Natural Disaster’s Week

Earthquakes & tsunamis

Earthquakes Discussion

• 1) How do most people in an earthquake die? What causes these large death rates?

• 2) What is an earthquake? How do they happen?

• 3) Where are earthquakes most common? Where is the San Andreas Fault?

Earthquake Terms

• Earthquake: Movement of rock bodies past each other

• Fault: Focus of earthquake movement • Focus: Site of initial rupture• Epicenter: point on surface above the focus

Richter Scale

• 0.5= hand grenade• 1.0= Construction Blast• 2.0= WWII Conventional Bomb• 3.0= WWII Massive Ordinance Bomb• 4.0= Small Atomic Bomb• 5.0= Nagasaki Atomic Bomb• 6.7= Northridge Earthquake, CA: 1994• 6.9= San Francisco Earthquake, CA: 1989

Richter Scale Cont.

• 7.1= Magnitude equal to largest ever tested Thermonuclear Bomb

• 8.0= San Francisco, 1906: Mexico City, 1985: Sichuan China, 2008

• 8.5= Sumatra, India 2007 • 9.2= Anchorage Alaska, 1964: Largest recorded in US

History• 9.3= Indian Ocean, 2004• 9.5= Valdivia, Chile, 1960: Largest Recorded

Earthquake• 10.0= Never Recorded

San Andreas Fault

• What Is It?• Scientists have learned

that the Earth's crust is fractured into a series of "plates" that have been moving very slowly over the Earth's surface for millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California.

April 18, 1906 San Francisco Earthquake: 8.0, 3,000 killed

Actual Film Footage of the 1906 Quake

Sept 19, 1985 Mexico City Earthquake: 8.1, 10,00 killed

May 12, 2008 Sichuan, China Earthquake: 8.1, 69,000 killed

October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta (San Francisco) Earthquake: 6.9,

63 killed

Actual Footage Near the Epicenter

The Destruction

Haiti: 2010

• On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au- Prince, Haiti

• 33 aftershocks recorded– 14 registered 5.0-5.9

• 230,000 dead• 300,000 injured• 1 million homeless

Check-out the City Below

Injured

March 27, 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (Anchorage Alaska):9.2, 161 killed

Not Just an Earthquake

Crescent City, CA Tsunami

• 1 ½ hours after earthquake hit Alaska the 1st of 4 waves hit Crescent City, CA– The first was 21 ft and

they only got bigger

My Hometown

The Destruction

• $15 Million in Damages• 91 houses destroyed• 21 Boats Destroyed• 172 Businesses

Damaged or Destroyed • 11 People Killed: The

only people killed by a Tsunami hitting the West Coast

Where The Waves Hit

History Does Teach Lessons

• Earthquakes can strike at anytime• However we can and have perfected

ways to deal with their destructive capabilities– Innovation in preparedness• Knowing what to do it if and when it

happens• Building codes in earthquake zones

– Stabilizers and shocks– Shatter proof windows– New Materials

TSUNAMI’S

What is a Tsunami?

• Japanese word meaning “Harbor Wave”

• Caused by disturbances in the Ocean: Most common is an earthquake, but also volcano eruption

• Waves generated outward like a rock in a pond

• Waves average 450 mph• Wave sizes can vary

Dec. 26, 2004: Earthquake Triggers the largest and most destructive

Tsunami in History

Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: over 225,000 killed

Pay Attention to the Fountain

Cool Videos: Excuse the Language

US and World Response• Nation’s from all over the world

pledged millions of dollars in relief

• The United States Pledged $350 million– Former Presidents George

H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton helped in the efforts

– Private Sector money donated equaled $515 million

– President George W. Bush donated $16,000 from his own bank account

How to Prepare for a Tsunami

Tsunami Warning System (TWS) Overview

• 26 nations participate in the program- if any of these nations detect seismic activity in the ocean they warn other nations

Tsunami Warning Centers• NOAA- National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

• NWS- National Weather Service

• Together, the NOAA and NWS operate 2 tsunami warning centers in the world– One is located in Palmer,

Alaska• It warns Alaska, British

Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California if a tsunami is eminent

Tsunami Warning Centers

• A second warning center is located in Ewa Beach, Hawaii– It warns any Pacific Ocean nation of eminent

threat from a tsunami

• These 2 centers, as well as the 26 member nations of the Tsunami Warning System (TWS), are in charge of detecting and warning the world of tsunamis

How Are Warnings Transmitted to the World?

• IF a tsunami has been detected, the 2 watch centers will issue warnings to every local, state, and national government in the potentially affected area– The governments will broadcast the warning to people over TV

and radio– Sirens are also set up along coastal cities in countries like

Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.• The NOAA Weather Radio System will also broadcast the

warning to people over the radio• In the end, governments are in charge of coordinating

evacuations and emergency relief– How does the wealth of a country affect its ability to

evacuate/warn/rescue people from tsunamis?