By now you have probably heard about the earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China. According to the USGS (United States Geological Survey]
the magnitude earthquake was 7.9, and I heard on KGO radio news that it
lasted for 3 minutes! Last semester we practiced what it would feel
like to sit through 20 seconds of shaking during an earthquake; we also
had an earthquake drill where we were required to "duck and cover" for
approximately a minute. Can you imagine what 3 minutes of shaking
would feel like?
To put the magnitude & duration of the
Earthquake into perspective, the quake we felt on October 30th last
semester, had a magnitude of only 5.6 according to the USGS. I know I
was quite rattled after that quake, and that was considered to be
fairly short. Our students were not yet born for the 1989 Loma Prieta
Earthquake (which was initially reported as a 7.1 magnitude but was
downgraded to a 6.9, lasted between 15 to 20 seconds depending on the
resource, although I seem to recall 17 seconds). Some of you have
experienced other earthquakes. Fortunately none of us were alive for
the Fort Tejon Earthquake in 1857,
which is supposedly the largest quake that we know of occurring in
California; according to the USGS, the Fort Tejon quake is rated to be
the same magnitude as that of the one which happened in China.
There
is also news of land slides & rockfalls which have occurred as a
result of the earthquake. CNN.com has some video footage of these. At
first when I saw the news footage, I thought of the rain as being a
blessing (fresh water, which could be captured for drinking & other
uses), then I remembered that the rain would make movement in the area
more difficult and that it would cause more issues like the spread of
diseases (I do not know if mosquitoes are a problem in the area, but
they do breed in standing water). Then after more research, I came
across a blog from Professor Petley, at Durham University, in the United Kingdom,
he states that he was able to access data relating to landslides caused
by rain in the area which encompasses the epicenter of the earthquake.
In his analysis, based on number of deaths, Professor Petley said that
in the past 3 years, this region experienced the most "rainfall induced
landslide" deaths between May and October (the time period which has
just begun). You can see some photos he has compiled from various
resources. The Chinese military has a lot of work ahead of them in
order to clear the roads; just imagine how many dump trucks would be
needed to remove the slide from the highway between Dujiangyan and
Wenchuan. Just think, more rain plus aftershocks in areas with land
that is already unstable.
Do some research on one of
these topics & share what you find out or write about your
thoughts; please keep them school appropriate. Students- to maintain
privacy, use initials and class period only. This is worth a maximum
of 5 bonus points, due by May 22 (you may either post a comment here or
submit a paper copy to Mrs. Fischer if the site is being
uncooperative/do not have access, do this on or before the due date to receive the credit).