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An earthquake has just raved a community and those affected have their lives turned upside down. You look around you and looming ahead of you are endless piles of debris, with houses collapsed and the world in deep turmoil. Your family members have drowned under the pain and misery of it all and life seems like it cannot be continued. Everyone you know, love or hate, has been affected both physically and emotionally. What can be done now, through all the troubles of it all, how can you deal with such demons that torment you?
Rewind barely three years before the monstrous tremors of earthquakes occurs, claiming the lives of your innocent friends and families. There are many measures that can be taken in order to prevent the impact of earthquakes to affect your family and yourself. Imagine life where these safety measures thrived, and civilization relied on intelligence of both each other and technology in order to prepare for the worse. The thought of an earthquake can be enough to keep a grown adult up at night, with sweaty palms and a racing mind. Vision what would be running through someone if a real earthquake had struck. There are many ways in which the impact of earthquakes can be limited, things that can be done before the actual tremors begin. There is a tinge of danger and helplessness that can accompany earthquakes, since earthquakes are unpredictable. This is why preparing for the worse is an integral and life-saving part of earthquake preparation.
As in many schools, especially in areas that are very prone to earthquakes, earthquake survival drills are done very frequently. In countries such as Japan and the United States, earthquake drills are held once a month. When teachers give the signal (usually "Drop!"), students are expected to get under their desks, head first, place a pillow-like object on top of their head (which protects them against falling debris) and hold onto the leg of their desks until the tremors stop and the earthquake ceases. From here, students learn to go to a meeting point where teachers call the roll, in order to see if anyone was affected or lost through the earthquake. If an earthquake occurs whilst students are playing on the school yard, they are expected to gather at the middle of the area, well away from buildings, which could collapse on them.
When an earthquake occurs, many things can happen after them, things that can pose as dangerous threats to the society. Heavily-populated cities are encompassed with water pipes, that cater the most important resource of life to those people who live in those cities. However, because of the dense amount of water pipes placed in cities, there is a very great chance that when earthquakes happen, the tremors will cause these vulnerable water pipes to burst open and crack, sending out waves of litres of water. As water is an important resource on the planet, it is important that people receive a sufficient amount of water in order to remain alive. Through loss of water because of broken pipes, it is evident that humanity will not be able to sustain. Furthermore, to help with easier for fire-fighting services to operate, a 10-day supply of water, that equates to 400,000 tonnes, is stored in earthquake-proof tanks.
Another way that earthquakes can have their impacts limited are building by certain codes that ensure structures are strong and able to stay up, even when earthquakes occur. The need to construct with quality cement and use bricks of the highest qualities is invaluable in ensuring that the most is done to allow for people to survive earthquakes. Some building techniques that are used are:
Learning from past disasters is a key tip in surviving earthquakes. If we were to learn from our past mistakes or wrongdoings, we are undoubtedly capable of being more prepared for earthquakes. An example of this being applied was during the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. The shock of the earthquake caused the pillars that held up the Great Hanshin Express Highway to topple, forcing the highway to crumbled down onto the road below. The reason behind this was because there was not enough support in the interior of the pillars. During the road to recovery, Japanese architects applied extra support, by introducing more wiring to cover the interior of the pillars, giving it more strength. Because they learnt from their architectural mistakes, they helped limit further earthquakes from endangering one of the most important transport links in Japan. The picture below shows the Great Hanshin Highway collapsing with its pillars torn off the ground.
There are many more ways in which the impact of earthquakes can be limited, and a safer, and a more earthquake-smart society is established. The journey to developing a good survival system begins with our families, and these simple strategies can be found in the sub-page of this, called "Checklist of Options".
Rewind barely three years before the monstrous tremors of earthquakes occurs, claiming the lives of your innocent friends and families. There are many measures that can be taken in order to prevent the impact of earthquakes to affect your family and yourself. Imagine life where these safety measures thrived, and civilization relied on intelligence of both each other and technology in order to prepare for the worse. The thought of an earthquake can be enough to keep a grown adult up at night, with sweaty palms and a racing mind. Vision what would be running through someone if a real earthquake had struck. There are many ways in which the impact of earthquakes can be limited, things that can be done before the actual tremors begin. There is a tinge of danger and helplessness that can accompany earthquakes, since earthquakes are unpredictable. This is why preparing for the worse is an integral and life-saving part of earthquake preparation.
