This blog contains information about Earthquakes. It starts with, the definition of Earthquake. This also discuss Seismic Waves and Plate Tectonics. It also discusses the Convergent, Divergent and Transform Boundaries. Then it explains the Main Causes of Earthquakes. In the end, it elaborates the Effects of Earthquake. This blog contains Boundaries, Components and Effects of Earthquake.
What is Earthquake?
A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the Earth’s crust or volcanic action. It is a natural disaster and it is occurred by sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting in waves of shaking that radiates outwards from the Earthquake source.
Seismic Waves:
Seismic waves are commonly called as Earthquake waves. These are vibrations generated by an earthquake and propagated within the earth or along the Earth’s surface. There are four principal types of elastic waves: two, primary and secondary waves, travel within Earth, whereas the other two, Rayleigh and Love waves, called surface waves, travel along its surface. In addition, seismic waves can be produced artificially by explosions.
Plate Tectonics:
The Earth’s outer most layer fragments with 16 slabs called Tectonic plates. These slabs forms the lithosphere, which comprises of the crust and upper part of mantle. Tectonic plates moves very slowly relative to each other, typically a few centimeter every year. But this movement causes a huge amount of deformation at the plate boundaries, which in turns results in Earthquake. These plates are on the Aesthenosphere which is a layer of hot fluid. Changes in this layer cause Earthquake. The Aesthenosphere undergo changes and cause these plates to move and cause Earthquakes. There are three possibilities that can cause the occurrence of Earthquake:
Convergent Boundaries:
This is the condition in which two plates slide colloid with each other and it is head on collision. This cause most destructive and damaging Earthquakes. In convergent boundary, one plate will is forced beneath another called the process of subduction.
Divergent Boundaries:
In this condition, the tectonic plates move apart from each other. In this the plates change their position and move apart from each other due to change in Aesthenosphere. This movement cause earthquake.
Transform Boundaries:
In this condition, the plates moves past each other or slide on earth other and change their position. This is the horizontal movement of plates sliding on each other so this can cause an Earthquake.
These are the types of Boundaries of Earthquake.
Components of Earthquake:
Following are the main components of Earthquake:
Faults:
Earthquakes are caused mostly by the rupture of geological faults but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, fracking and nuclear tests. It is basically a fracture within the Earth’s crust that occurs as the cause of Earthquake.
Focus or Hypocenter:
The focus of an earthquake is a location at some depth in the earth where seismic wave radiation begins so this is the starting point of an Earthquake, where the seismic activity starts. It is the starting point of seismic activity.
Epicenter:
This is the the point on the Earth’s surface vertically, above the focus of an earthquake so it is the point on which the earthquake points on the surface of the Earth. It is the point visible to us on the Earth’s surface.
Types of Faults:
Following are the Types of Faults:
1: Normal Faults:
It is a dip-slip in which block above the fault has moved downwards relative to the block below. This occurs in response to extension. In this, the a plate is subduct under the other plate. Normal dip-slip faults are produced by vertical compression as Earth’s crust lengthens.
2: Reverse Faults:
This Fault movement is brought about by compressional powers and results in shortening. An opposite shortcoming is known as a push shortcoming on the off chance that the plunge of the issue plane is little.
3: Strike-slip Faults:
Strike-slip Fault, in geography, a crack in the stones of Earth’s covering in which the stone masses slip past each other lined up with the strike, the crossing point of a stone surface with the surface or another flat plane.
These are the three types of Faults that cause the Earthquake condition on land. This blog contains Boundaries, Components and Effects of Earthquake.
Types of Earthquake:
Following are the basic Types of Earthquake:
Tectonic Earthquakes:
These Earthquakes occurs when the earth’s crust breaks because of the geologic forces on the rocks because of the physical and chemical changes within the Earth’s crust. This is totally natural and the force causing the earthquake is within the Earth’s surface.
Volcanic Earthquakes:
These type of Earthquake, occurs as a result of tectonic forces created by any type of volcanic activity. When volcanic activity is at extreme and it cause the land shaking, then this earthquake happens. This type of earthquake only happen due to volcanic activity. No other cause is involves.
Collapse Earthquakes:
This Earthquakes are small underground caverns and mines that are caused by seismic waves produced from expansion of rocks on the surface so expansion of rocks cause the rocks to touch each other and form seismic waves causing Earthquake.
Explosion Earthquakes:
An explosion earthquake is an earthquake that is the result of the detonation of a nuclear and/or chemical device. This earthquake is the response to any Nuclear Explosion on any such disaster on the Earth’s surface.
These are the types of Earthquakes. This blog contains Components, Effects and Boundaries of Earthquake.
Effects of Earthquake:
1. Wound infections
Most of the immediate deaths and injuries will have been caused by buildings collapsing, or people being stuck in fires triggered by the earthquake. Injuries could range from minor bruises and cuts to serious fractures, crush injuries and burns, plus the effects of inhaling large amounts of dust and debris. Further problems, such as dehydration and hypothermia, will set in the longer victims remain stuck or without shelter.
2. Infectious disease
Large earthquakes create ideal conditions for the spread of infectious diseases. Water-borne diseases such as cholera can flourish in unsanitary conditions caused by damage to water passageways and water treatment plants, while over-crowded shelters aid the spread of other diseases, including measles and respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19.
3. Chronic conditions
People with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease are also at heightened risk. Not only can their access to drugs and ongoing medical care be disrupt, studies have suggested an increase in rates of heart attack and stroke from the first month to up to three years after an earthquake. They have also recorded higher rates of diabetes among earthquake-affected individuals.
4. Healthcare disruption
It is not only those with chronic diseases whose health could suffer. Earthquakes often cause damage to health facilities and transport links, making it harder to deliver services and for patients to access care. Even before the earthquake, medical facilities in northwest Syria were struggling to operate, resulting in shortages of staff, drugs, and medical equipment, and hospitals having to scale back services.
5. Psychological trauma
Earthquake survivors often experience symptoms such as anxiety, low mood, emotional ups and downs, and poor sleep in the month or so after the event. Some of them will also develop longer term mental health problems, such as depression or Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some of those from Syria will already have experienced multiple displacements in recent years, on top of losing friends, also family members and their homes. This blog contains Boundaries, Components and Effects of Earthquake.
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