I'm sure you have been as saddened as I have been to witness the terrible effects of the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan. It will take years to fully comprehend the extent of the damages and how it will affect Japan and the rest of the world. We already know that thousands have died and many more have lost everything they owned; it is possible that multiple nuclear reactors have suffered melt-downs, which potentially could be worse than than the natural disaster itself.
Natural disasters remind us of just how small we humans are in comparison to the earth we inhabit. Follow the link http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html to Live Science's list of some of the largest natural disasters in history. Choose one to research and find accurate sources to give you more information.
After reporting on the natural disaster, answer these questions: what should countries do to prepare for such events? What natural disasters do you feel threaten our region the most?
Remember to post the assignment on time and to fulfill all the requirements for these assignments.
In 1811-1812 in Missouri near the town of New Madrid were 3 massive earthquakes hit that ranged around 7.8 on the rictor scale. New Madrid lay between St. Louis, Missouri, and Nanchez Mississippi and relativly close to Memphis, Tennessee. The first and largest earthquake hit on December 16, 1811, in northeast Arkansas. The second earthquake hit on January 23, 1812, in Missouri. The third and final earthquake that hit occured on February 7, 1812. The first earthquake only damaged a few manmade structures because the population wasn't much then. This earthquake was also felt as far away as Boston. The second earthquake was the smallest, although there were very few people around to record it because it was winter. The third and final earthquake was really bad and completly destroyed the town of New Madrid. There was a lot of damage to the enviorment and even St. Louis was affected.
ReplyDeleteWhat should countries do to prepare for such events? I don't think there really is much you can do to prepare for natural disasters like earthquakes because they are random and you can't really know 100% when and where they will hit and how bad they will be. I think the only real thing you can do to prepare for events such as an earthquake is to build buildings as strong as possible and to set aside money to help the victims get back on their feet and rebuild.
What natural disasters do I feel threaten our region the most? Definatly earthquakes and tornados. Kentucky lies on a fault and we can have earthquakes, which honestly terrifies me. I don't like the thought of the earth sudddenly shaking and cracks forming and stuff falling down into the middle of the earth (yeah....I've never been in an earthquake or seen the aftermath, so that's just what I always figured happened during one haha) Tornados are also really bad, though we don't have as many as places like Kansas and Nebraska have. I really hope and prayer neither of these natural disasters ever happen again, but obviously that ain't gonna happen.
Works Cited: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php and http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
Essay from Jerome Geils-Lindemann,
ReplyDeletethis week I want to focus on the "Worst Natural Disasters Ever".
For this assignment I chose to read over Sumatran tsunami report.
The Sumatran tsunami has happened in December26, 2004 in asia.
The cause was an Indian Ocean earthquake. The result was a Sumatran tsunami.
This terrible event has killed more than 225,000 humans.
This disaster is the worst in recorded history. Most at the Tsunamis have
proven incredibly deadly in the past. Some examples are in 1896 a tsunami caused 27,000 deaths,
in Japan and in 1755 in Lisbon was a combination between earthquake, fire and tsunami which
killed 60,000 humans.
So back to the Sumatran tsunami... The Sumatran tsunami struck off the Northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The tsunami wave destroyed a lot of the neighborhoods where the wave have been almost as high as 25 meters tall.
the disastrous tsunami that caused destruction in 11 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
You felt the power in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and India.
You got to see it in the Pacific and many other places by the tide gauges. For instance in California it got 40 cm higher and in
New Jersey was it 34 cm.
To answer the question what should countries do to prepare for such events? I think the countries should have an
emergency plan what the people have to and where to go in case, so not much panic breaks out. Their also should have
an early warning system to measure the pressure of the earth and everything. But I think you never can prepare perfectly, because
it comes from the nature.
What natural disasters do you feel threaten our region the most? The finally question I really can't answer, because I just
have been here in this region for one year and in year you cannot tell. But I think not much could happen here except a tornado!
I have used: http://www.livescience.com/3781-tsunami-special-report.html,
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami2004Indonesia.html
I write about the Cyclone Nargis which happened in May 2008 in Maynmar. An unbelievable number of 140.000 and more people died. The people didn’t have anywhere to escape to. They were caught on their open low rice fields and were just blown away from that wind with sometimes 715 (1150km/h) miles per hour.
ReplyDeleteI think the easiest and most realistic thing countries should do to protect their selves, is to build very accurate measuring and early warning systems. That system should be completely around the earth and be available to everybody. When it recognizes a danger it should send the warning immediate out to the people. Very dangerous regions should have speakers in regular distances where the warning can be announced, the warning should come on the radio and on every TV channel, there should be apps for mobile phones who get the warning immediately too. Then there should be practiced emergency plans for dangerous regions how to evacuate them and a good road and transportation system. Nevertheless the example in Japan shows that humans just can’t control the nature regardless of how well they are prepared. Japan was one of or maybe even the best prepared country for earthquakes and this kind of catastrophes. The buildings there have the best building standards, schools and companies have regularly practice alarms and practice evacuating. Even whole cities practice that sometimes. Even small kids go with their classes to earthquake simulators and learn a lot about them. But still, one earthquake was too much and had devastating aftereffects. There will never be a way to protect countries and humans hundred percent.
