By Mary MacElveen
January 13, 2010
As a writer who follows earthquakes and at times refers to myself as an arm-chair seismologist, I was devastated to hear of the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday afternoon. What amazed me was that it was followed by fifteen aftershocks: One measuring a 5.9 on the Richter Scale. That measurement alone is the size and scope of most earthquakes.
This lone earthquake was the most powerful one to hit this region in over 200 years. As I have been looking at the U.S.G.S. page for a year now, the region has been active with seismic activity. Puerto Rico has succumbed to tremors throughout this past year. In essence, I was not totally surprised this earthquake hit.
As we in the United States think of our growing poor, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere where 80 percent of their population live below poverty and where they have a 57 percent illiteracy rate. In 2008 it suffered multiple hurricanes and it begs the question: Now this?
In my prior piece where I discussed earthquakes being a scientific event and nothing more, I brought up the recent earthquake to hit California. Thankfully the damage was not as severe as many think the Haitian one will turn out to be. One of the main reasons is the structures where people live and work. In California they have code requirements where buildings have a high probability rate to withstand powerful quakes and protect the people. Many Haitians live in buildings that are less-superior and are decimated when earthquakes and hurricanes occur. Many Haitians live in shanty-towns where no such codes exist. You would think so, given the fact this country sits on top of a fault line. But, they are a poor nation and cannot afford such building materials. They must use their rainforest in order to heat and build their homes.
Many here in the United States visit our White House where our president lives and in Haiti, their presidential palace lay crumbled to the ground. In watching CNN and seeing that photo, it spoke volumes to me.
As I was flipping around the channels, the only station to cover this event in the 10 PM time-slot was CNN with Anderson Cooper at the helm. Then again, Cooper did so when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and Mississippi. After signing off of his show, he was headed to Haiti to cover the aftermath of this devastating earthquake. Folks, to me that is journalism at its finest.
Anderson Cooper and CNN could have chosen to cover the book “Game Change” a book of gossip, but they did not in this hour. They chose to do the news and the news is for connecting we as a people. The news is supposed to be to help us understand the plight and suffering of others when we think we have nothing. Given Haiti’s poverty rate, they are a suffering people.
As the day light breaks in the morning, we do not know how many died in this quake or how many more will be recorded in the days and weeks after. This is where we as Americans can come to their aid by digging into our pockets, coin-jars, wallets, or what have you and help the people of Haiti by donating to the Red Cross. Their number is: 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575.
You can reach the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net
Showing posts with label Earthquakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earthquakes. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Earthquakes are a scientific event and nothing more
By Mary MacElveen
January 10, 2010
Today, an earthquake registering a 6.5 on the Richter scale, hit Northern California where little damage occurred. Why I write of this event is that it blared out at me as I logged onto my AOL account. The fonts were oh so big. Yet, yet, I have not seen similar headlines calling anyone’s attention to the myriad of earthquakes that have hit lately in the South Pacific. The seismic scales of those earthquakes were similar and even bigger. Yes, I do follow the seismic events that occur around the planet through the U.S.G.S. Just call me your arm-chair seismologist since the earth’s movements fascinate me so.
When it comes to the South Pacific region, earthquakes there as compared to the ones that hit us here in the United States; it is as if the ones in the S. Pacific region do not exist when the media reports of them. The plate tectonics in that area are as volatile as the ones in Northern California. Can anyone spell Krakatoa or Anak Krakatoa?
As a writer who hones in on what commenter’s post to any story, my curiosity got the better of me to read what was being commented on this one scientific event.
Not surprisingly, the prophesy angle came into play where some mentioned December 21, 2012 (the supposed end of the world according to the Mayan Calendar) and where others just had to get in their political jabs. This is why I adore letters to the editors of different newspapers so we do not have to hear of who is to blame or what prophesy to adhere to. This earthquake was a scientific event as all earthquakes are.
While the eye-witness testimonies to this one particular earthquake are unsettling to the nerves where one’s china is fractured, let us remember that a few years ago, the real China was hit by a far larger earthquake. That lone earthquake hit that region and according to Wikipedia: “69,197 are confirmed dead, including 68,636 in Sichuan province, and 374,176 injured, with 18,222 listed as missing.[7] The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless,[15] though the number could be as high as 11 million.[16] Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area. It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake,” Those statistics are something to ponder on in the wake of this earthquake. It could have been worse.
