami shuns ‘disaster’ label
Eight years after the devastating 2004 tsunami, British actors Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts star in a film recounting the tragedy through the eyes of a tourist family caught up in the tidal wave. But the Spanish director of “The Impossible” insisted that the film — which starts with a spectacular recreation of the huge wall of water crashing onto a beachfront resort — is far from a typical “disaster movie.” $$$$$ Read more …

Pangea ?
Pangaea was the supercontinent that began to break up about 225 million years ago, eventually fragmenting into the continents as we know them today.

November 21 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
India, 1997 – Magnitude : 6.1 – 23 people killed
Twenty-three people killed, 200 injured, and a five-story building collapsed at Chittagong, Bangladesh. Houses damaged and old trees uprooted at Alikadam, Bandarban, Lama and Nakhyaungcharipara. Felt in much of Bangladesh as far north as Rangpur and Rajshahi.

Inner and outer core of the earth
Inge Lehman was a famous Danish seismologist. Her most famous achievement was the discovery of the inner and outer cores of the Earth through the reflection of seismic waves off those surfaces. She died in 1993 at the age of 105.

November 20 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
China, 1989 – Magnitude : 5.2 – 4 people killed
Four people killed, 161 injured and at least 1,000 homes destroyed in Jiangbei County.

What is an earthquake ?
An earthquake is caused by the shaking of the ground due to an abrupt shift of rock along a fracture in the Earth, called a fault. Within seconds, an earthquake releases stress that has slowly accumulated within the rock, sometimes over hundreds of years. Most earthquakes are caused by slow movements deep in the Earth that push against the Earth’s brittle, relatively thin outer layer, causing the rocks to break suddenly.

Guatemalans Still Struggling in Quake’s Brutal Aftermath
Guatemala is still recovering from a major 7.4 magnitude earthquake last week as well as a major aftershock Sunday that claimed the lives of 44 people. Crumpled cars and collapsed building stood as testimony to the worst earthquake in Guatemala since the 1970s. $$$$$ Read more …

November 19 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Colombia, 1991 – Magnitude : 7.2 – 2 people killed
Two people killed and 28 houses damaged in Choco Department. Minor damage (VI) to buildings in the Buenaventura and Cali areas. Felt strongly in many parts of western Colombia. Felt (II) at Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador

What do i have to expect to see in the ocean when a tsunami arrives ?
Most Tsunamis do not result in giant breaking waves. Rather, most tsunamis come onshore as very strong and fast tides.

November 18 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Canada (New Foundland), 1929 – Magnitude : 7.2 – 27 people killed
A submarine slide triggered by the earthquake caused the fracture of 12 trans-atlantic cables. In each case they were broken at several points. A tsunami resulting from displacement of the ocean floor caused considerable damage and the loss of 27 lives at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. Small seawaves were recorded along the east coast of the United States as far south as Charleston, South Carolina. The area of maximum intensity in the United States was the southeastern half of Maine, where clocks stopped, articles were shaken from shelves, and many people were alarmed. The total area affected in the United States was approximately 80,000 square miles.

November 17 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Alaska, 1987 – Magnitude : 7.2
One of the Largest Earthquakes in the United States.

Hawaiian volcanoes on top of a hot spot
The Hawaiian Islands are the tops of gigantic volcanoes that formed above a hot spot in the Earth’s interior. As the volcanoes grew, they were carried away from the hot spot as the Pacific Plate moves northwestward at about 3 1/2 inches per year.

November 16 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Hawaii, 1983 – Magnitude : 6.7
Six people injured and considerable damage (VIII) in parts of Kapapala, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Volcano, Kau and Puna Districts and Hilo. Landslides and rockfalls occurred, telephone and electrical service was disrupted and water mains were broken in several areas of the island. Total damage from the earthquake estimated at 6 to 6.5 million dollars. Also felt on the islands of Maui, Oahu and Kauai.

Image courtesy USGS

Earthquake tweet mayor Mexico City viral hit on Twitter
A strong earthquake rattled central Mexico, causing some residential buildings in Mexico City to sway like boats on a river. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, as he does routinely, turned to Twitter. “Tenemossismo,” Ebrard tweeted at 3:23 a.m. Wednesday, translated as, “We have an earthquake,” but without any spacing. $$$$ Read more ….

Size of planet earth
The distance from the surface of the Earth to its center is 3,700 miles. The thickness of the ocean lithosphere or the relatively solid skin of the earth under oceans is only 41 miles, which in relative terms is much thinner than the skin of an apple.

November 15 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Kuril Islands, 2006 – Magnitude : 8.3
One person injured at Waikiki by a tsunami with a recorded wave height of 34 cm at Honolulu, Hawaii. One parking lot was flooded at Nawiliwili, Hawaii by a tsunami with a recorded wave height of 88 cm. Two docks destroyed and at least one damaged at Crescent City, California by a tsunami with a recorded wave height of 176 cm. Felt at Misawa and Yokosuka, Japan and at Petropavlovsk- Kamchatskiy, Russia. Recorded (2 JMA) in eastern and south- central Hokkaido. Recorded (1 JMA) in western Hokkaido and in Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, Honshu.

November 14 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Philippines, 1994 – Magnitude : 7.1 – 78 people killed
At least seventy-eight people killed and 225 injured on Luzon and Mindoro. A local tsunami contributed to extensive damage (VII RF) in the Calapan and Puerto Galera areas. More than 797 houses destroyed and 3,288 damaged on Mindoro. Seven houses destroyed at Batangas, Luzon. Liquefaction, sand boils and surface faulting occurred in the epicentral area. Felt (IV RF) at Batangas, Guinayangan, Manila and Tagaytay City; (III RF) at Quezon City, Luzon. Also felt (II RF) on Masbate.

Image courtesy Phivolcs, Philippines

Where do we find the oldest rocks, on the Ocean floor or on the continents ?
The oldest rocks on Earth are found on land. Since the ocean floor is being continually regenerated as the continental plates move across the Earth’s surface, the oldest rocks on the ocean floor are less than 300 million years. In contrast, the oldest continental rocks are 4,500 million years old.

New Zealand coastal survey finds new dangerous coastal faults
Seismic research off the coast of New Zealand has identified another 200 fault lines that could cause catastrophic tsunamis if a significant earthquake struck. GNS Science, along with the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), have just wrapped up a major project to revise the New Zealand National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). A number of newly identified faults have now been added to the model, raising the total number of known fault lines by about 200 – to nearly 530. $$$$$ Read more …

November 13 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Iran, 1998 – Magnitude : 5.4 – 7 people killed
Five people killed, 105 injured and at least 850 houses damaged by the earthquake and landslides in the Bigherd-Khonj area.

Tsunami warning policies updated for British Columbia, Canada
The B.C. government is upgrading its tsunami warning plans following delays broadcasting emergency information after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake last month.
After the quake struck off the west coast of Haida Gwaii on Oct. 27 at 8:04 p.m. PT, emergency officials in B.C. did not issue any sort of tsunami alert or advisory for 51 minutes, leaving many civic leaders in B.C. wondering what they were supposed to do.
Many communities did start evacuations based on notifications issued by U.S. officials just minutes after the quake was detected . $$$$$ Read more ….

EU funds for earthquake assistance Italy (Emilia Romagna) ready to be released
EU finance ministers in Brussels announced following an Ecofin meeting on Tuesday that 670 million euros in assistance for parts of Italy that were severely damaged by deadly earthquakes last spring will be released shortly. $$$$$ Read more …

November 12 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Turkije, 1999 – Magnitude : 7.2 – 894 people killed
At least 894 people killed and 4,948 injured, mostly in the Bolu-Duzce area. Casualties occurred as far as Eskisehir, Yalova and Zonguldak. Extensive damage occurred in the Bolu-Duzce area. Landslides in the Bolu Pass blocked the Ankara-Istanbul highway. Felt as far as Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Also felt (III) at Chisinau, Moldova and (III) at Sevastopol and Simferopol, Ukraine. Two events about 2 seconds apart.

The epicenter of the November 12, 1999 earthquake was at 40.8 N , 31.6 E (Strasburg Geodynamic Institute) in the Duze region, near the city of Bolu , which is about 170 Km southeast of Istanbul and approximately 45 miles east of the region hit by the August earthquake. Its magnitude was estimated at 7.2 on the Richter scale. The Strasburg Geodynamic Institute gave the magnitude as 7.3. Within a two hour period following the main quake, 69 aftershocks were recorded, five of which had magnitudes greater than 5. Of these, 30 aftershocks had magnitudes ranging from 3-3.9, 33 had magnitudes ranging from 4-4.9, and 6 ranging from 4.9-5.4 (Kandilli Observatory and Research Institute). Aftershocks continued for weeks and months. $$$$$ Read more …

Seismic wave shadow
A seismic wave shadow zone was discovered in about 1910, by measuring how P and S waves travel through the earth and out the other side. From the lack of S waves and a great slowing of the P wave velocity (by about 40%), it was deduced that the outer core is made of liquid. The shadow zone also defined the diameter of the core.

November 11 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Chile, 1922 – Magnitude : 8.5
The earthquake occurred in the southern part of Atacama Province, central Chile. Locally, the tsunami caused extensive damage. The tsunami arrived at Hilo, Hawaii in 14.5 hours. The period of oscillations was 20 minutes, and the height of the tsunami was 2.1 meters; many boats were washed away, and some damage was done. The wave reached Honolulu in 15.0 hours. The period of oscillations of the waves was 23 minutes, the height of the wave 0.3 meters.

November 10 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Peru, 1946 – Magnitude : 7.3
1,400 deaths. One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
Nearly all buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged in the Sihuas-Quiches-Conchucos area of Ancash Department. Many landslides occurred; one buried the village of Acobamba and another dammed the Pelagatos River. The quake was felt from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. Several segments of surface faulting were seen in a zone about 18 km (11 mi) long from Quiches to Hacienda Mayas. The faulting was purely dip-slip (vertical) with as much as 3.5 m (11 ft) offset.

Origin of the name “San Andreas Fault”
The origin of the name of the San Andreas Fault is often cited as the San Andreas Lake. However, based on some 1895 and 1908 reports by geologist A.C. Lawson, who named the fault, the name was actually taken from the San Andreas Valley. Lawson likely did not realize at the time that the fault ran almost the entire length of California.