Works cited:
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargis
A massive disease that kills thousands in just a few days, sweeps over Europe, Africa, and China. It sounds terrible. Something of that magnitude could never happen, right? Well, that is how it would seem until the Bubonic Plague hit. Contracted from insect bites and being airborne, this disease reached millions. From the time of receiving the disease, an individual would only last three to four days. These four days were filled with pain and agony as infection spread throughout their body. The symptoms would include vomiting, high fevers, and lymph nodes would swell until finally bursting. Thousands would die in one day. After the epidemic had stopped, an estimated 75 million had perished. After a long period of dormancy, it returned. In the 1320’s, the disease returned in the blood of despised animals…. rodents. Areas where the people were in close quarters were affected with the most intensity. One half of Russia’s population was taken by this disease. In order to prepare for disasters such as this, countries really must be quick to identify the source of the problem. If the source is not identified, it cannot be cut off. Disease is a more controlled disaster because we have science to study the very things that cause them, making it easier to isolate and kill the problem or it can be seen as harder to identify. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes cannot be stopped, only escaped by humans. In my area of Kentucky, we aren’t in any danger of having a hurricane, but earthquakes are always a possibility, although they are not common here. Floods are a big threat because we have so many lakes and rivers, tornados have taken their toll on many families here, and the last one would be disease. Those are the natural disasters that would be more of a threat here, just because we are not geographically positioned for the remaining disasters.
ReplyDeleteSites I used:
http://www.livescience.com/2497-black-death-changed-world.html
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
Jerome, you had a very good essay. In the last part you made a good point by saying that it is hard to be completely prepared because it is a natural disaster. I really think we can have good escape plans to get as many people from getting hurt as we can, but we cannot stop these disasters (tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc.) from happening because they are of nature. When we look at the whole picture, before we start to criticize and make our judgments on the handling of these disasters, we have to take into consideration how unpredictable nature really is. Good job!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, because of the resent earthquake in Japan, it is easier to think about the damage caused by this unpredictable phenomenon. Earthquakes are amazing. If you have watched the videos of the earthquake footage in Japan, it is incredible to think that our stable earth could just shift and cause so much destruction. It fascinates me to think of the power of the natural disasters we see happening.
This week i will be writing about the volcano which erupted on 13 November 1985 in Colombia.
ReplyDeleteNevado del Ruiz ( the volcano) erupted in the night while many were sleeping. This night must
have been a complete shocker. This volcano knows to the locals as ‘the sleeping lion’ awoke
after not being active for nearly 150 years.
Months before the eruption, there had been few warning signs such as: rumbling from the craters. These signs were quickly turned down and the authorities told the people of Amero that it was still safe to stay in the area. Wednesday afternoon the blasts began and a shower of ash fell from the sky, this was when an evacuation was ordered, but later abandoned when the volcano went quiet around 7:00pm. Then around 9:00pm the eruption began. The ice capped summit began to melt causing the mudslide. This traveled about 30mph. Four towns in the Andes region were covered with ash that had spewed from the volcano and mud. The province of Tolima’s second largest city, Armero, was affected the worst. An estimated 23,000 people were killed in the
horrific disaster.
How can a country prepare for a disaster like this? Honestly, there is no way of knowing. There were warning signs for this particular disaster, but since it had been so long without eruption, I’m sure even i would’ve shrugged my shoulders and moved on as well.
What natural disasters do i feel threaten our region the most? Earthquakes. Kentucky lies on a
fault so we can and do sometimes have earthquakes. Tornadoes are possible as well.
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/13/newsid_2539000/2539731.stm
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI will write about the Yellow River Flood in 1939 killing 1 million to 3.7 millions and in 1887 killing almost the same people.
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow River is responsible of China's most catastrophic disasters and has killed more people than any other river in the world.
In 1887 flooding killed nearly two million people, in 1931 the people death was almost four million, and in 1938 it was almost one million.
The cause of the floodings is because the millions of tons of yellow mud plug the river causing the river to overflow and go to other directions.
Over years Chinese people has tried to avoid the floods using walls and dams.
None has worked but the dams has been the most helpful to avoid floodings but either way the river's thick is more than the dam's so the water just goes on its way.
First Question:
I dont think we can avoid the natural dissasters because we can't against them and it's impossible to know when they are coming and how strong they are, but I do think that the cities with more probability of floodings, earthquakes, and tsunamis can design their buildings with more technologies to avoid the dissasters and at least it won't be that worst, I think is the only way to prepare.
Second question:
I have like 10 months here and I think that Kentucky could be affect for tornados because the random change of weather.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/flood/deluge.html
I will write about the Yellow River Flood in 1939 killing 1 million to 3.7 millions and in 1887 killing almost the same people.
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow River is responsible of China's most catastrophic disasters and has killed more people than any other river in the world.
In 1887 flooding killed nearly two million people, in 1931 the people death was almost four million, and in 1938 it was almost one million.
The cause of the floodings is because the millions of tons of yellow mud plug the river causing the river to overflow and go to other directions.
Over years Chinese people has tried to avoid the floods using walls and dams.
None has worked but the dams has been the most helpful to avoid floodings but either way the river's thick is more than the dam's so the water just goes on its way.
First Question:
I dont think we can avoid the natural dissasters because we can't against them and it's impossible to know when they are coming and how strong they are, but I do think that the cities with more probability of floodings, earthquakes, and tsunamis can design their buildings with more technologies to avoid the dissasters and at least it won't be that worst, I think is the only way to prepare.
Second question:
I have like 10 months here and I think that Kentucky could be affect for tornados becasue the random change of weather.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/flood/deluge.html
Im going to talk about the Bubonic Plague aka The Black Death. Besides the fact that it killed millions of people, I figured it would be an easy subject since we already discussed it in our history class =P
ReplyDeleteIn the 1300's the Bubonic Plague broke out over many places. Its spread to several places very quickly maily because of the worlds trading systems. Its amazing to actually think about this disease spreading to cities and coutrysides within very few days. Im sure many of you remember this from earlier this year but just in case you forgot, this terrible disease killed 30 to 60% of Europes entire population. I like the way the website: http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html puts it. It quotes, "A terrible killer was loose across Europe, and Medieval medicine had nothing to combat it." That is such a true quote, no matter what people did or tried to do to cure it, sadly nothing helped. And even when the hardest/worst outbreaks of it was over, smalled outbreaks kept occuring. These outbreaks lasted centuries and the few survivors feared of the plague returning, of course, who's to blame them? There were many results from this plague, few being: labor shortage, peasant revolt, and a demand for higher wages.
