In the year 2010, two magnified earthquakes had happened in the west hemisphere. When people lamented about the death of friends and families, the differences in casualties and collapse between these two earthquakes raise people’s awareness. In January, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake stroked Haiti, causing 220,000 people died. In contrast, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake which released 500 times more energy than Haiti’s, rattled Chile but only causes 525 people to die. When seeking the answers to the huge differences, scientists discovered that geological differences as well as social factors both helped to minimize death toll and infrastructure failures.
Geological Aspects
There are three aspects included in geological aspects: tectonic settings, …show more content…
Besides, it is important to note the differences in the depth of the focus. Shallow-focus earthquakes, those with a focus not deep in the earth are more destructive than deep-focus earthquakes because the distance is not far enough to eliminate the intensity. It is shown that the Chilean earthquake occurred 22 miles beneath the ground, twice as deep as the Haitian quake. The implication is that there are “twice as much earth to absorb the shock before it reached building foundations”(The Week staff, 2010). Intense ground shaking added much more stresses to buildings. Within several seconds, the intense shaking could cause collapse and buried people underneath …show more content…
The number of deaths attributable to the collapse of dwellings is influenced by population density and the vulnerability of building stock in the epicentral region (Bilham, 2011). In Haiti, there were no building codes for the earthquake. The buildings are shoddily constructed that people can easily tell that those would not survive any earthquakes. Based on a study by the Organization of American States, structures in Haiti were built on slopes without proper foundations or containment structures. Haitian government did not have any enforcements on how to construct houses, causing citizens build structures using improper building practices and insufficient steel (Watkins, 2010). Such structures would not have any ability to defense the intense ground shaking occurred in Haitian earthquake, and would collapse very quickly. Comparing with the under preparation of Haitian government, Chilean survived from strict building codes put in place after devastating earthquake happened previously (Robbins, 2010). Because Chile is an earthquake country, the country’s building codes require that all new buildings must be able to survive a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. They enforce the codes in detail saying that the buildings can crack, tilt or even be declared unfit for future use, but it must not collapse during an earthquake (Franklin, 2015). The solid materials which strengthen the
Geological Aspects
There are three aspects included in geological aspects: tectonic settings, …show more content…
Besides, it is important to note the differences in the depth of the focus. Shallow-focus earthquakes, those with a focus not deep in the earth are more destructive than deep-focus earthquakes because the distance is not far enough to eliminate the intensity. It is shown that the Chilean earthquake occurred 22 miles beneath the ground, twice as deep as the Haitian quake. The implication is that there are “twice as much earth to absorb the shock before it reached building foundations”(The Week staff, 2010). Intense ground shaking added much more stresses to buildings. Within several seconds, the intense shaking could cause collapse and buried people underneath …show more content…
The number of deaths attributable to the collapse of dwellings is influenced by population density and the vulnerability of building stock in the epicentral region (Bilham, 2011). In Haiti, there were no building codes for the earthquake. The buildings are shoddily constructed that people can easily tell that those would not survive any earthquakes. Based on a study by the Organization of American States, structures in Haiti were built on slopes without proper foundations or containment structures. Haitian government did not have any enforcements on how to construct houses, causing citizens build structures using improper building practices and insufficient steel (Watkins, 2010). Such structures would not have any ability to defense the intense ground shaking occurred in Haitian earthquake, and would collapse very quickly. Comparing with the under preparation of Haitian government, Chilean survived from strict building codes put in place after devastating earthquake happened previously (Robbins, 2010). Because Chile is an earthquake country, the country’s building codes require that all new buildings must be able to survive a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. They enforce the codes in detail saying that the buildings can crack, tilt or even be declared unfit for future use, but it must not collapse during an earthquake (Franklin, 2015). The solid materials which strengthen the