New Zealand : EQC quake insurance shortfall doubles
The Earthquake Commission will be about $1.6 billion short for Canterbury earthquake claims, which the Government will stump up for.
That is the latest firm figure in EQC’s annual report released yesterday, and a lot more than the Government estimated more than a year ago when it said EQC could be short by $800 million. But Finance Minister Bill English said in April the Government’s guarantee to EQC could be “a few billion”. $$$$ Read more …

November 9 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
USA (Illinois), 1968 – Magnitude : 5.5
The largest historical earthquake in Illinois.
This earthquake was felt over all or portions of 23 states, and included isolated reports from distant localities, such as Boston, Mobile, Pensacola, and southern Ontario. Minor damage, consisting of downed chimneys, foundation cracks, and scattered instances of collapsed parapets and overturned tombstones, was sustained in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Free oscillation of the Earth
When the Chilean earthquake occurred in 1960, seismographs recorded seismic waves that traveled all around the Earth. These seismic waves shook the entire earth for many days! This phenomenon is called the free oscillation of the Earth.

Rebuilding almost completed in Yushu, China
All the affected residents of the earthquake-hit Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Northwest China’s Qinghai province are expected to move into new homes before the end of the year, a senior official said. $$$$$ Read more …

Image courtesy China Daily

November 8 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Belgium, 1983 – Magnitude : 4.9 – 1 person killed
One person killed, one additional person died of a heart attack, 30 injured, and hundreds of buildings damaged in the Liege area. Felt (V) in the southern Netherlands. Also felt in Luxembourg and West Germany.

Which sounds create P earthquake waves ?
Human beings can detect sounds in the frequency range 20-20,000 Hertz. If a P-wave refracts out of the rock surface into the air, and has a frequency in the audible range, it will be heard as a rumble. Most earthquake waves have a frequency of less than 20 Hz, so the waves themselves are usually not heard. Most of the rumbling noise heard during an earthquake are from buildings (and their contents) moving.

Christchurch red-zone demolitions to accelerate
The clearance of Christchurch’s red-zoned suburbs is expected to accelerate next year as thousands of houses are approved for demolition. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) hopes to demolish nearly 8000 residential red-zone houses over the next “couple of years”, with more than 1200 already deconstructed. Read more … $$$$$

November 7 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Iran, 1976 – Magnitude : 6.2 – 17 people killed
The earthquake was located about 270 kilometers south of Mashad in the Khorassan Province, where 17 were killed and 32 injured. Three villages in the area were completely destroyed. Because of the time of day the earthquake struck, many of the people were in the fields, and the death toll was lessened.

Early seismologists
The cause of earthquakes was stated correctly in 1760 by British engineer John Michell, one of the first fathers of seismology, in a memoir where he wrote that earthquakes and the waves of energy that they make are caused by “shifting masses of rock miles below the surface”.

November 6 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Russia (Kuril Islands), 1958 – Magnitude : 8.3
Destructive earthquake (intensity IX) on the island of Iturup (Kuriles): felt in the Kuriles, Hokkaido and northern Honshu. Intensity VII at Kushiro, VI at Nemuro, Obihiro, Urakawa, Sapporo, Hachinohe, Aomori, Morioka. Slight damage reported at Kushiro, telephone lines cut, dozens of trains brought to a standstill. A tsunami was feared, and the alert was given by the seismological service along all the coasts of Hokkaido and in some parts of Honshu: the coastal population was evacuated, but fears proved unjustified.

Which kind of soil shakes the most during an earthquake ?
It was recognized as early as 350 BC, by the Greek scientist Aristotle, that soft ground shakes more than hard rock during an earthquake.

Geologists find East Coast quakes travel farther
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 2011 Virginia-centered earthquake shows that East Coast tremors can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought. The agency estimates that about one-third of the U.S. population could have felt the magnitude 5.8 tremor. That’s more than any earthquake in U.S. history. $$$$$

November 5 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Italy, 1659 – Magnitude : ?? – More than 2000 people killed in the Capistrano area
One of the most cruel earthquakes in Southern Europe. Very few details can be found (some are scientific studies, but are locked behind paying walls !)
Most records show +2000 people killed and massive devastation.

Oldest earthquake record
The earliest recorded evidence of an earthquake has been traced back to 1831 BC in the Shandong province of China, but there is a fairly complete record of earthquakes starting in 780 BC, during the Zhou Dynasty in China.

November 4 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
California (USA), 1927 – Magnitude : 7.1
The most severe damage to property occurred in the areas west and north of Lompoc. Chimneys were wrecked at several towns, including Arroyo Grande, Berros, Guadalupe, Halcyon, Lompoc, Los Alamos, and Nipomo. On the Roberd’s ranch, an earthquake fountain created between 10 and 20 sand craters; lurches and cracks were observed in the water-soaked soil. The Roberd ranch house was shifted on its foundation about 5 centimeters, and small outbuildings were pushed from their foundations. The walls of a poorly built block building collapsed at White Hills. At Santa Maria and other towns in the area, chimneys were damaged, old brick walls and interior walls formed cracks, and cornices fell.

Pacific Ring of Fire
The majority of the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur along plate boundaries, such as the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate. One of the most active plate boundaries, where earthquakes and eruptions are frequent, is around the massive Pacific Plate, commonly referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

November 3 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Alaska (USA), 2002 – Magnitude : 7.9
Largest earthquake in 2002.
One person injured and extensive damage to roads. Items knocked from shelves in Denali National Park, Glenallen and Tok. Some supports on the trans-Alaska pipeline were damaged and operation was suspended. Damage estimated at 20 million U.S. dollars. Felt (VII) at Cantwell and Denali National Park; (VI) at Chistochina, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Nenana, North Pole and Tok; (V) at Anchorage, Big Lake, Chickaloon, Chitina, Copper Center, Eagle River, Eielson AFB, Eureka, Fort Wainwright, Healy, Houston, Knik, Moose Pass, Palmer, Talkeetna, Tazlina, Wasilla and Willow; (IV) at Butte, Cordova, Glenallen, Kenai, Kenny Lake, Nikiski, Salcha, Skagway, Valdez and Whittier; (III) at Galena, Haines, Juneau, Kasilof, Seward and Soldotna. Felt in northern British Columbia, western Alberta and Northwest Territories. Also felt by people in high-rise buildings in Seattle, Washington. Seiches and muddied water wells observed in a number of states, including Washington, Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Why Alaska ?
Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state and one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Alaska experiences a magnitude 7 earthquake almost every year, and a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake on an average of every 14 years (on average).

November 2 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Georgia (USA), 1875 – Magnitude : 4.3
The earthquake was strong enough to move a mirror back and forth from the wall and to shake doors and windows. Felt from Spartanburg and Columbia, South Carolina, to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, and from Gainesville (northeast of Atlanta) to Augusta, Georgia. Several aftershocks were reported.

About deep earthquakes
The deepest earthquakes typically occur at plate boundaries where the Earth’s crust is being subducted into the Earth’s mantle. These earthquakes occur as deep as 750 km (400 miles) below the surface.

November 1 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Canada, 1935 – Magnitude : 6.2
Damage was relatively slight in the epicentral region, largely because of the sparsity of population. The earthquake was felt over an area of nearly 2,600,000 square kilometers in the United States and Canada.

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December 31, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Alaska, 1901 – Magnitude : 7.1
One of the Largest Earthquakes in the United States.
A strong volcanic eruption occurred. The accompanying earthquake caused several tsunamis.

December 30, 2012

About spreading plates in the Oceans
At spreading zones, molten rock rises, pushing two plates apart and adding new material at their edges. Most spreading centers are found in oceans. The North American and Eurasian plates are spreading apart along the mid-Atlantic ridge. Spreading zones usually have earthquakes at shallow depths (within 30 kilometers of the surface).

December 29, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Vanuatu, 1973 – Magnitude : 7.2
This earthquake struck the New Hebrides Islands about 2,000 kilometers northeast of Brisbane, Australia. The earthquake cracked concrete walls, damaged a wharf, and broke water pipes at Luganville.

About Fault Lines and accumulated and relieved stress
Earthquakes tend to reoccur along faults, which reflect zones of weakness in the Earth’s crust. Even if a fault zone has recently experienced an earthquake, however, there is no guarantee that all the stress has been relieved. Another earthquake could still occur. Further more, relieving stress along one part of the fault may increase stress in another part.

December 28, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Japan, 1994 – Magnitude : 7.8 – 2 people killed
Two people were killed, more than 200 injured and damage (VI JMA) in the Hachinohe area. Felt (V JMA) at Aomori, Morioka and Mutsu; (IV JMA) at Miyako and Ofunato; (III JMA) at Sendai. Also felt (IV JMA) at Hakodate, Obihiro, Tomakomai and Urakawa; (III JMA) at Sapporo, Hokkaido. Felt as far away as Tokyo. Local tsunami generated with maximum wave heights (peak-to-trough) recorded at the following selected tide stations: 110 cm. at Miyako, 88 cm. at Hachinohe, 54 cm. at Ofunato, 10 cm. at Choshi, Honshu; 48 cm. at Urakawa, 36 cm. at Hakodate and Kushiro, Hokkaido.

Earthquakes and landslides
Landslides triggered by earthquakes often cause more destruction than the earthquakes themselves. During the 1964 Alaska quake, shock-induced landslides devastated the Turnagain Heights residential development and many downtown areas in Anchorage.

l’Aquila, Italy fallout – School director sentenced to 4 years in jail !
(ANSA) – L’Aquila, December 28 – A judge in L’Aquila on Thursday convicted the former head of a boarding school in the the Italian city of manslaughter in the deaths of three minors in the devastating earthquake of 2009. Read the entire article ….

Image Creative Commons by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/it:User:TheWiz83

December 27, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Australia, 1989 – Magnitude : 5.5 – 13 people killed
Thirteen people killed, more than 100 injured and estimated 1.1 billion U.S. dollars damage (VIII) caused in the Newcastle area. Damage occurred as far away as Liverpool, Scone and Gladstone. Felt in a 200,000 sq. km area of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from Albury and Cooma to Coffs Harbour and Inverell and as far west as Narromine. Also felt by people in highrise buildings in Gold Coast and Melbourne. Believed to be the first earthquake in Australian history that has caused deaths.