It is estimated that about 25 million people died in less than five years. No matter how many times I read that or study it, im always so shocked.
This was only one of the many Worst National Disasters. Many of these disasters being hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, floods, and tsunamis, I really can't say there is much we can do to prepare for these kind of events especially considering some are unknown until the moment it happens. Now-a-days we have the news and the weather channels to let us know when bad weather is coming and to warn us but there is absolutely no way to prevent them from occuring. We can pray and most of the times many people can evacuate but damage is still done.
The natural disasters that I feel threaten us most would definitely be earthquakes. If you read through the list provided on the website: http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html you will find that many of them are earthquakes. Not only are they horrifying in themselves but they have many after affects. Remember, before the return of the Lord there will be many disasters one specifically being earthquakes; are you ready?
Im going to talk about the Bubonic Plague aka The Black Death. Besides the fact that it killed millions of people, I figured it would be an easy subject since we already discussed it in our history class =P
ReplyDeleteIn the 1300's the Bubonic Plague broke out over many places. Its spread to several places very quickly maily because of the worlds trading systems. Its amazing to actually think about this disease spreading to cities and coutrysides within very few days. Im sure many of you remember this from earlier this year but just in case you forgot, this terrible disease killed 30 to 60% of Europes entire population. I like the way the website: http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html puts it. It quotes, "A terrible killer was loose across Europe, and Medieval medicine had nothing to combat it." That is such a true quote, no matter what people did or tried to do to cure it, sadly nothing helped. And even when the hardest/worst outbreaks of it was over, smalled outbreaks kept occuring. These outbreaks lasted centuries and the few survivors feared of the plague returning, of course, who's to blame them? There were many results from this plague, few being: labor shortage, peasant revolt, and a demand for higher wages.
It is estimated that about 25 million people died in less than five years. No matter how many times I read that or study it, im always so shocked.
This was only one of the many Worst National Disasters. Many of these disasters being hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, floods, and tsunamis, I really can't say there is much we can do to prepare for these kind of events especially considering some are unknown until the moment it happens. Now-a-days we have the news and the weather channels to let us know when bad weather is coming and to warn us but there is absolutely no way to prevent them from occuring. We can pray and most of the times many people can evacuate but damage is still done.
The natural disasters that I feel threaten us most would definitely be earthquakes. If you read through the list provided on the website: http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html you will find that many of them are earthquakes. Not only are they horrifying in themselves but they have many after affects. Remember, before the return of the Lord there will be many disasters one specifically being earthquakes; are you ready?
This week I'm going to do my essay on the one disasters that impacted us more directly as a nation.
ReplyDeleteHurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005 it had it's greatest impact however on Louisiana just to give you an idea of how great that impact was I will tell you that by August 31st 80% of New Orleans was flooded by 15 feet of water in some places.
With this hurricane came a death toll of over 1,836. But not only was there the huge devastation with lost lives, this storm came to be known as the most expensive storm in the history of the U.S. coming in at a horrifying $81.2 billion. This storm caused mass economic downfall and people over all lively hood was washed away.
Now to answer your first question... what should countries do to prepare for such events? well, in my opinion there really is no way for a country or even a state to prepare for a certain number of lives lost or a certain level of devastation because there will never be a set amount that simply relies on the spirit of each individual person. But as a whole I think the government needs to set aside a lump sum of money in case of such an emergency and more precautions need to be taken... let me mind you that the rescue efforts for this particular storm went down in the history of the U.S. as being the most successful. And that's all well and good but the majority of the people left behind were the elderly and the poor. In the Bible God says“Whatsoever you do to the LEAST of my people, that you do unto me” Matthew 25:40.
And finally to answer your second question (What natural disasters do you feel threaten our region the most?) I'd have to say the most prominent thing would be tornadoes even though they are few and far between... I believe that they definitely dominate obviously over hurricane or earthquake. They dominate over hurricanes because of our undeniable distance from any coast lines, and earthquakes just because they are rare and not a huge threat to us at this given time. But I am thankful for the low amount of catastrophe here in our little state of KY and I pray that it stays that way.
Cites I used:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.katrina.com/
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
Alexandria,
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed your essay is was so good! in the last paragraph you mention how in the Bible it talks about earthquakes happen everywhere before thew Lord's coming and how you left us with the question "are you ready?" and i just thought that was so good! but great job over all :)
Simon,
Your essay was great and i really like your ideas on how countries should prepare. And I agree with them fully although it would be expensive I think it would be well worth it.
Emily Lynn,
I enjoyed your essay it was really good. I find this disaster very tragic mainly because these people had so many warnings but after such a long time of the volcano lying dormant they didn't think anything of it. I think it's so sad that a vast number of people never even had a chance of getting out. But great job :)
Some of many terrible natural disasters are:
ReplyDelete- The earthquake in Pakistan (magnitude 7.6) in 2008
- Hurricane Katrina 2005
- Indian Ocean earthquake and the result the Sumatran Tsunami 2004
This week I will write about Hurricane Katrina. It was one of the most costliest and deadliest Hurricanes in the history of the U.S. The hurricane took place in the year 2005 and a lot of people died from the actually hurricane but also from the flood which made this natural disaster one of the deadliest in the United States since 1928. Hurricane Katrina started over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida. It caused then already deaths and flooding before it got rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico.
The effects in New Orleans were long lasting. New Orleans is today again what it was years ago, before Katrina destroyed most of the city. 5 Years after this disaster it is again the multicultural city of legend with seafood festivals. But before this rebuilding of most of the city it was a really depressing scene and big old buildings got destroyed by the Hurricane.
