Effects of Earthquakes: Earthquake

EARTHQUAKE
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the perceptible shaking of the
surface of the Earth, which can be violent enough to destroy major buildings and kill thousands
of people. The severity of the shaking can range from barely felt to violent enough to toss people
around. Earthquakes have destroyed whole cities. They result from the sudden release of energy
in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of
an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.
Effects of earthquakes
The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the following:
Shaking and ground rupture

Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in
more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local
effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from
the epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or
reduce wave propagationThe ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.
Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high levels of
shaking on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or
local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep soils
to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical
setting of the deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of
the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground
rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power
stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any which are likely to break
the ground surface within the life of the structure.
Landslides and avalanches

Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave attack, and wildfires, can
produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide danger may
persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.
Fires
Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water
mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire
once it has started. For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquakewere
caused by fire than by the earthquake itself.
Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material (such
as sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction
may cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits
Tsunami
Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt
movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between wave crests can
surpass 100 kilometers (62 mi), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour.
Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373497 miles per hour), depending on water
depth. Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby
coastal areas in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across
open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.
Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not cause
tsunamis, although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive tsunamis are
caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.
Floods
A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land. Floods occur usually when the
volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the total capacity of the
formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of the normal perimeter of the
body. However, floods may be secondary effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged.
Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers, which collapse and cause floods.
EARTHQUAKE IN NEPAL APRIL 2015

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed more than
8,800 people and injured more than 23,000. It occurred at 11:56 NST on 25 April, with a
magnitude of 7.8M
The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19, making April 25,
2015 the deadliest day on the mountain in history. The earthquake triggered another huge
avalanche in the Langtangvalley, where 250 people were reported missing.
Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened, across
many districts of the country. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World Heritage
sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Kathmandu Durbar Square,
the Patan Durbar Squar, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan Temple and
the Swayambhunath Stupa. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal
was vulnerable to a deadly earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and
architecture
.
Damage and casualties

The aftershock caused mass panic as many people were living in the open air after the 25 April
quake. For the first seconds, it was complete silence. By the fifth second, everybody started to
scream", said an eyewitness. "It was really, really intense. Even when the shaking stopped,
people were still screaming".The tremor caused fresh landslides, and destroyed some buildings
which survived the first quake.
In Nepal, at least 153 people were killed by the earthquake and more than 3,200 people were
injured, primarily in mountain regions of the northeast. As of 15 May, 1,700 people were still
receiving treatment for their injuries. Thirty-two of the nation's seventy-five districts were affected
by the quake. In Kathmandu, the streets were quickly filled as people fled buildings. Within hours
of the quake, tents began to fill open areas of the city as residents were afraid to go back
inside. The district of Sindhupalchowk, which was also hit hard in the original quake, was among
the worst affected areas. Between the two quakes, 95% of the areas houses were
destroyed. Areas around Mount Everest also saw fresh damage.
Casualties by country
Country
Deaths
Injuries
Nepal
153
3,275
India
62
~200
Bangladesh
~150
China
218
3,500+
Total
In India, Delhi Metro service was briefly interrupted as people fled their homes and places of
employment. At least 17 people were killed by the quake in India. Sixteen of the deaths occurred
in Bihar and one in Uttar Pradesh.

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EARTHQUAKE

Shaking and ground rupture

Landslides and avalanches

EARTHQUAKE IN NEPAL APRIL 2015

Damage and casualties

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