December 26, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Indonesia, 2004 – Magnitude : 9.1 – 227898 people killed
Largest and deadliest earthquake in 2004.
This is the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake. In total, 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa. (In January 2005, the death toll was 286,000. In April 2005, Indonesia reduced its estimate for the number missing by over 50,000.) The earthquake was felt (IX) at Banda Aceh, (VIII) at Meulaboh and (IV) at Medan, Sumatra and (III-V) in parts of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The tsunami caused more casualties than any other in recorded history and was recorded nearly world-wide on tide gauges in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Seiches were observed in India and the United States. Subsidence and landslides were observed in Sumatra. A mud volcano near Baratang, Andaman Islands became active on December 28 and gas emissions were reported in Arakan, Myanmar.

December 25, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
China, 1932 – Magnitude : 7.6 – 275 people killed
275 deaths.
Over 1,100 houses collapsed in the Changma area. Damage occurred from Dunhuang to Gaotai. Surface rupture or deformation observed from Changma east intermittently for more than 110 km (65 mi). There were landslides, ground fissures and sandblows in the area. Also felt in parts of Qinghai (Tsinghai) and Xinjiang (Sinkiang). One source [145] lists the death toll as 70,000, but this does not seem to be confirmed by the damage descriptions nor by other sources.

December 24, 2012

What to do when an earthquake strikes when you are outdoors ?
During an earthquake: If you are outdoors, stay there.
Move away from buildings, street lights and utility wires.

December 23, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Nicaragua, 1972 – Magnitude : 6.2 – 5000 people killed
5,000 deaths.
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
Thousands injured. Preliminary estimates indicate approximately $800,000,000 damages in Managua. Hundreds of aftershocks were reported, but only two exceeded magnitude 5, and these occurred within an hour of the main shock.

December 22, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Guinea (Africa), 1983 – Magnitude : 6.4 – 643 people killed
At least 443 people killed, 200 missing, 150 seriously injured and extensive damage in the Gaoual-Koumbia area, Guinea. Felt in Guinea Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.

What to do during an earthquake when indoors ?
During an earthquake: If you are indoors, take cover under a sturdy desk, table, or bench, or against an inside wall, and hold on. Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors or walls and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.

December 21, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Chile, 1967 – Magnitude : 7.5 – 1 person killed
The shock caused one death and several injuries, and inflicted severe property damage at Quillagua and Tocopilla, two small villages near the earthquake’s epicenter. Eighty percent of the structures were destroyed at Quillagua; Tocopilla sustained damage to about 20 percent of its buildings. Numerous roads were damaged or blocked by earth-slides in the area.

What to do during an earthquake ?
In an earthquake, keep calm and stay where you are.
Most injuries during earthquakes occur when people are hit by falling objects when entering or exiting buildings.

Movies : Tsunami survivor’s impossible story hits the big screen
Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in The Impossible, a film based on the true story of one family who were caught in the deadly Indian tsunami.
On 26 December, 2004 a powerful earthquake off the Indonesian coast triggered a tsunami that devastated countries around the Indian Ocean, killing more than 230,000 people.
The Impossible is based on the true story of one of the survivors, Maria Belon, a Spanish tourist who was lounging by a pool in Thailand along with her husband and three young sons when the tsunami hit. $? Read more ….

December 20, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Japan, 1946 – Magnitude : 8.1 – 1362 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
More than 2,600 people injured and 100 missing: over 36,000 houses destroyed or severely damaged in southern Honshu and on Shikoku. An additional 2,100 houses were washed away by a tsunami, which reached heights of 5-6 m (16-20 ft) on the east coast of the Kii Peninsula, Honshu and on the east and south coasts of Shikoku. Landslides, ground fissures, uplift and subsidence were observed in the area. The quake was felt from northern Honshu to Kyushu.

Image courtesy NOAA

December 17, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Indonesia (Bali), 1979 – Magnitude : 6.3 – 27 people killed
The earthquake was centered in the water between the islands of Lombok and Bali. Twenty-seven people were reported killed, 200 were reported injured, and about 80 percent of the homes and buildings were destroyed or badly damaged in Karangasem on eastern Bali. Communications were cut off, and roads leading to Denpasar, the capital of Bali, were blocked by landslides, but only minor damage was reported in the capital area. Many foreign tourists at the Bali Beach Intercontinental Hotel were shaken by the quake, but no injuries were reported. The neighboring island of Lombok was also shaken considerably by the shock, but only minor damage was reported.

December 16, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
China, 1920 – Magnitude : 7.8 – 200,000 people killed
One of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
Total destruction (XII – the maximum intensity on the Mercalli scale) in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area. Over 73,000 people were killed in Haiyuan County. A landslide buried the village of Sujiahe in Xiji County. More than 30,000 people were killed in Guyuan County. Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. Damage (VI-X) occurred in 7 provinces and regions, including the major cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Xi’an, Xining and Yinchuan. It was felt from the Yellow Sea to Qinghai (Tsinghai) Province and from Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) south to central Sichuan (Szechwan) Province. About 200 km (125 mi) of surface faulting was seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to Jingtai. There were large numbers of landslides and ground cracks throughout the epicentral area. Some rivers were dammed, others changed course. Seiches from this earthquake were observed in 2 lakes and 3 fjords in western Norway. Although usually called the Kansu (now Gansu) earthquake by Western sources, the epicenter and highest intensities are clearly within Ningxia Autonomous Region.

This is what Wikipedia tells about this earthquake

The earthquake hit at local time 20:06:53 (GMT 12:06:53), reportedly 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, followed by a series of aftershocks for three years. Today’s Chinese media claim the earthquake as of magnitude 8.5, although the scale is not specified. It caused total destruction (XII – the maximum intensity on the Mercalli scale) in the Lijunbu-Haiyuan-Ganyanchi area.
Over 73,000 people were killed in Haiyuan County. A landslide buried the village of Sujiahe in Xiji County. More than 30,000 people were killed in Guyuan County. Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. Damage (VI-X) occurred in 7 provinces and regions, including the major cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Xi’an, Xining and Yinchuan. It was felt from the Yellow Sea to Qinghai (Tsinghai) Province and from Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) south to central Sichuan Province.
About 200 km (125 mi) of surface faulting was seen from Lijunbu through Ganyanchi to Jingtai. There were large numbers of landslides and ground cracks throughout the epicentral area. Some rivers were dammed, others changed course. Seiches from this earthquake were observed in 2 lakes and 3 fjords in western Norway.
Total casualty was reported as 200,000 in a summary published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), 240,000 according to Ningxia Daily, a Chinese publication in the current administrative area.,[2] and 235,502 according to the Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World (Through 2008) maintained by the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering.

December 15, 2012

Japanese operator in most frank admission over nuclear disaster
The operator of a Japanese nuclear power plant that blew up after a tsunami last year said on Friday its lack of safety and bad habits were behind the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years, its most forthright admission of culpability. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, said it accepted the findings of a parliamentary inquiry into the Fukushima nuclear disaster that accused the company of “collusion” with industry regulators. $$$$$ Read more …

December 14, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Iran, 1978 – Magnitude : 6.2 – 76 people killed
The earthquake was located about 450 kilometers southwest of Tehran in the vicinity of Izeh. Seventy-six people were reported killed, many were injured, and there was considerable damage in the areas of Izeh and Masjed-e-Soleyman.

Search conducted for missing tsunami victims in Ishinomaki
Police and Maritime Safety Agency personnel on Tuesday conducted another search for missing tsunami victims in Okawa, Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. $$$$$ Read more

Opinion : Seismic risk of fracking has been wildly overstated
Hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas has become closely associated in the public mind with the risk of triggering man-made earthquakes. But the risk is not high and it is not confined to fracking. There may be greater danger from geothermal energy production and pumping carbon dioxide underground as part of carbon capture and storage projects. $$$ Read more …

December 13, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Italy (Sicily), 1990 – Magnitude : 5.6 – 19 people killed
At least 19 people killed, about 200 injured, 2,500 homeless and severe damage (VII) in the Carlentini area.
Damage also occurred at Augusta, Lentini and Noto and slight damage occurred as far away as Cefalu. Felt as far west as Trapani.

December 12, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Indonesia, 1992 – Magnitude : 7.8 – 2200 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
At least 2,200 people killed or missing in the Flores region, including 1,490 at Maumere and 700 on Babi. More than 500 people were injured and 40,000 left homeless. 19 people were killed and 130 houses destroyed on Kalaotoa. Severe damage, with approximately 90 percent of the buildings destroyed at Maumere by the earthquake and tsunami; 50 to 80 percent of the structures on Flores were damaged or destroyed. Damage also occurred on Sumba and Alor. Tsunami run-up of 300 meters with wave heights of 25 meters was reported on Flores along with landslides and ground cracks at several locations around the island. Felt (V) at Larantuka, Flores; (IV) at Waingapu, Sumba and Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi; (II) at Kupang, Timor.

Which island is moving fastest in the world ?
Easter Island, which lies on the Nazca Plate close to the East Pacific Rise, is moving eastward toward South America by seafloor spreading at the fastest rate known in the world, more than 15 cm/yr.

December 11, 2012

Where do the Himalaya comes from ?
Among the most dramatic and visible creations of plate-tectonic forces are the lofty Himalayas, which stretch 2,900 km along the border between India and Tibet. This immense mountain range began to form between 40 and 50 million years ago, when two large landmasses, India and Eurasia, driven by plate movement, collided. Because both these continental landmasses have about the same rock density, one plate could not be subducted under the other. The pressure of the impinging plates could only be relieved by thrusting skyward, contorting the collision zone, and forming the jagged Himalayan peaks.

Image courtesy Luca Galuzzi – Creative Commons – Wikipedia

December 10, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Ecuador, 1970 – Magnitude : 7.6 – 72 people killed
This major earthquake occurred about 150 miles southwest of Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Peru’s northernmost tip. It killed 72 people and injured many in both countries. Much damage occurred at Sullana and Piura, Peru, south of the epicenter, and at Tumbes, 50 miles north of the shock’s center. Highways linking Tumbes and Piura were blocked by landslides, and telephone communications to that region were knocked out. Heaviest damage in Ecuador was reportedly in rural villages.

December 9, 2012

Can we see the activity of spreading Oceanic ridges above sea level ?
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge appears above sea-level at Iceland. This offers scientists a natural laboratory for studying on land the processes also occurring along the submerged parts of a spreading ridge. Iceland is splitting along the spreading center between the North American and Eurasian Plates, as North America moves westward relative to Eurasia.

December 8, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
South-Africa, 1976 – Magnitude : 5.2 – 4 people killed
The earthquake was centered in the gold mining area of Welkom about 300 kilometers south of Johannesburg. Four people were killed, 36 injured and considerable damage in the Wellom area.