I don’t know how countries could prepare for events like that. I actually don’t think there is a lot to do. Since it is a natural disaster and no war or human caused disaster we are powerless. It is terrible but what should we do? Things like that happen, like we saw in the past and will see in the future. I think it is a hard time at the beginning when no one really knows what will happen next, but like in New Orleans if this time is over, and the city is rebuild it goes back to “normal”, but still such an event is not forgettable.
For this week’s assignment I researched the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. I chose this event because it is the one natural disaster I remember the most. I remember when I heard about it, and that I immediately gave some of my own money to a missions organization to help the people. I was honestly shocked.
ReplyDeleteThe earthquake was caused by subduction, which means that one tectonic plate moves under another plate. It took place on December 26, 2004, directly off Sumatra’s west coast, and had a magnitude of about 9.1. Sumatra is an island in Indonesia. Also highly affected were Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and the Maldives. It was ranked the sixth deadliest earthquake in history.
The earthquake was followed by a number of tsunamis that devastated countries around the Indian Ocean. Altogether more than 230,000 people were killed.
Now, to answer your question “What should countries do to prepare for such events?”
First of all, I think that countries should have a good detective and observing system for for instance tsunamis to be able to warn citizens a long time before the actual disaster occurs. That way people can protect themselves and flee, if possible.
Often there are many people who are not well educated, and don’t know what to do when faced with great danger, like a tsunami. In my opinion it would help to set up classes for that purpose.
What natural disasters do you feel threaten our region the most?
Since I don’t know this region that well geographically it is hard for me to answer this question. But obviously it could only be a tornado or earthquake, since Kentucky isn’t that close to the sea, which could cause us to be threatened by tsunamis.
In the end I have to say that I am a little scared of the future. We as humans have come to control a big part of the world, but natural disasters are incontrollable. We can only warn people about it, but often there is no escape from a hurricane, earthquake, or tsunami.
Work cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami
The Black Death was one of the worst epidemic of infectious disease in World History. It was thought to have started in China and traveled along the Silk Road. The Black Death is thought to have killed 30-60% of Europe's population. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague returned at various times, killing more people until it left Europe in the 19th Century.
ReplyDeleteThe plague was first introduced to Europe at Caffa in the Crimea. After a extremely long siege by the Mongol army of Jani Beg. It is thought that Jani Beg 's army catapulted infected corpses into Daffa in an attempt to use the Black Death to weaken the defenders. It is one of the first cases of biological warfare. There were a number of Crimean ports under Mongol control so it's unlikely that Caffa was the only source.
The Black Death was thought to be carried by Oriental rat fleas residing on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships.
Because of all the underground caves I thought earthquakes would be something that would be a natural disaster for Kentucky. But going to the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps, Data, and Documentation site, it shows that Memphis, Shelby County, Tenn is the location where damaging earthquakes are only moderately likely. So I guess tornadoes are the most likely disasters. As for countries and what they need to do for natural disasters. I feel we should share learned information and help any country with our resources to the best of our ability.
sources sited: Wikipedia.com, usgs.com
For my essay this week i chose to do my report on the Sumatran tsunami. The Sumatran tsunami happened on December 24, 2004. Any time a tsunami hits it's a very very dreadfull thing it always kills thousands even millions. It's a very sad thing thats hard to save your self from. This tsunami was from the Indian Ocean due to a earthquake. The Sumatran tsunami was estimated to have killed 225,000 people during it's awful disaster. Two weeks befor the disaster had happened scientist ran test and studied hard to know that all it took to get such awful thing started was a lanslide. But sure enough two weeks later there was a landslide. Many lost their homes their belonging's, but most importnantly thousands lost their lives and thats one thing that cant be replaced. Many only had fifteen minutes to get on high grounds but for alot of the people it was to late by the time you realize what is going on and you get your family survival is nearly impossible. Although things like this does not happen often, but when they do it is a distaster! The first question is, What should countries do to prepare for such things? I think that it's really hard to know really how to react until youv been threw what your getting ready for. For many disasters here we need to be in low places. Have food supplie and wait for things to blow over. Other countries have it much much worse. The second question is, What natural disaster do you feel threaten our reagion the most? I feel the main thing is tornados,hurricans, things like that we have less worries than some other people.
ReplyDeleteI decided to write my essay on the Bubonic Plague during 1330-1351. Of course this Plague was also referred to as “Black Death”. I have always found this part of history interesting because I just can’t wrap my head around how these people must of felt.
ReplyDeleteThe bubonic Plague left people, rodents, and even fleas with fevers and ridiculous amounts of swelling in the lymph glands, they called this buboes. This tragic disease also caused skin spots that started red and ended up black! The Bubonic Plague started in China, but since China traded so much it ended up in Europe and Asia. The majority part of the most tragic incidents was in Europe, people say they called it “the Black Death” because it was like having a killer on the loose the way multiple people were dying slow and painfully every minute. This went on for years! The Bubonic Plague kept sweeping over the Nation.
As for your questions, I’m not sure countries could prepare for such an incident. Places can always prepare for what to do for earthquakes, and tsunami’s but, do their plans really work. I mean, think about it, if you’re in a life or death situation are you going to leave your family to save just your life? Are you going to watch as others get killed brutally. I think it’s nice to have these plans, and know what to do if it were to happen, but something’s you just can’t plan.
