EARTHQUAKE: DEFINITION, TYPES AND STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATION

what is Earthquake

It is sudden release of energy from the interior of the Earth that cause seismic waves leads to shaking of the crust. The energy releases through the fault lines which leads to movement of tectonic plates, as the plates moves against each other. How strong an earthquake is depend on the amount of energy released and from which fault it is releasing.

TYPES OF EARTHQUAKE

The types of earthquakes depend upon its causes:

1. Tectonic earthquakes

This happens due to movement of tectonic plates. There are many major and minor plates covering whole of the earth , when these plate moves upward, downwards, sidewise against each other ,this collision causes earthquake .and the person present on ground can easily feel the movement. These kind of earthquake are very common and are very frequent to happen.

• Volcanic earthquake

These are the earthquakes which occurs in region where volcanic eruptions happen frequent. The hot magma underneath the crust when comes out with huge pressure cause earthquake.

• Collapse earthquake

When mines under the earth collapses

Causes the significant shaking of the ground causes earthquake , it is not that much destructible but can cause minimal damage.

• Human induced earthquakes

some of the activity like mining, construction of dams cause significant shaking of the ground causes earthquake. As it causes stress on fault lines.

MITIGATION STRATEGY

1. Building should be constructed in such a manner that it should be earthquake resistant.
2. The enforcement of building codes and use of modern standards.
3. An early warning system can give people significant seconds and minutes for them to prepare after detection of p wave which are the primary waves detected firsts than more destructive one which are s waves .
4. The system can give them alerts which can be used to stop trains, shutdown power grids and inform to public to evacuate the places which are full of crowd.
5. There are some areas which are high on risk of earthquake government should  make such instructions that building their should be prohibited.

• Landslide prone areas should be restricted to do constructions.

• The people who are living in such prone areas are given the training regarding preparedness.

• Drills, public education campaigns, and clear instructions regarding safety should be communicated to them.

• Building, tunnels should be constructed in such a way that they should resist the waves.

1. Local govt rescue team are trained in such a manner which can ensure quicker recovery of post earthquake.

How to measure an earthquake

The earthquake is measured using two methods:

1. To measure the intensity ( size of the earthquake)

1. Richter scale

it is used to measure the intensity of the earthquake, it is represented through whole numbers and with increase of each whole number represent a tenfold increase in amplitude and roughly 31.6 times more energy release.

• To measure impact on surface and human experience

1. Mercalli scale

It is used to measure the effect of earthquake on people, infrastructure, and environment.

It is donated using roman numbers from I (not felt) to XII (total destruction). it is based on observations.

INSTRUMENTS USED

1. SEISMOGRAPH

It is an instrument which is used to detect and record the motion of ground caused due to

Earthquake.

It show zigzag lines ,help to determine the intensity of the earthquake.

CONCLUSION

Earthquake are natural phenomena which causes a lot damage to livelihood, which cannot be prevented. By adopting some of the combination of technological, educational strategies and societies can be used to mitigate damage and protect live.