December 6, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Iran, 1988 – Magnitude : 5.7
Seven people injured and damage to more than 21 villages in the Mamasani area. Also felt at Shiraz and Bushehr.

December 5, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Russia (Kamchatka), 1997 – Magnitude : 7.8
Felt (VII) in the epicentral area and (V) at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and Ust-Kamchatsk. Felt (II) at Severo-Kurilsk, Paramushir. Also felt aboard the cargo ship Stepan Krasheninnikov in the epicentral area. Tsunami generated. Complex earthquake with at least one event occurring about 14 seconds after the onset.

December 4, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Mongolia, 1957 – Magnitude : 8.1 – 30 people killed
Thirty deaths.
All houses were destroyed in Dzun Bogd and Bayan Gobi. Subsidence, faulting and fissures occurred in the Bahar Uula and Ih Bogd Uul Mountains. The largest fissure was 250 km (155 mi) long with as much as 9-11 m (30-36 ft) of vertical and 3 m (10 ft) of horizontal offset. Because of the extremely sparse population in the area, this is perhaps the least damaging great earthquake to have occurred on land in the 20th Century; the direct opposite of the Agadir, Morocco earthquake of 29 Feb 1960.

Preparedness !
The risks that earthquakes pose to society, including death, injury, and economic loss, can be greatly reduced by better planning, construction, and mitigation practices before earthquakes happen and by providing critical and timely information to improve response after they occur.

December 1, 2012

Did you know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Chile, 1928 – Magnitude : 7.6
225 people killed.
Severe damage at Talca and Constitucion. The earthquake was felt from Copiapo to Puerto Montt. Uplift was observed along the coast at Putu. A small tsunami was reported.

Tsunami alarm. What to do ?
What to do if a tsunami threatens your area: If you are advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Stay away from the area until local authorities say it is safe. Do not be fooled into thinking that the danger is over when a single wave has come and gone – a tsunami is not a single wave but a series of waves. Do not go to the shoreline to watch for a tsunami. When you can see the wave, it is too late to escape it.

Tsunami-warning systems installed in Pangasinan, Albay, Philippines
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) have installed tsunami detection systems that provide real-time information and warning signals in high-risk coastal communities in Pangasinan and Albay, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reported. $$$$$ Read More …

Fast EARTHQUAKE and TSUNAMI TWEETS @ your MAGNITUDE choice
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The selection of a weak Magnitude, a 24 hour delivery on a worldwide list would result in an avalanche of emails (each earthquake will generate an E-mail). A more selective Magnitude, delivery option and area of your interest will give the best result. As we have decided not to use a control panel or password, the parameters of your subscription can only be changed by canceling your subscription (link in each Email we send). To fine-tune your options, simply generate a new subscription. We will not share your E-mail with anyone else, it will be used only for earthquake alerts. Please make sure that you are white listing our emails as otherwise they may be deviated to your spam folder.
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October 31 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Portugal, 1755 -  Magnitude : 8.7 – 70000 people killed
70,000 deaths.
One of the world’s most destructive earthquakes.
This earthquake occurred on All Saint’s Day while many of the 250,000 inhabitants of Lisbon were in Church. Stone buildings swayed violently and then collapsed on the population. Many who sought safety on the river front were drowned by a large tsunami. Fire ravaged the city. One quarter of Lisbon’s population perished. This earthquake had a profound effect on the intellectual outlook of Europe.

October 30 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Turkey, 1983 -  Magnitude : 6.9 – 1342 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
At least 1,342 people killed, many injured, 534 seriously injured, more than 25,000 people homeless, and 50 villages completely destroyed in the provinces of Erzurum and Kars.

October 29 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Algeria, 1989 -  Magnitude : 5.9 & 5.6 – 30 people killed
Two earthquakes about 12 minutes apart.
At least 30 people killed, 245 injured and damage (VIII) in the Cherchell-Tifaza area. Felt (IV) in the Balearic Islands, Spain.

The Core of the earth
The core of the earth was the first internal structural element to be identified. In 1906 R.D. Oldham discovered the core from his studies of earthquake records. The inner core is solid, and the outer core is liquid and does not transmit the shear wave energy released during an earthquake.

October 28 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
USA (Idaho), 1983 -  Magnitude : 6.9 – 2 people killed
The largest historical earthquake in Idaho.
Two people killed, two injured, and considerable damage at Challis. One person injured and extensive damage at Mackay. Maximum intensity VII in the Challis-Mackay area. Total damage from the earthquake estimated at 15 million dollars. System of fault scarps extending for more than 35 kilometers with vertical displacement up to 2.7 meters observed between Mackay and Challis. Landslides, rockfalls and groundwater changes occurred throughout the region, including changes to geyser activity in Yellowstone National Park. The earthquake was felt in Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, and parts of Canada.

Which US States had no earthquakes in recent history ?
From 1975-1995 there were only four states that did not have any earthquakes. They were: Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

October 27 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Japan, 1891 -  Magnitude : 8 – 7000 people killied
Local time: October 28, 6am.  The Great Nobi Earthquake.
Over 7,000 deaths. The earthquake caused damage over a 4200 square mile area. The quake shook Japan from Toyko to Osaka, killing thousands of people. 130,000 houses were destroyed.
This earthquake may be the largest “on land” earthquake in the modern history of Japan.

Does something like “earthquake weather” exists ?
There is no such thing as “earthquake weather”. Statistically, there is an equal distribution of earthquakes in cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather, etc. Furthermore, there is no physical way that the weather could affect the forces several miles beneath the surface of the earth. The changes in barometric pressure in the atmosphere are very small compared to the forces in the crust, and the effect of the barometric pressure does not reach beneath the soil.

October 26 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Yugoslavia, 1969 -  Magnitude : 6.4 – 20 people killied
This severe earthquake in the Banja Luka area of Yugoslavia killed 20, seriously injured 150, and left 65,000 homeless. Banja Luka, a city of about 50,000 inhabitants, located about 240 miles west of Beograd, had about 60 percent of the dwellings razed. Three neighboring villages were reportedly destroyed. Among the major buildings razed by the shock were the city hall, cultural center, 15 schools, and 5 doritories. A textile factory damaged during the earthquake began leaking sulphuric acid and other chemicals, contaminating the river and water supply.

Earthquakes and earthquake frequency in the Utah (ski) mountains
The Wasatch Range, with its outstanding ski areas, runs North-South through Utah, and like all mountain ranges, was produced by a series of earthquakes. The 386 km (240-mile) long Wasatch Fault is made up of several segments, each capable of producing up to a M7.5 earthquake. During the past 6000 years, there has been a M6.5+ about once every 350 years.

October 25 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Afghanistan, 1990 -  Magnitude : 6.0 – 11 people killied
Eleven people killed, more then 250 injured and damage in the Chitral-Mardan-Malakand area, Pakistan. Felt throughout northern and central Pakistan. Also felt in northwestern India. Felt (IV) at Ishkashim; (III) at Andizhan, Dushanbe, Dzhirgatal, Fergana, Khorog, Kulyab, Nurek and Tashkent; (II) at Samarkand, USSR.

About Magnitude and Intensity values
The magnitude of an earthquake is a measured value of the earthquake size. The magnitude is the same no matter where you are, or how strong or weak the shaking was in various locations. The intensity of an earthquake is a measure of the shaking created by the earthquake, and this value does vary with location.

October 24 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Mexico, 1980 -  Magnitude : 7.0 – 500 people killied
At least 300 people killed, many injured, approximately 150,000 homeless and extensive damage in central Mexico, mainly in the Huajuapan de Leon area. Felt throughout central and southern Mexico and in Guatemala.

Earthquakes in Southern California
Each year the southern California area has about 10,000 earthquakes. Most of them are so small that they are not felt. Only several hundred are greater than magnitude 3.0, and only about 15-20 are greater than magnitude 4.0. If there is a large earthquake, however, the aftershock sequence will produce many more earthquakes of all magnitudes for many months.

October 23 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Oklahoma, 1992 -  Magnitude : 5.2
The epicenter was located about 70 kilometers south of Er-Rachida and 390 kilometers southeast of Rabat.
There was damage and at least two people were killed in the Rissani area.
The earthquake was felt throughout much of Morocco from Fes to Marrakech.

What is a seiche ?
A seiche (pronounced SAYSH) is “an internal wave oscillating in a body of water” or, in other words, it is the sloshing of the water in any body of water, caused by the ground shaking in an earthquake. It may continue for a few moments or hours, long after the generating force is gone. A seiche can also be caused by wind or tides.

October 22, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Oklahoma, 1882 -  Magnitude : 4.9
The most severe damage was limited to the shaking of loose bricks from chimneys at Ft. Smith, Arkansas (northwest of Little Rock), and the knocking of bricks from the top of a wall at Bonham, Texas (northeast of Dallas). Felt over a wide area, including Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

1906 San Fransisco earthquake
More damage was done by the resulting fire after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake than by the earthquake itself.

October 21, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Russia, 1907 -  Magnitude : 8.0 – 12,000 people killied
12,000 deaths.
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
Two earthquakes destroyed Qaratog and many mountain villages in the Gissar and Denau areas of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

How many earthquakes in a year, worldwide ?
It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage.

October 20, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Canada, 1870 -  Magnitude : 6.5
This damaging earthquake was apparently centered between Montreal and Quebec in the Saint Lawrence Valley. The shock was felt over an area estimated to be at least a million square miles including Sault Sainte Marie.

Origin of Himalaya and Karakorum mountain ranges
The world’s greatest land mountain range is the Himalaya-Karakoram. It contains 96 of the world’s 109 peaks of over 7317 meters (24,000 feet). The longest mountain range is the Andes of South America which is 7564 km (4700 miles) in length. Both were created by the movement of tectonic plates.

October 18 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Peru, 1992 -  Magnitude : 7.2 – 1 person killed
One person killed, 50 injured and damage in the Murindo-Apartado-Medellin area. At least ten people killed, 65 injured and 1,500 homeless by the explosion of a mud volcano in the San Pedro de Uraba area. Slight damage at Bogota. Felt in much of northwestern Colombia as far south as Cali. Felt strongly in Darien Province, Panama. Also felt (IV) on the Azuero Peninsula and at Panama City, Panama. Felt at Caracas and Valencia, Venezuela. Also felt on Aruba. Landslides occurred in the epicentral area. Liquefaction was observed in the Murindo area and as far north as Apartado. small island emerged from the Caribbean Sea off San Juan de Uraba.