Natural disasters that could happen here? Well, earthquakes, plagues of illness, tornados. All these are things we defiantly don’t look forward to maybe having to deal with. But, being in Kentucky’s region we don’t have to so much worry for tsunami’s and hurricane’s which is a plus. God is never going to give us anything we can’t handle, and in my opinion that’s how you have to live.
http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html
EmilyAnn,
ReplyDeleteGood essay! I agree with what you said about not being sure whether you can actually prepare for a natural disaster. "I mean, think about it, if you’re in a life or death situation are you going to leave your family to save just your life? Are you going to watch as others get killed brutally. I think it’s nice to have these plans, and know what to do if it were to happen, but something’s you just can’t plan." That's an interesting thought that I hadn't thought of before. And it's absolutly true! Good job!!
Stella,
Good essay! I love the end paragraph about being a bit scared about the future. It is absolutly true and a very sobering thought when you think about the natural disasters that could happen at any minute and everything we have, including our lif eand the lives of loved ones, could be gone, snuffed out in an instant. It is very scary. GOod essay!
I think this is a really good subject. There is so much to say, but at the same time, I wish there wasn’t. The earthquake in Japan is really a sad subject. But I guess this is just the beginning until the Lord’s return.
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s essay, I want to talk about the Earthquake in China in 1976 called Tangshan. Some people also call it the Great Tangshan Earthquake. This natural disaster occurred on July 28, 1976. The epicenter of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei,People's Republic of China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The number of deaths initially reported by theChinese government was 655,000, but this number has since been stated to be around 240,000 to 255,000. And 164,000 people were injured. The earthquake hit in the early morning, at 03:42 am. Chinese government official sources state a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources listed it as high as 8.2. It was followed by a major 7.8 magnitude aftershock some 16 hours later, increasing the death toll.
You can see a few pictures of the results of this earthquake and consider the damages caused by this natural disaster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tangshan_earthquake.jpg
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s3.hubimg.com/u/326234_f520.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hubpages.com/hub/sichuanawakening&usg=__4yLKijWPifsLj2oiViJGy5KWykw=&h=366&w=520&sz=38&hl=en&start=0&sig2=e0-cYCDhnh5-EeadMwfxhg&zoom=1&tbnid=SuFwEHMihuDOMM:&tbnh=165&tbnw=229&ei=JPiDTcH8FbOJ0QG5t7XcCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1976%2BTangshan%2Bearthquake%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D663%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=328&vpy=282&dur=59&hovh=188&hovw=268&tx=217&ty=166&oei=JPiDTcH8FbOJ0QG5t7XcCA&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0
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You can see so much material disaster. And imagine people living in those buildings that are destroyed in a few seconds. So many lives lost, destroyed, broken hearts.
I think we cannot do much about those disasters. They are natural. Nothing can stop them. But training people to survive, to be ready at every moment. And there is not much that could threaten our region. Maybe earthquakes and tornados but they wont be as big as all the natural disasters we can see else where.
I’m going to talk about tsunami first because the tsunami,earthquake happened in Thailand before it was 5 years ago and if was one day after Christmas on 26th December 2004 .And my dad was supposed to had a conference that week but he didn’t go because decided to spend time with us on the Christmas – new year break so that was blessing so I think I know how does the Japanese people are feeling right now and they really need prayers .The economic impact of the tsunami on Thailand was considerable, though not as great as in poorer countries such as Indonesia or Sri Lanka. Thailand has a liberalised, flexible and robust economy, which has shown powers of rapid recuperation after previous setbacks. The sectors most badly damaged have been tourism and fishing. The beach resorts along the Andaman Sea coast have been extensively damaged, and the rebuilding of the infrastructure takes several years. Many Thai-owned hotels and other small businesses have been ruined, and the Thai government provided large amounts of capital to enable the recovery of the private sector . Fish product distributors refused to buy fish and crustaceans from Andaman Sea ports, and preferred to buy from Gulf of Thailand ports or even fromMalaysia or Vietnam, so that they could assure consumers that there was no possibility of such contamination.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I know most of us will probably do their report on hurricane Katrina, I still decided to do my report on it.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I want to say what a hurricane is. A hurricane is a severe tropical storm with torrential rain and extremely strong winds. These usually form over the ocean. Katrina was no different. It formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. Afterwards it strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, however weakened some before making its second landfall as a category 3 storm on August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused major damage running from Florida to Texas, but the brunt of it was at New Orleans, Louisiana. Most of the damage here was due to flooding caused by the levee system failing. (A levee is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels.) hurricane Katrina has 1,836 confirmed fatalities and damages costing to date in the 90.9 billion dollar range, making Katrina the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
Now what should we do as a nation to prepare for such events? Well there isn’t a whole lot we can do to prevent such things so we can only be prepared to help those areas that get hit. Have shelters and the like to help house those who lose their home in the disaster.
And the most likely natural disaster to threaten our region would have to be earthquakes. Many don’t know this, but one of the biggest fault lines in the world runs through the state of Kentucky
Works cited:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_katrina
The tsunami that hit on Dec. 26, 2004, devastated many countries near the Indian Ocean. The epicenter (origin of the quake) was just off the coast of Indonesia. The earthquake was the third largest ever recorded and caused tremors to be felt all the way to Alaska! The death toll was enormous; over 230,000 people were killed. Even though this tragedy occurred six years ago, the affected countries are still trying to overcome the disaster. The tragedy brought some good things with it though. It opened our eyes to how flawed our warning system was- many scientists had predicted the earthquake, but the people were not warned. Now, the United States, along with other countries, are establishing a global warning system that may prevent events of this magnitude of occurring in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs I was researching what natural disasters might be a threat to us here, I found a map of the high risk areas for seismic hazards in the US. Surprisingly, there is a huge red patch over Kentucky. I don’t remember there ever being a major earthquake in Kentucky during my lifetime besides the occasional tremor from quakes down South, but who knows what may happen in the future?