One reason why so much loss of life is that the structures those Chinese citizens lived/live in do not measure up to present day earthquake codes as demanded in Northern California. The same thing can be said for the earthquake that hit in Italy last year. The buildings they lived/live in crumble to the ground as ours pretty much stay in place due to code requirements. So, if one gripes of politicians and the codes they implement, they should thank their lucky stars that the buildings they live and work in survive as opposed to the buildings in other regions of the world.
So, please leave out the prophesy angle and the political comments to these stories as people are left wandering around trying to figure out how they will survive earthquakes wherever they live. As some of you busily type on your keyboards commenting to these differing stories proposing prophesies and political jabs, scores can and have been killed, screaming from underneath the rubble and frankly wondering how they will make it into the future.
Earthquakes are only doing what the earth does naturally. It reshapes itself through constant movement and nothing more. It is up to us as to how to deal with earthquakes, prepare for them in hopes of saving human lives.
Author’s email address is xmjmac@optonline.net
Copyrighted material: Should you wish to use any portion of this column, please email the author for permission.
January 10, 2010
Today, an earthquake registering a 6.5 on the Richter scale, hit Northern California where little damage occurred. Why I write of this event is that it blared out at me as I logged onto my AOL account. The fonts were oh so big. Yet, yet, I have not seen similar headlines calling anyone’s attention to the myriad of earthquakes that have hit lately in the South Pacific. The seismic scales of those earthquakes were similar and even bigger. Yes, I do follow the seismic events that occur around the planet through the U.S.G.S. Just call me your arm-chair seismologist since the earth’s movements fascinate me so.
When it comes to the South Pacific region, earthquakes there as compared to the ones that hit us here in the United States; it is as if the ones in the S. Pacific region do not exist when the media reports of them. The plate tectonics in that area are as volatile as the ones in Northern California. Can anyone spell Krakatoa or Anak Krakatoa?
As a writer who hones in on what commenter’s post to any story, my curiosity got the better of me to read what was being commented on this one scientific event.
Not surprisingly, the prophesy angle came into play where some mentioned December 21, 2012 (the supposed end of the world according to the Mayan Calendar) and where others just had to get in their political jabs. This is why I adore letters to the editors of different newspapers so we do not have to hear of who is to blame or what prophesy to adhere to. This earthquake was a scientific event as all earthquakes are.
While the eye-witness testimonies to this one particular earthquake are unsettling to the nerves where one’s china is fractured, let us remember that a few years ago, the real China was hit by a far larger earthquake. That lone earthquake hit that region and according to Wikipedia: “69,197 are confirmed dead, including 68,636 in Sichuan province, and 374,176 injured, with 18,222 listed as missing.[7] The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless,[15] though the number could be as high as 11 million.[16] Approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area. It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake,” Those statistics are something to ponder on in the wake of this earthquake. It could have been worse.
One reason why so much loss of life is that the structures those Chinese citizens lived/live in do not measure up to present day earthquake codes as demanded in Northern California. The same thing can be said for the earthquake that hit in Italy last year. The buildings they lived/live in crumble to the ground as ours pretty much stay in place due to code requirements. So, if one gripes of politicians and the codes they implement, they should thank their lucky stars that the buildings they live and work in survive as opposed to the buildings in other regions of the world.
So, please leave out the prophesy angle and the political comments to these stories as people are left wandering around trying to figure out how they will survive earthquakes wherever they live. As some of you busily type on your keyboards commenting to these differing stories proposing prophesies and political jabs, scores can and have been killed, screaming from underneath the rubble and frankly wondering how they will make it into the future.
Earthquakes are only doing what the earth does naturally. It reshapes itself through constant movement and nothing more. It is up to us as to how to deal with earthquakes, prepare for them in hopes of saving human lives.
Author’s email address is xmjmac@optonline.net
Copyrighted material: Should you wish to use any portion of this column, please email the author for permission.
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