Epicenter and hypocenter of an earthquake
The hypocenter of an earthquake is the location beneath the Earth’s surface where the rupture of the fault begins. The epicenter of an earthquake is the location directly above the hypocenter on the surface of the Earth.

October 17 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Peru, 1966 -  Magnitude : 8.1
This earthquake, centering just off the coast from Callao, claimed about 125 lives and injured some 3,000 persons. The town of Huacho was the most severely damaged with over 20,000 inhabitants left homeless. A religious festival was being held in Callao and several were killed when some of the churches collapsed. One street in this city was split by a chasm several feet wide. In Lima, 2,300 houses suffered severe structural damage. Cars were tossed about, cornices plunged into streets, and traffic was snarled for hours. Landslides and huge ground cracks were reported along the Pan American Highway north of Ancon. This shock generated a tsunami with heights of 11.3 feet at La Punta-Callao.

Difference between a tidal wave and a tsunami
Although both are sea waves, a tsunami and a tidal wave are two different unrelated phenomena. A tidal wave is a shallow water wave caused by the gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. A tsunami is a sea wave caused by an underwater earthquake or landslide displacing the ocean water.

October 16 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
California, 1999 -  Magnitude : 7.1
Four people slightly injured when an Amtrak train derailed near Ludlow. Damage (VII) at Landers, Ludlow, Twentynine Palms and Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base. Slight damage (VI) at Amboy, Apple Valley, Baker, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Cima, Crest Park, Desert Center, Essex, Fawnskin, Fort Irwin, Hemet, Highland, Hinkley, Joshua Tree, Lucerne Valley, Newberry Springs, Olancha, Palm Springs, Phelan, Ridgecrest, Tecopa, Thousand Palms and Victorville. Also slight damage (VI) at Laughlin, Nevada. Felt (V) at many localities in southern California, southern Nevada and western Arizona. Also felt at Ensenada, Mexicali, Tecate and Tijuana, Baja California. Surface faulting observed along a 45-kilometer segment of the Lavic Lake Fault with as much as 2.8-4.7 meters of right-lateral displacement. Complex earthquake begins with tiny precursor followed by major events about 4 and 7 seconds after the onset.

Are there earthquakes on the moon ?
Moonquakes (“earthquakes” on the moon) do occur, but they happen less frequently and have smaller magnitudes than earthquakes on the Earth. It appears they are related to the tidal stresses associated with the varying distance between the Earth and Moon. They also occur at great depth, about halfway between the surface and the center of the moon.

October 15 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Hawaii, 2006 – Magnitude : 6.7
Numerous people suffered minor injuries, at least 1,173 buildings damaged, roads damaged and landslides blocked roads on Hawai`i. Power outages occurred throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Damage estimated at 73 million dollars. Felt (VII-VIII) in northern and western Hawai`i and (V-VI) in eastern and southern Hawai`i. Also felt (VI) on Maui; (V) on Lana`i, Moloka`i and O`ahu; (IV) on Kaua`i. A tsunami with a wave height of 10 cm was recorded at Kawaihae Harbor.

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Australia, 1968 – Magnitude : 6.9
The earthquake wrecked the town of Meckering and ruptured all major roads and railways nearby. A survey revealed a fracture of the earth’s crust along an arc 29 kilometers in length which passed 1 kilometer northwest of Meckering. Minor damage was also sustained in Perth, the capital city.

The East African Rift System is a 50-60 km (31-37 miles) wide zone of active volcanics and faulting that extends north-south in eastern Africa for more than 3000 km (1864 miles) from Ethiopia in the north to Zambezi in the south. It is a rare example of an active continental rift zone, where a continental plate is attempting to split into two plates which are moving away from one another.

October 13 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Tajikistan, 1985 – Magnitude : 5.9 – 29 people killed
At least 29 people killed, 80 injured and about 8,000 homeless in the Kayrakkum-Gafurov area. About 90 percent of multi-story brick buildings destroyed (IX) at Kayrakkum and about 900 buildings destroyed (VIII) at Gafurov. Damage (VII) at Leninabad. Landslides reported in the area. Felt (VI) at Isfara and Proletarsk; (V) at Tashkent and in the Fergana Basin; (IV) at Samarkand and in the Dushanbe-Kulyab area and (III) at Khorog.

Average motion of the San Andreas fault
The average rate of motion across the San Andreas Fault Zone during the past 3 million years is 56 mm/year (2 inches/year). This is about the same rate at which your fingernails grow. Assuming this rate continues, scientists project that Los Angeles and San Francisco will be adjacent to one another in approximately 15 million years. (USGS)

October 12 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Egypt, 1992 – Magnitude : 5.8 – 552 people killed
At least 552 people killed, more than 9,929 injured and 8,300 buildings damaged or destroyed in the Cairo area. Preliminary estimates of damage about 300 million U.S. dollars. Felt in much of Egypt from Alexandria to Aswan and in Israel from Elat to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Somebody working at INGV Italy wrote :
Hundreds of staff (including myself) of the INGV in Italy are risking to find themselves without a new contract from 1 January 2013 on. This is a very grave situation, which threatens to completely paralyze not only the lives of the concerned people, but also the functioning of the whole institute, mainly the surveillance of seismic and volcanic activity in Italy. The round-the-clock service in the control rooms of the Earthquake Center in Rome, at the Vesuvius Observatory in Naples, and at the Etna Observatory in Catania might completely break down, and quick response to emerging crises might be hampered. You would be indirectly affected because real-time seismic data and webcams would be taken offline.
In this moment there are continuous meetings between different parties in order to seek for solutions, but my personal feeling, in this moment, is rather dark.

October 11 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Puerto Rico, 1918 – Magnitude : 7.5 – 118 people killed
The most destructive earthquake in the history of Puerto Rico.
The epicenter was located northwest of Aguadilla in the Mona Canyon (between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic). The earthquake was accompanied by a tsunami which got up to 6 meters (19.5 feet) high. Damage was concentrated in the western area of the Island because this was the closest zone to the earthquake. The earthquake killed about 116 people and caused more than 4 million dollars of damage. Numerous houses, factories, public buildings, chimneys, bridges and other structures suffered severe damage.

October 10 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
El Salvador, 1986 – Magnitude : 5.5 – 1000 people killed
One of the world’s deadliest earthquakes.
At least 1,000 people killed, 10,000 injured, 200,000 homeless and severe damage and landslides in the San Salvador area. Some damage at Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Felt strongly in parts of Guatemala and Honduras.

October 9, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Mexico, 1995 – Magnitude : 8.0 – 49 people killed
At least 49 people killed, 100 injured, nearly 1,000 homeless and extensive damage in the states of Colima and Jalisco.
Most of the damage and casualties were in the Cihuatlan-Manzanillo area, Colima.
Some damage also occurred in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan. Felt strongly at Mexico City. Felt by people in high-rise buildings as far as Dallas and Houston, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Landslides blocked roads between Guadalajara and Manzanillo. Tsunami generated with estimated runup heights of 200 to 500 cm in the Manzanillo area. Maximum wave heights (peak-to-trough) recorded at the following selected tide stations: 51 cm at Cabo San Lucas and 20 cm on Isla Socorro, Mexico; 100 cm on Hiva Oa, 30 cm on Nuku Hiva and 7 cm at Papeete, French Polynesia; 37 cm at Hilo, 34 cm at Kahului, 12 cm at Nawiliwili and 11 cm at Kawaihae, Hawaii; 37 cm at Pago Pago, American Samoa; 4 cm at Southport, Australia. Land subsidence of approximately 14 cm observed at the Manzanillo harbor.

October 8, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Pakistan, 2005 – Magnitude : 7.6 – 86,000 people killed
At least 86,000 people killed, more than 69,000 injured and extensive damage in northern Pakistan. The heaviest damage occurred in the Muzaffarabad area, Kashmir where entire villages were destroyed and at Uri where 80 percent of the town was destroyed.
At least 32,335 buildings collapsed in Anantnag, Baramula, Jammu and Srinagar, Kashmir. Buildings collapsed in Abbottabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Maximum intensity VIII. Felt (VII) at Topi; (VI) at Islamabad, Peshawar and Rawalpindi; (V) at Faisalabad and Lahore. Felt at Chakwal, Jhang, Sargodha and as far as Quetta. At least 1,350 people killed and 6,266 injured in India. Felt (V) at Chandigarh and New Delhi; (IV) at Delhi and Gurgaon, India. Felt in Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, India.
At least one person killed and some buildings collapsed in Afghanistan. Felt (IV) at Kabul and (III) at Bagrami, Afghanistan. Felt (III) at Kashi, China and (II) at Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Also felt at Almaty, Kazakhstan. An estimated 4 million people in the area were left homeless.
Landslides and rockfalls damaged or destroyed several mountain roads and highways cutting off access to the region for several days.
Landslides also occurred farther north near the towns of Gilgit and Skardu, Kashmir. Liquefaction and sandblows occurred in the western part of the Vale of Kashmir and near Jammu. Landslides and rockfalls also occurred in parts of Himachal Pradesh, India. Seiches were observed in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, India and in many places in Bangladesh.

Image courtesy defendpakistan.com

October 7, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
New York, 1983 – Magnitude : 5.3
One person injured at New Baltimore. Slight damage (VI) at Blue Mountain Lake, Indian Lake, Minerva and North River. Felt (V) at Adirondack, Childwold, Moriah Center, Newcomb, North Creek, Old Forge, Olmstedville, Piercefield, Severeance, Wanakena and many other areas of upstate New York. Felt throughout the northeastern United States and in parts of Canada.

October 6, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Indonesia – Sumatra, 1995 – Magnitude : 6.8 – 84 people killed
Eighty-four people killed, 2,178 injured, nearly 65,000 homeless and over 18,900 homes and buildings damaged or destroyed in Jambi Province. Landslides occurred in the epicentral area. Felt in many parts of central Sumatra and as far as southern Malaysia and Singapore.

Be prepared for an earthquake (we cannot repeat it enough)
Look for items in your home that could become a hazard in an earthquake.
Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
Fasten shelves to walls.
Brace high and top-heavy objects.
Anchor overhead lighting fixtures.
Bolt down water heaters and gas appliances. 

October 5, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Turkmenistan, 1948 – Magnitude : 7.3 – approx. 110,000 people killed
Extreme damage in Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) and nearby villages, where almost all brick buildings collapsed, concrete structures were heavily damaged and freight trains were derailed. Damage and casualties also occurred in the Darreh Gaz area, Iran. Surface rupture was observed both northwest and southeast of Ashgabat. Many sources list the casualty total at 10,000, but a news release on 9 Dec 1988 advised that the correct death toll was 110,000.