Simon,
ReplyDeleteYou had a good essay. I learned that Myanmar had a cyclone in 2008, which I hadn’t known before. I think you talked about some good possibilities to increase the safety in natural disasters endangered regions. I found it very interesting to learn that even elementary kids in Japan are taught how to behave during an earthquake. I think that is very helpful to have simulators like that.
And I also agree with you by saying that we can never protect ourselves totally from natural disasters, but yet I sometimes wish we could.
Daniel,
Your essay taught me a lot on the Yellow River in China. I didn’t know that there were so many floods there that caused so many people to die in the past.
I thought it was a good idea when you said that people could improve buildings to resist for instance earthquakes. I have heard of that before. If I remember it correctly, people are trying to put something on top of the buildings that keeps them from bouncing.
Emily Ann,
ReplyDeleteVery good job on your report. Like you said, I don’t think you can really prepare for a natural disaster either. Your thought about what people would realistically do in a situation like that was very good. Iv never wondered that before but I definitely agree that people aren’t going to leave their spouse or children to save their own life, unless they’re just extremely self centered. And how would you even begin to plan for a natural disaster like the ones that have happened in the past. First you’d have to know when it was going to happen and that’s just something you can’t control and most the time no one even knows when its going to happen at all. So I agree with your whole report. Good job!!
Simon,
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job especially when you talked about how other countries should prepare for natural disasters. So good job Simon I agreed with you!!
For my report, i have chosen the Tsunami that hit lower Asia on Dec. 26 , 2004. This mega tsunami was a result of the third largest Earthquake in history, with a magnatude of 9.3 ( the largest ever was in Alaska). this earthquakes origin was just off the coast of indonesia. The Earthquake and tsunami combined to kill an enormous number of people, at 225,000. Even though this was a horrible event in history, there have been even worse, such as the bubonic plague, famine in india, and the earthquake in china. But even though this natural disaster happened about 6 and a half years ago, they are still trying to recover from the damages of the tsunami. In the report about it, it says that the warned the people of Asia 2 weeks before the disaster that there could be a tsunami triggered by a subsea landslide. so they were aware that they werein danger, and the tsunami waasnt just a suprise to them. and it also says that that there could be a 9.0 earhquake off the coast of the united states. So this same thing could also happen to us. i think that they should have evacuation plans and routes set up for the people. and its pretty unlikely of a hurricane in here in Kentucky, and there arent too many tornadoes. sbut im pretty sure that Kentucky is on one of the biggest fault lines in the world, so i think we are most threatened by an earthquake.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, thanks for sharing about China's Yellow
ReplyDeleteRiver. The very thing that brings life to the people in China is also the very thing that kills them. The Yellow river helps people to go to market and be able to get to larger cites. The Yellow River helps the farmer get their produce to town. I know that China has had to build dams and remove whole villages in order to protect human life.
Jess-Megs 15:Thanks for sharing about Katrina. Katrina hit where my family is from. My grandfather worked with the Army Core of Engineers. He has always been worried about flooding in New Orleans if there was ever a disaster. I agree with you, it would be great if the government could discipline themselves to set aside a natural disaster fund. Regan did this when he was governor of California. California either has fires or mudslides.
My mother was in the aftermath of a Hurricane in Louisiana. You don't realize the simple things of food and water can be so very difficult to get. Those T.V. commercials by Tide that provide a laundry-mat on wheels show people a little bit what life is like.
To nang, great job on your essay nang. i really liked it, and enjoyed reading about your topic, which was the same one that i picked to talk about. I also think it was really neat that your dad was supposed to be there, but luckily ended up not going, and avoided the tremendous natural disaster, theat killed ohundreds of thousands. It is really unfortunate how that happened. and that all of the people lost their homes, jobs, and supplies of food. the people that did survive, im sure things were not easy for them, all of their friends and family gone, and having to restart everything again. having abslolutly no possessions. i cant imagine how hard it was for them. but great job on your essay nang. i really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteto biggin, great jo on your essay biggin, i really liked it and enjoyed reading about the bubonic plague, and how it killed so many people. but great job Biggin.
ReplyDeleteMegan_kiser13, your essay was good. And yes, you can not really prepare for such a natural disaster. It is also hard to find out about upcoming disasters even though we have lots of modern machines and a lot of scientists. That is just something you can’t hide from, and like you said people have just minutes or even seconds to climb on a high standing building or something like that to rescue themselves from the water masses. It is sad and yes losing a house or your property is bad but you can eventually get a new one, but lost people or dead people can not come back and you can’t replace them. Good job. Keep up with your good work!
ReplyDeleteDaniel, good essay. I did not know a lot about the Yellow River Flood in China, so your essay was interesting to read. Also I agree with that you can’t avoid natural disasters. And yes, maybe different way of building cities would help, at least a little. Good job, keep up your work!!
The Tangshan earthquake hit China at 3:42am on July 28, 1976 with a magnitude of 7.8. It struck an area that was totally not expecting any such disaster and killed over 240,000 people. It was the deadliest earthquake of the twentieth century. The earthquake only lasted about fourteen to sixteen seconds. The entire city was level. Industrial and residential buildings were destroyed. Water and sewage pipes were severely damaged. People began to dig through debris to answer the call of people who had been caught in the rubble. Survivors had no food, water, or electricity. Nevertheless, they all worked together to rescue people buried in the debris, set up medical centers, and search for food and temporary shelters.
ReplyDeleteNobody thought Tangshan was susceptible to an earthquake of this magnitude. The buildings weren’t built to stand during an earthquake like that. What could they have done to prepare? They had absolutely no idea what was about to hit them. In general, we can build strong buildings and have some sort of backup water supply and food. Aside from that how can you prepare? The earthquake only lasted a few seconds. I’m sure nobody thought anything that swift could be deadly.