As in many schools, especially in areas that are very prone to earthquakes, earthquake survival drills are done very frequently. In countries such as Japan and the United States, earthquake drills are held once a month. When teachers give the signal (usually "Drop!"), students are expected to get under their desks, head first, place a pillow-like object on top of their head (which protects them against falling debris) and hold onto the leg of their desks until the tremors stop and the earthquake ceases. From here, students learn to go to a meeting point where teachers call the roll, in order to see if anyone was affected or lost through the earthquake. If an earthquake occurs whilst students are playing on the school yard, they are expected to gather at the middle of the area, well away from buildings, which could collapse on them.
When an earthquake occurs, many things can happen after them, things that can pose as dangerous threats to the society. Heavily-populated cities are encompassed with water pipes, that cater the most important resource of life to those people who live in those cities. However, because of the dense amount of water pipes placed in cities, there is a very great chance that when earthquakes happen, the tremors will cause these vulnerable water pipes to burst open and crack, sending out waves of litres of water. As water is an important resource on the planet, it is important that people receive a sufficient amount of water in order to remain alive. Through loss of water because of broken pipes, it is evident that humanity will not be able to sustain. Furthermore, to help with easier for fire-fighting services to operate, a 10-day supply of water, that equates to 400,000 tonnes, is stored in earthquake-proof tanks.
Another way that earthquakes can have their impacts limited are building by certain codes that ensure structures are strong and able to stay up, even when earthquakes occur. The need to construct with quality cement and use bricks of the highest qualities is invaluable in ensuring that the most is done to allow for people to survive earthquakes. Some building techniques that are used are:
- Many houses and buildings are constructed over soil. There are many disadvantages to this that can cause havoc to the household. The process of liquefaction is when the strength and stiffness of soil is reduced by earthquakes, causing it to behave like a liquid. Earthquakes would force liquefaction to occur, meaning that any structure above the soil would slowly sink into the, now, liquid soil. This will cause mass destruction to houses and the belongings inside it.
- In Japan, strong buildings possess a central mass, which controls all of the swaying the occurs when earthquakes occur. The Tokyo Sky Tree was built using this system, and it has remained intact throughout its three year history. This tower was built so that there were two structures that exhibited different swaying techniques. When an earthquake occurs, these two different types of sways work together to repress the impact of an earthquake, giving the building more strength and keeping it up. Furthermore, these two structures were connected with tubes that cushioned the shock of the earthquake, adding another aspect to the tower, which would help it. The picture to the right is that of the Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo, Japan.
- Constructing a building that has an isolated base ensures that the building is much safer during an event of an earthquake. Buildings should be designed to support a vertical load, as this will provide support to the walls, roof and all the items inside to keep them standing. By isolating the base from the actual building, using isolation bearings, when an earthquake occurs, the ground will shake, as opposed to the building, because the building isn't attached to the ground.
- Building, especially with tall structures, with a counterweight system ensures that minimal impact is experienced during earthquakes. This system ensures that, when an earthquake occurs and the building leans towards one side, the other side adds weight onto it, forcing it to sway back the other way, and onto its original position. This is a very effective technique that has been enhanced in countries such as Japan and the U.S.
Learning from past disasters is a key tip in surviving earthquakes. If we were to learn from our past mistakes or wrongdoings, we are undoubtedly capable of being more prepared for earthquakes. An example of this being applied was during the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. The shock of the earthquake caused the pillars that held up the Great Hanshin Express Highway to topple, forcing the highway to crumbled down onto the road below. The reason behind this was because there was not enough support in the interior of the pillars. During the road to recovery, Japanese architects applied extra support, by introducing more wiring to cover the interior of the pillars, giving it more strength. Because they learnt from their architectural mistakes, they helped limit further earthquakes from endangering one of the most important transport links in Japan. The picture below shows the Great Hanshin Highway collapsing with its pillars torn off the ground.
There are many more ways in which the impact of earthquakes can be limited, and a safer, and a more earthquake-smart society is established. The journey to developing a good survival system begins with our families, and these simple strategies can be found in the sub-page of this, called "Checklist of Options".