Memoriam museum in Ashgabat in remembrance of the 110,000 victims – image courtesy acelebrationofwomen.org

Be prepared for an earthquake!
Look for items in your home that could become a hazard in an earthquake.
Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
Fasten shelves to walls.
Brace high and top-heavy objects.
Anchor overhead lighting fixtures.
Bolt down water heaters and gas appliances.

October 4, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Russia (Kuril Islands), 1994 – Magnitude : 8.3 – 10 people killed
At least 10 people killed or missing and extensive damage on Iturup; extensive damage and possibly some deaths and injuries on Kunashir, Shikotan and other islands in the Kuril chain from the earthquake and tsunami. One person died from a heart attack, at least 340 people injured and extensive damage occurred along the east coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Felt strongly in northern Honshu and also felt in the Tokyo area, Japan. Tsunami wave heights from selected tide stations (peak-to-trough) were as follows: 346 cm. at Hanasaki, 164 cm. at Kushiro, 162 cm. at Chichijima, 144 cm. at Miyako, 130 cm. at Hachinohe, 92 cm. at Ofunato, 62 cm. at Onahama, 46 cm. at Omae-zaki, 42 cm. at Choshi and 26 cm. at Abashiri, Japan; 300 cm. at Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Kunashir Island, 15 cm. at Shemya, Alaska, 17 cm. at Wake Island, 50 cm. at Midway Island and 48 cm. at Hilo, Hawaii.

Is Vietnam Song Tranh Hydropower Plant strong enough to resist earthquakes ?
Although the State Council has affirmed that the dam at Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant is safe from earthquakes upto 5.5 on the Richter scale, the public remains anxious because of recurring and frequent earthquakes in Bac Tra My District in the central province of Quang Nam, where the plant is located. Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper interviewed Dr. Tran Chung on this issue, and according to him, frequent earthquakes in the Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant area were induced by water accumulation at the plant reservoir. Read more ….

Image courtesy tuoitrenews.vn

Pipeline design has avoided an ecological disaster during the M7.9 Alaska earthquake in 2002 
A powerful magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Alaska on November 3, 2002, rupturing the Earth’s surface for 209 miles along the Susitna Glacier, Denali, and Totschunda Faults. Striking a sparsely populated region, it caused thousands of landslides but little structural damage and no deaths. Although the Denali Fault shifted about 14 feet beneath the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, the pipeline did not break, averting a major economic and environmental disaster. This was largely the result of stringent design specifications based on geologic studies done by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and others 30 years earlier. Studies of the Denali Fault and the 2002 earthquake will provide information vital to reducing losses in future earthquakes in Alaska, California, and elsewhere.

18 school children buried by Yunnan landslide
Nineteen people, including 18 students who followed classes during a China festival week to make up for lost days during the Yunnan earthquake who killed 81 people, were buried in a landslide that occurred on Thursday in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, local authorities said. The accident happened around 8:00 a.m. in the village of Zhenhe, located in Yiliang County of Zhaotong City, the county government said.The landslide, estimated to be around 10,000 cubic meters, engulfed a primary school building, trapping 18 students, the government said. Read more …

October 3, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ? 
Peru, 1974 – Magnitude : 7.6 – 78 people killed
This destructive earthquake struck near the coast of Peru about 80 kilometers southwest of Lima. The earthquake killed 78, injured more than 2,400, and caused extensive damage in sections of metropolitan Lima. The MM intensities were as high as IX in some isolated areas. The earthquake generated a minor tsunami that was recorded in Peru, Hawaii, Samoa, and California.

Did You Feel It (USGS) and I Have Felt It (ER)
Did You Feel It? Since the early 1990s, the magnitude and location of an earthquake have been available within minutes on the Internet. Now, as a result of work by the U.S. Geological Survey and with the cooperation of various regional seismic networks, people who experience an earthquake can go online and share information about its effects to help create a map of shaking intensities and damage. Such “Community Internet Intensity Maps” (CIIMs) contribute greatly toward the quick assessment of the scope of an earthquake emergency and provide valuable data for earthquake research.
Comment ER : The Earthquake-Report.com approach is sharing your real earthquake experience with our readers. Your experience is also used by the earthquake-report.com specialists in evaluating the  damage risk in the greater epicenter area. Earthquake-Report.com is the ONLY specialised and structured I Have Felt It source in the world.

October 2, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Peru, 1987 – Magnitude : 5.4 – 3 people killed
Three people killed and several homes damaged at Santiago de Chuco. Felt (IV) at Trujillo and (III) at Chimbote.

Coping with seismic hazards
National maps of earthquake shaking hazards provide information essential to creating and updating the seismic design provisions of building codes used in the United States. Scientists frequently revise these maps to reflect new knowledge. Buildings, bridges, highways, and utilities built to meet modern seismic design provisions are better able to withstand earthquakes, not only saving lives but also enabling critical activities to continue with less disruption. (USGS)

October 1, 2012

Did you  know this earthquake happened on the same day in history ?
Peru, 1969 – Magnitude : 6.4 – 136 people killed
This earthquake struck in the Pariahuanca area of Central Peru. The villages of Lampa and Chilifruta were completely razed, and nearby Comas was 60 percent destroyed. Reports indicate that at least 136 were killed and 216 or more injured. The seismic activity began on July 24, 1969, when a magnitude 5.9 shock caused severe damage. During this shock, a visible fault movement of .4-meter vertical displacement was produced. The Huancayo seismograph station, located 18 miles southwest of the epicenter of the main shock, recorded more than 220 aftershocks. These were decreasing until this stronger shock, which had the same epicenter and was 3 kilometers deeper, produced up to 1.6-meter vertical displacement and .7-meter horizontal displacement of the fault displaced by the July 24 shock. Many landslides and ground cracks were observed. More than 1,375 aftershocks were recorded through October 17 at the Huancayo station. All were generally light and caused no serious damage.

USA earthquake hazard maps – a necessity for engineering
Hazard Maps show the distribution of earthquake shaking levels that have a certain probability of occurring in the United States. These maps were created to provide the most accurate and detailed information possible to assist engineers in designing buildings, bridges, highways, and utilities that will withstand shaking from earthquakes in the United States. These maps are used to create and update the building codes that are now used by more than 20,000 cities, counties, and local governments to help establish construction requirements necessary to preserve public safety.

Image courtesy USGS

QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news. The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

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Earthquake-Report.com headlines on twitter
@OnlyQuakeNews : Get all the headlines of our earthquake-report.com articles + regular updates on ongoing events
@QuakeSOS : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of USGS earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in the America’s and the Pacific Ocean sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was created for our QuakeSOS and QuakeSOS+ iPhone applications
@ShakingEarth : earthquake-report.com news + automatic earthquake notifications of EMSC earthquakes of M 4.0 or higher with emphasis to earthquakes in European and Asian / Middle East sphere (4 and up) and a lot of the rest of the world (5 and up). This account was originally created to stimulate our Facebook account
@QuakeMaps : earthquake-report.com news with mapping notifications of ALL earthquakes M 3.0 and higher from all over the world via EMSC and USGS. This account was created for our http://www.quake-maps.com website

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The selection of a weak Magnitude, a 24 hour delivery on a worldwide list would result in an avalanche of emails (each earthquake will generate an E-mail). A more selective Magnitude, delivery option and area of your interest will give the best result. As we have decided not to use a control panel or password, the parameters of your subscription can only be changed by canceling your subscription (link in each Email we send). To fine-tune your options, simply generate a new subscription. We will not share your E-mail with anyone else, it will be used only for earthquake alerts. Please make sure that you are white listing our emails as otherwise they may be deviated to your spam folder.
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The 6 experts and a government official were all sentenced to six years in prison on multiple manslaughter charges by Judge Marco Billi on Monday afternoon.

They were sentenced to six years in jail in a watershed ruling in a case that has and should provoke outrage in the international science community.

The experts were also ordered to pay more than 9 million euros ($11.7 million) in damages to survivors and inhabitants. Under the Italian justice system, the seven will remain free men until they have exhausted two chances to appeal the verdict – one of which will hopefully overturn the decision.

The prosecution argued that the defendants gave “inexact, incomplete and contradictory information” about whether smaller tremors that preceded the quake were a sign that a major disaster was about to strike.

When looking at probabilities of earthquakes, there is no prediction method that will ever tell you with exact certainty whether an earthquake will occur tomorrow or in 1000 years. The probabilities remain so low, that only tiny changes may be able to be made.

If scientists and earthquake engineers in the future are unable to explain the concept of ‘probability’ to people in other fields and the public without reprisal then how will we ever alert the public or make scientific breakthroughs in the field of earthquake engineering.

This sets a very dangerous precedent for giving advice and earthquake-report.com also fears it will discourage other scientists from offering their advice on natural hazards and trying to help society in this way.

Quoting from an article in Huffington Post, Dr Roger Musson of the British Geological Survey was equally shocked at the verdicts.  He said: “This is a very sad business indeed. These are people I know, who were doing their best to give an accurate account of large earthquakes. It seems to be wrong that they should be prosecuted for offering scientific advice to the best of their ability.”

Just some final points:-

1. We need to teach the concept of probability better in schools, kindergartens so that everyone understands what a 1 in 10000 chance actually means in the next year. It should be taught when fractions are learnt!

2. Italian Seismology has been thrown back into the dark ages with this court judgement, because what 6 scientists said at the meeting, every seismologist, earthquake engineer and person would agree with. 

3. Again, earthquake-report.com is shocked, outraged and disappointed by this judgement.

A group of bloggers has just started a Facebook group to protest against this incredible verdict. Become a fan and distribute the message as much as you can.