We have been very blessed when it comes to natural disasters. I think tornadoes have been our biggest concern and somehow, they don’t even seem to qualify as “disasters” especially when compared to the Tangshan earthquake or the tsunami in Japan. Hurricanes can be a problem in surrounding states, but when it comes to Kentucky we are very protected from things like this. I suppose we should always remember that anything can happen and not to get too comfortable.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/horribledisasters/a/tangshan.htm
ReplyDeleteSimon i loved your essay it was very very well written and i agreed with everything you said. The disaster you were talking about was very sad and pitifull. It was a shame that they were pretty much trapped in there own land and could not get away and get safe. I very much so agree with what you said about the plan of evacuation and early warning systems. They would be very very usefull and help save lifes. All in all your essay was very well written and i ejoyed it very much!
ReplyDeleteabbie i enjoyed reading your essay it was very very well written and you picked a really good topic. The trajedy that happened was awful. It's a shame that sad things like that happen every day and we dont realize how luck we personally are for not having to suffer threw anything like that personally. It also shows us to never second guess anything. Anything can happen at any time any wear. I agree with you very much. We are very lucky to not to have to go threw anything like that and tornados are our worst but compared to them thats not all that bad at all. All in all your essay was great!
ReplyDeleteEmily C., I really liked your essay. Of course I had heard of the Black Plague, but I never knew much about it. Your essay was very informative and well written. Good job.
ReplyDeleteEmily D., I can’t imagine the terror the citizens must have felt when they were awakened by the massive eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. It’s sad that officials had warnings, but didn’t advise their people to evacuate. It’s hard to fathom that something like that would happen in modern times. Good essay.
Paco, I can’t believe Hurricane Katrina was nearly six years ago! The cities affected are still very far from returning to their former glory. Hopefully, this tragedy will better prepare us for future natural disasters. Very good essay!!
Eileen, I liked your essay. It’s hard to believe that the hurricane hit in 2005. It doesn’t feel that long ago. It’s true that there really isn’t much we could have done to prepare for this disaster and there isn’t really much you can do to prepare for future disasters. Hurricane Katrina will always have a little scar on New Orleans, but now we know that they are recovering, they have a reason to be very thankful.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I think your essay was great. I can’t believe one river caused so much death. I would hate to live near that river. I imagine those people are as prepared as they possibly can be, but we can never be 100% sure natural disasters won’t affect us. I think one of our biggest problems is that we think we are prepared sometimes. We get over confident and before we know it, there’s a flood or an earthquake.
I would like to discuss the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the United States. Most deaths occurred in the New Orleans, Louisiana. Nearly 2000 people died and 135 are still missing. It was a devestating time for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteMembers of my extended family have been a part of mission teams that have gone to the area to help out. My father spent the past 1.5 years in Louisiana as a structural engineer. One of his jobs was to help design a better levee system so that New Orleans would not be so easily flooded again. I believe this answers the question as to what can be done to help avoid something like this happening again. We can't stop hurricanes. That is in God's hands. But we can be ready for the destruction that hurricanes can cause. If the levee system had not been so faulty many lifes could have been spared.
My family is friends with a family from Georgetown that went and spent a couple of years in New Orleans to help rebuild it. The last time my mom was able to talk with them they shared how devestated New Orleans still is. Mrs. Luttrell said that most people have not returned to their homes. She also said that although a lot of rebuilding has taken place just a small percentage has been completed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
ReplyDeleteAbbie - You did a great job on your essay. I agree with you that we should never become too comfortable. It is easy to do that in Kentucky. Tornadoes are our worst threat and thankfully they don't happen to often around us. Being landlocked does have its very good points. When I was reading your essay it sounded a lot like the trouble going on in Japan now. Tsunamis are so deadly. It is very sad. It seems so many people have died over the years from these natural disasters - and it also seems that many of them have occurred in the Asian countries.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most elevated fears, the ones that which I am terrified of, are volcano eruptions. I chose to talk about the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. It occurred on November 13, 1985 at the town of Armero in Tolima Department of Columbia. Even though this eruption was rather small, the effect of the lahar that it produced was devastating. The deaths counted up to 25,000 people, although a great portion of those people died from a massive mudflow. The eruption of Nevado del Ruiz was later refered as the Armero Tragedy because it was recorded as the most devastating lahar eruption in that area. Nevando del Ruiz is not the only volcano of its kind in the area surrounding it. Nevado lives in the Los Nevados National Park with others, all these volcanoes pose a threat to many villages and cities nearby and far away. It is said that nearly 500,000 people could be at risk for lahar destruction.
ReplyDeleteIn such an event like this, the nation should prepare itself for natural disasters like this one, in the way of science. Like monitoring it and keeping record with pressure and lava flow. I don’t know that much to say what could affect our region most, but I would probably say flooding and earthquakes.
Sources:
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevado_del_Ruiz
Nang - what a great essay. How neat it was to read about something that happened in your own country. I am sorry that your people had to go through that. You are right that we really need to be praying for the Japanese. It is so awful what they are going through. What you have shared is very interesting. I am glad Thailand was not hit as badly as Japan. A great essay!
ReplyDeleteAshley, your essay was great! Sometimes we forget how truly devastating Katrina was. I know I do, and it was nice to read your essay and just think about it. I was going to say “think back about it” but then I decided not to because the effects of it are still here today. Just like what you said in your essay, that many still haven’t gone home yet. Six years seems like a long time to us, but in reality its not.
ReplyDeleteAbbie, I totally agree with you about the part that we are really blessed and protected here in Kentucky. We hear about all these natural disasters but truly, we have none of our own. (Except for itty bitty tornadoes) Your first paragraph was heart renching, 240,000 in only 16 seconds! Woww! That’s insane. And you said that they never thought of something happening in that region like that. It reminds me that the earth is not ours, and we have no control over it and sometimes we don’t know what it can and will do.