About the controversy that the trial was about “communication” and not “prediction”  (after a number of these comments ):

l’Aquila was and is a high risk area and building code is since long active for this area, THUS EVERYBODY did know that they are living in a high risk area. Politicians ask answers from science which do not exist at the moment.
This trial should NOT have taken place. Everybody living in an area of several 100 km near known fault lines do have to know about this risk, how to build and act if an earthquake strikes. Schools should learn students from Kindergarden on how they should behave.
The scientists have been prosecuted because they were pressed to make statements about the risk, which they gave to their best knowledge. Everybody working on earthquake risks and frequency is now a possible target for justice.
Earthquake-report.com

The judge should have said :
EARTHQUAKES CANNOT BE PREDICTED IN STRENGTH, TIMING, FREQUENCY AND PEOPLE LIVING IN FAULTING AREAS SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN CHARGING EXPERTS. Should you accept the same trial in San Fransico or San Jose, California ? This trial has been a tragedy for the people who suffered killed family members and who had severe damage.
Tomorrow the same will happen somewhere else in the world.
Earthquake-Report is making it one of his goals to learn tourists travelling to earthquake areas to know how to behave. Travel organizations are DEAF to our claim. Should they be brought to justice ? ONLY 0.001% of the tourists from non-earthquake areas do know what to do! We try to make them understand that giving a 1 minute lecture in a tourist bus would not harm tourism.
Earthquake-report.com

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Seismologists / Geologists and Volcanologists

To cope with our worldwide success, Earthquake-Report.com is looking to extend the group of people directly in charge of the earthquake  and volcano reporting itself. What has to be written can easily be seen in the existing articles in the website.   Explaining earthquake and volcano activity mechanisms so that almost everybody can understand it is one of the main issues of this site.
Click here for the contact form

Humanitarian earthquake relief follow up

A devastating earthquake is always followed by rapid, mid-term and long-term relief and reconstruction effort. Earthquake-report.com wants to report about all these great efforts. It will be your task to find out which organisations are working in the earthquake damaged area, contacting them and request them to share their blogs and pictures with earthquake-Report.com.
Click here for the contact form

Press exchange facilitator

As a non-profit organisation, we want to share our reports and our user experiences with the rest of the world.  Your task will be to convince news-websites and newspapers to use our information (and experience reports) in exchange for a cooperation in case that an earthquake occurs in their country. Combining the best of 2 world will generate an added value for both.
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Volunteers for different tasks

If you are willing to participate as a volunteer in this project, please let us know.
We have an urgent need for people who know very well Facebook, Google+, Twitter etc. With different accounts more tweets will have to be created with relevant content, replies to people, moderation, trying to get more fans, etc etc.
If you know well how to work with one of these social platforms, please let us know uregently
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The selection of a weak Magnitude, a 24 hour delivery on a worldwide list would result in an avalanche of emails (each earthquake will generate an E-mail). A more selective Magnitude, delivery option and area of your interest will give the best result. As we have decided not to use a control panel or password, the parameters of your subscription can only be changed by canceling your subscription (link in each Email we send). To fine-tune your options, simply generate a new subscription. We will not share your E-mail with anyone else, it will be used only for earthquake alerts. Please make sure that you are white listing our emails as otherwise they may be deviated to your spam folder.
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Collapsing ceilings and walls put lives in danger. People in many parts of the world live in constant fear of earthquakes that can reduce entire cities to piles of rubble. Scientists at Bayer MaterialScience, in cooperation with industrial and academic partners, have developed an economical and effective earthquake protection measure in the form of glass fiber fabric combined with a special adhesive which increases the stability of masonry and therefore reduces the risk that apartment and office buildings will turn into deathtraps.
The patent-pending EQ-Top system is as easy to install as wallpaper.

When the earth shakes, every second counts. A strong earthquake turns apartment and office buildings into deathtraps. Pictures from Haiti, Chile, China, New Zealand and Japan illustrate the devastating effects of this natural disaster, with rescue teams searching through ruined buildings and heaps of rubble for survivors.
Buildings collapse in fractions of seconds, like houses of cards. “Even smaller earthquakes can cause dramatic damage, especially to masonry buildings,” explains Professor Lothar Stempniewski, Director of the Institute for Concrete Construction and Construction Materials Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT).
The degree of destruction depends less on the severity of the earthquake on the Richter scale than on “how long the structures are shaken by the destructive energy from below the ground,” he says.
Stempniewski has been investigating “earthquake protection for buildings” for many years. Together with experts from Bayer MaterialScience and KAST, a company located in Sonthofen, Bavaria, he has now developed an effective and economical measure that provides added protection against earthquakes. EQ-Top is a special glass fiber fabric “which is simply glued to the wall like wallpaper,” explains Michael Engel, a project manager at Bayer MaterialScience.

“If we can delay the collapse of the masonry or in the best case prevent it altogether, we can save lives,” Stempniewski adds. With his colleagues at the institute, Stempniewski therefore looked for solutions that are effective, economical and easy to install. At the same time, they must provide long lasting protection and give residents those precious extra seconds to escape.

The demand for protection systems of this type is enormous. More than 1.3 billion people worldwide live in earthquake zones. “The starting point for our work was to improve seismic protection in Romania, one of the regions in Europe at greatest risk from earthquakes,” Stempniewski says. In their tests, the KIT scientists identified characteristic fracture behaviors in brick and mortar structures: “Initially they yield at points where stresses are especially high such as the corners of door frames, windows or the mortar between bricks,” according to the KIT scientist. That gave them the idea of covering the walls with a layer of glass fiber fabric to increase the stability of the masonry. “But ordinary wallpaper paste is incapable of transmitting the complex loads from the masonry to the fabric,” explains Dr. Matthias Wintermantel, a Bayer MaterialScience adhesives expert.

Based on polyurethane dispersion Dispercoll™ U, the water-repellent adhesive is the crucial link between the glass fiber fabric and the plaster surface. It helps to distribute the impact energy of the earthquake across the entire wall surface. Even if joints crack along the full length of the wall (left), the adhesive and glass fiber fabric hold the masonry together. The new EQ-Top system systematically strengthens the weak points in a wall such as door frames and windows. This improves safety for the residents.

Life-saving fabric: the thin wallpaper made of special glass fibers stabilizes masonry and helps to delay – or even prevent – the collapse of entire blocks of houses, such as here in Adapazari, Turkey

In a research alliance with KIT and the fabric specialists from KAST, Wintermantel and his Bayer Material Science team therefore developed the key component for the new EQ-Top system: a special adhesive which firmly anchors the new “seismic wallpaper” to the plaster surface. “We previously tested all conventional adhesives – from simple wallpaper paste to special high performance adhesive. Not one of them was able to meet the tough demand for uniting flexibility and good bonding strength,” said Moritz Urban, a PhD student at the KIT Institute. The test substances were either too weak and detached from the wall or were so brittle that they pulled the plaster right off. It was the work of the Bayer Material-Science scientists which brought about the decisive advance in earthquake protection. Says Stempniewski: “The adhesive is the vital link between the glass fiber and the wall and must therefore adhere equally well to both surfaces.” The flexible special adhesive now used is based on the versatile polyurethane dispersion Dispercoll™ U created by Bayer Material Science. This product is also used to treat the glass fiber fabric, which gives it high tear strength, among other things. Another major benefit of the adhesive is that it is water-based and contains no organic solvents, which means that EQ-Top is ideally suited for indoor use.
“EQ-Top enables us to systematically strengthen the weak points in a wall,” explains Engel. The protective mechanism works like the diagonal braces of a half-timbered house. It distributes the impact energy of the earthquake across the entire wall surface, which thus helps to absorb the energy and prevent points of stress concentration such as door frames and windows from falling under the load. Even if joints crack along the full length of the wall, the glass fiber fabric and adhesive hold the bricks together, which prevents or at least delays the collapse of chunks of masonry and protects the residents.

But the developers had more than just the safety aspect in mind. The protective wallpaper was also designed to be easy to install, unlike systems based was able to meet the tough demand for uniting flexibility and good bonding strength,” said Moritz Urban, a PhD student at the KIT Institute. The test substances were either too weak and detached from the wall or were so brittle that they pulled the plaster right off.
It was the work of the Bayer Material-Science scientists which brought about the decisive advance in earthquake protection. Says Stempniewski: “The adhesive is the vital link between the glass fiber and the wall and must therefore adhere equally well to both surfaces.” The flexible special adhesive now used is based on the versatile polyurethane dispersion Dispercoll™ U created by Bayer Material Science. This product is also used to treat the glass fiber fabric, which gives it high tear strength, among other things.
Another major benefit of the adhesive is that it is water-based and contains no organic solvents, which means that EQ-Top is ideally suited for indoor use.

“EQ-Top enables us to systematically strengthen the weak points in a wall,” explains Engel. The protective mechanism works like the diagonal braces of a half-timbered house. It distributes the impact energy of the earthquake across the entire wall surface, which thus helps to absorb the energy and prevent points of stress concentration such as door frames and windows from falling under the load. Even if joints crack along the full length of the wall, the glass fiber fabric and adhesive hold the bricks together, which prevents or at least delays the collapse of chunks of masonry and protects the residents.

But the developers had more than just the safety aspect in mind. The protective wallpaper was also designed to be easy to install, unlike systems based on carbon fibers, for which the plaster must first be removed, a process that is both very dirty and very expensive.
Carbon-fiber systems can therefore only be used in complex and expensive renovation projects. “EQ-Top can be easily installed by ordinary paperhangers,” Engel says, which generally makes the installation a great deal cheaper.

The intensive development work was worth the effort. EQ-Top was able to prove its worth in numerous tests. The researchers took their system to its limits for the tests. They used huge hydraulic presses to crush one segment of wall after the other – some reinforced by the EQ-Top system and others without it for comparison. The difference was remarkable. The bricks in the protected wall did crumble under very heavy pressure, but the glass fiber fabric and adhesive always held them together. In contrast, the unreinforced wall simply collapsed.

Stress tests: Moritz Urban (photo, left) affixes the seismic wallpaper to a brick wall in the testing hall. Later, the wall will be shaken as it would during an earthquake. Even if the bricks crumble under heavy strain, the glass fiber fabric and adhesive hold the reinforced wall together. Over the course of many tests, adhesives expert Dr. Matthias Wintermantel (photo, right) optimized the special adhesive in such a way that the important protective layer stays firmly affixed to the plaster surface.

The large-scale tests in which the researchers constructed entire walls with and without doors on a huge shaking table were especially spectacular. The table, built from a thick steel plate, was made to vibrate systematically. The vibrations were transferred to the superstructures – just like during an earthquake when the ground shakes. “We were surprised by the results. Walls reinforced with EQ-Top were virtually impossible to destroy during the tests,” Stempniewski says.

The researchers are convinced that the EQ-Top system could have prevented the worst consequences of Glass fiber fabric prevents buildings from collapsing Further information on the topic of earthquake protection recent earthquakes. “In the New Zealand quake in early 2011, a great many walls crumbled and many houses collapsed completely as a result,” says KIT researcher Moritz Urban. The scientist estimates that the system could have prevented 60 to 70 percent of the damage. “Often it doesn’t take much to prevent the collapse of a building,” Urban says. The scientists are already receiving inquiries about the seismic protection wallpaper from all over the world. The EQ-Top system will soon go on the market, giving people in earthquake zones a few more precious seconds and thereby protecting many of them from the worst consequences of earthquakes.

Text and images : courtesy BAYER, KAST and KIT

http://www.research.bayer.com/seismic-wallpaper

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After every major earthquake there is hype for “earthquake early warning systems” like smartphone apps, computer tools, etc.

Let’s explain first what happens when an earthquake is triggered and probably explaining it, will give already part of the answer!
- Due to the extreme strength of 2 moving plates or sections of plates,  the crust will rupture at the weakest point and an earthquake is generated.  The rupture will lead to 2 main waves which will be disseminated from the rupture point or area.
a) the P-wave or Primary wave which is used by the alert systems to trigger the alert. Depending on the Magnitude and the composition of the ground layers the P wave generally travels somewhere between 4 to 8 km/second.
b) the S-wave travels approx. at 60% of the P-waves (let’s call it not so fast) and is responsible for the start of the shaking.
When a massive shallow earthquake hits below land, the shaking will be almost simultaneously felt together with the alert sound of an early warning app or tool, as there are usually only a few seconds in between both waves at short distances.
The area at risk for damage and injuries in 95% of the earthquakes is limited to tens of km, not to hundreds of km (with the exception of soft soil zones and large M7.5 events).  Only national seismology agencies who have installed multiple instruments all over the country are able to trigger an alert. Measuring the alert and redistributing an alert signal will at least need some seconds. The area at risk is already shaking heavily at that time. Drop, Cover and Hold (the generally accepted preparedness standard) is the only recommended way to protect you from injuries. Further away from the epicenter (from 50 to several hundred km) the time in between the alert and the time the shaking starts can be used to take the Drop, Cover and Hold position or to follow the approved evacuation methods.

EAS can be of serious help in the case of Tsunamis and if the signal is triggered by National seismology agency. In most cases however, authorities have installed professional tsunami alert sirens along the coast.

The video below has been made by the Huffington Post, a USA on-line news website. Dr. Thomas Heaton directs the Earthquake Engineering Research Laboratory at CalTech who tells the audience that also the US is working on it, but some hurdles have to be taken. Please be aware that there is a short advertisement at the start.

 The earthquake-report.com conclusion :
- early alert systems give a false feeling of security near the epicenter
- early alert signals should be provided by government or local authority specialized agencies
- early alert systems have to be used to take the Drop, Cover and Hold position until the shaking is over.
- early alert systems may never be used to evacuate buildings, unless the technology is there to invent alerts which can predict an exact time that the secondary wave would reach your location.
- early alert systems are being used and should be used even more in automatic “safety switches” like : trains (automatic stops), elevators (mandatory stop at next level blocking doors open), etc.
- early alert smartphone systems can be useful in smartphones when the Alert message is combined with your GPS location and if a voice can speak loudly  “earthquake – weak shaking expected at your location”. All this without having to manipulate your phone!
- early alert systems can be beneficial in case of tsunami danger and for shutting down hospitals, lifelines or switching power supplies to retain essential services
- early alert systems DO NOT predict earthquakes

Early Warning Systems in Mexico City, Japan and cities where they are a long distance from the major fault zones but built on soft soils give useful data for citizens to prepare. However, other early alert systems should only be used for authorities.

We have found a very good article which was written in the Alaskajournal.com. The article describes what currently is tested in the USA and what an alert should have to do, how much time it allows etc.

Remarks based on our extensive experience following up what happens in real life during an earthquake :
- computers are normally not connected with backup power or batteries. We experience in 97% of all destructive earthquakes that power is lost within seconds
- smartphones are great BUT most Mobile network sending masts are NOT battery powered and will go off-line instantly when there is a power failure
- in case of battery powered masts (like in New Zealand) people are almost instantly run into an overheated network, disabling the great apps on your smartphone. A simple solution is repeated over an over again by earthquake-report.com. Block voice calls and send a Text message that “Due to an earthquake, only Text messages will be allowed until further notice”.

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Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology

Read also : Comparing the current impact of the “Van” Earthquake to past earthquakes in Eastern Turkey

CEDIM Forensic Earthquake Analysis Group

(Status: Tuesday October 25, 2011 15:00 Central European Time & 13:00 UTC)

With the support of earthquake-report.com

Summary

The only sound loss estimate currently available is provided by KOERI with 700 to 1000 fatalities, with PAGER reanalysing their data to bring the value from 10,000 fatalities to just over 1000 fatalities. We estimate the direct economic loss to be in the order of 500-1000 million USD given past Turkish earthquakes, damage and intensities seen and the current economic status of the region.

As there is still uncertainty on the intensity of ground motion these numbers can change in the forthcoming days. Currently we have to assume that in the epicentral area the ground motion exceeded the code level, however, this statement will have to be confirmed or rejected by forthcoming data.

The counted death toll is at 366 at the moment (as of 25.10 14:00CET). 1301 people have been injured, and 2262 buildings destroyed. Earthquake-report.com has the latest updates.

Collapses of schools remains a critical issue in Turkish earthquakes and requires full attention of government agencies in the future. Had the event occurred on Monday morning instead of Sunday afternoon an additional drama were likely.

The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) contributes quite substantial to loss mitigation, although a higher insurance penetration would have been helpful as in the Van region there is only a 14% take out of TCIP policies as compared to the possible number.

CEDIM research will contribute to improve future rapid loss estimations with innovative data-driven approaches. An analysis of socio-economic implications regarding shelter needs and reconstruction issues will be released within the next 24 hours.

Ground Motion and Intensity

Ground motion estimates have been published by Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI, http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/). In the epicentral area they reach values of 60% of gravitational acceleration and peak ground velocities of 50 cm/s. This would be beyond standard code levels. EMS intensities are estimates as above VIII within an area with 25 km diameter. However, these values are computed, not measured and must still be validated by field observations of the Turkish strong motion networks.

 Courtesy of KOERI (http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/)

The Area affected

The HDI (Human Development Index) in the affected region (Van, Hakkari, Bitlis, Mus) is among the lowest in Turkey. Please note that this is the 2009 definition of HDI and not the current UNDP 2^nd version. HDI is a combination of literacy rate, life expectancy and GDP (per capita). In the Van area (0.630), the HDI is equivalent to Bhutan, Solomon Islands, India or Congo, as compared to the average HDI of Turkey which is 0.810. Thus, the development of the region poses many problems for health issues.

Van Province has a population of 1.035 million (as of 31.12.2010, ABPRS) with a very low population density corresponding to 54.3/km². Compared to other provinces, the average household size is relative high (between 7 and 8 persons). It has 539,619 residents living in cities, and a village population of 495,799.

The official population of Van City was 367,000 in 2010 as per the Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS), but values of 500,000 and 600,000 have been estimated by government sources. The Ercis part of the province has Ercis City (approx. 77,000) and many other settlements. (Urban=78,397, Rural=66,832). Based on the available Census data 1985, 1990, and 2000 the population of Van province increased substantially during from 1985 to 2000, both cities at least doubled their number of inhabitants during the last 25 years.

Data Source: State Institute of Statistics, Turkey.

Current Losses

The current (25.10. 14:00 CET) death toll is reported as 366. 1301 people have been reported as injured, and 2262 buildings destroyed. No economic loss estimates from government sources are currently available.

13,000 tents have been dispatched through the Turkish Red Crescent point to about 40,000-45,000 homeless people. 3000 units of temporary housing have been planned for creation within a month. 263,000TRY (around 146,000USD) has been collected from donations so far. It has been suggested by the Prime Minister’s Emergency Management Department (Başbakanlık Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığının) that 3 million TRY (around 1.66 million USD) is required for initial emergency relief.

The ministry of education announced (24.10.2011) many schools in the area collapsed or have been seriously damaged. As no children were at school on Sunday, apart possibly those attending boarding schools a particularly high death toll may have been avoided. There have been reports however of teachers and students being killed. School collapses are a notorious problem, as seen in the 1999 Izmit earthquake and more recently in the 2003 Bingöl event.

Loss Modelling

PAGER has released a 3^rd version of their estimate, after the previous much higher estimates of around 10000 casualties, to now calculate slightly over 1000 fatalities (median), by moving Van City from IX to VIII intensity. The economic loss has also moved from over $10 billion USD, to a median of around $2 billion USD, with large variability.

Courtesy of PAGER (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/pager )

This now much closer mimics the loss values envisaged by the ELER program of KOERI which were between 700 and 1000 deaths.

Generally such disasters have taken around 10-25% of provincial GDP in the past, and using a factor system, it still seems that around $500 million-$1 billion USD is a reasonable estimate. Van is one of the poorest regions of Turkey.

Total economic damage is estimated in the low single-digit billion USD from EQECAT CatWatch mimicking the PAGER model estimate. Although this is 1/10^th of the 1999 Izmit earthquake, it also should be noted that this earthquake is in a region around 4 times poorer (GDP-based) than Izmit. EQECAT has brought forward an insured loss estimate of around $100-200 million through their models which would also fit in reasonably well.

The GDP of Mus, Hakkari, Van and Bitlis together (4 provinces) was in the order of 8.66 billion TRY back in 2008 (around 6.45 billion USD 2008). 21.3% was Agriculture, around 15.8% was industry and 62.9% was services. Due to the economy of Turkey changing significantly from 1995-2010, much change has occurred in the region creating many economic uncertainties for analysis.

Insurance Exposure (TCIP)

An important tool to mitigate losses via insurance is available with the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP, www.tcip.gov.tr). It has been established after the 1999 Izmit earthquake by Decree Law No.587 “Decree Law Relating to Compulsory Earthquake Insurance” the same year and started being operational in 2001. It is a compulsory insurance for private residential buildings in municipalities and offered by 29 insurance companies in Turkey. As any insurance it redistributes losses in space and time and thus mitigates the regional and temporal impact, but also stipulates code compliancy for modern buildings.

The number of sold policies was at 2.43 million in 2001 (19% of the insurable buildings), fell after this but grew again constantly since 2003 with fewer policies in the past two years. The average national insurance penetration is around 20% with notable differences across the regions and provinces. For instance the TCIP 2009 annual report indicates a 32.5% penetration in the Marmara Region, but only 13.7 in the East Anatolian Region.

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