I chose to do my essay on the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The earthquakes epicenter was off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. This earthquake was caused by subduction , this occurs when there are two tectonic plates and one gives way from the friction and sink down into the mantle , the other plate jets up. This has caused some of the biggest earthquakes every recorded, like the 1960 Chilean earthquake. After the quake near Indonesia a chain of large tsunamis occurred. These weren’t normal tsunamis some were recorded being as tall as 30m (100ft.). These tsunamis devastated the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. This is one of the biggest natural disasters in history.
ReplyDeleteI think to prepare for events similar to this; we need to make people more alert to prevent so many injuries and casualties. Some people think we need to construct this strong immovable building to prevent collapses, but what we need to do is build more flexible building so they can adjust to the movement one the ground and move with it.
I think the natural disasters the more affect are region are tornadoes, earthquakes, and even landslides. We are in danger of earthquake because we’re sitting on the San Madrid Fault. We are in danger of tornadoes because of are climate and other factors. We are even in danger of landslides in some areas do to the flooding and unstable ground.
WORKS CITED:
http://www.livescience.com/4927-worst-natural-disasters.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami
Private Elijah,
ReplyDeleteI don't completely agree with everything you said, we can some what accurately tell when there is going to be an earthquake, and we shouldn't try to build building as strong as possible because they would actually be more susceptible to earthquake, but I do agree that we should put money aside for natural disasters and things like this. Good Essay!
christian,
Good essay, your essay had a lot of information crammed into such a small essay. Great Work!
I chose to write about a very recent natural disaster occurring in just 2005. It’s easy for us to remember the disaster that hurricane Katrina caused in the U.S. because the damages and loss it caused still remain even 7 years later. This unexpected tragedy killed 1800 people and left many more homeless with only the clothes on their back to remain. So many people all over the U.S. were affected by this in some way. Either losing a close family member or friend or seeing the remains of a once productive city nearly destroyed completely. It’s very hard to plan for such an unexpected disaster such as a hurricane to occur. I think really the only thing you can do to be prepared is to have a backup plan and place to go if something like this was to happen. In times of natural disaster the world seems to be the smallest and most helpless. There isn’t much one can do during such a devastating time as this. I think that here in Kentucky the only major natural disaster to occur would be tornadoes or flooding.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen to write about a natural disaster that I'm much more familiar with: Hurricane Katrina. This hurricane struck in August of 2005. I was in the 5th grade when it happened, and I can remember it for the most part. My mom and I even made relief packages which were sent down to New Orleans on Walmart-sponsored semi-trucks.
ReplyDeleteKatrina hit during the Atlantic hurricane season and was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. She was also the costliest natural disaster in the U.S.'s history. Unfortunately, at least 1,836 people died in the actual hurricane. The estimated total property damage was to be $81 billion.
Hurrican Katrina first formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. Katrina crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane. She landed in southest Louisiana on August 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane. She caused most of her destruction in New Orleans, Louisiana, because the levee system failed; flooding 80% of the city.
The international responses were AMAZING. Over seventy countries pledged monetary donations or other assistance. The first to offer assistance was Cuba and Venezuela (both hostile to US government themselves), pledging over $1 million, several mobile hospitals, water treatment plants, canned food, bottled water, heating oil, 1,100 doctors and 26.4 metric tons of medicine, though this aid was rejected by the U.S. government.
To answer the first question: I don't think that there is much anyone can do to prepare. {Nature is unpredictable.} And if there is, I'm very unfamiliar with it, considering we live in a place that natural disasters aren't really a big worry.
second question: I did a very little amount of research, but it looks to me like Kentucky can be most threatened by Tornadoes or Floods.
13.03.11
ReplyDeleteWiLLi Nowak
I chose to write about the "Worst Natural Disasters Ever". I read the Sumatran tsunami report. And I was very impressed. The Sumatran Tsunami has happened in December 26, 2004 in Asia. It was awful. An earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused this terrible disaster. The result was a tsunami.
This event killed more than 225,000 humans. People say that it was the worst Tsunami in recorded history. Most at the Tsunamis have
caused a lot of death in the past. For instance in Japan in 1896 a tsunami caused 27,000 deaths, and in 1755 in Lisbon was a combination between earthquake, fire and tsunami which killed 60,000 humans.
The Sumatran tsunami struck off the Northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The tsunami wave destroyed a lot of the neighborhoods where the wave was almost as high as 25 meters which is abould 70 feet. The disastrous tsunami caused destruction in eleven countries along the Indian Ocean. You felt the power in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. You got to see it in the Pacific and many other places by the tide gauges. For instance in California it got 40 cm higher. It doesnt sound so big but at least a little. To answer the question what should countries do to prepare for such events? I think the countries should have an emergency plan what the people have to and where to go in case, so not much panic breaks out. Their also should havean early warning system to measure the pressure of the earth and everything. But I think there is no way that such a event causes no death and I think its going to be really hard to improve the evecuation.
What natural disasters do you feel threaten our region the most? I cannot really talk about that but I guess nuclear disaster would be bad even though it isnt caused by the nature.
Dear Megan, your essay was good. And yes, you can not really prepare for such a natural disaster. It is also hard to find out about upcoming disasters even though we have lots of modern machines and a lot of scientists. That is just something you can’t hide from, and like you said people have just minutes or even seconds to climb on a high standing building or something like that to rescue themselves from the water masses. It is sad and yes losing a house or your property is bad but you can eventually get a new one, but lost people or dead people can not come back and you can’t replace them. Good job.
ReplyDeleteDear Daniel, good essay. I did not know a lot about the Yellow River Flood in China, so your essay was interesting to read. Also I agree with that you can’t avoid natural disasters. And yes, maybe different way of building cities would help, at least a little. Good job.