Beautiful disaster 3

Contents

Survivor talks 5

Explaining natural disasters 6What do you think? 9

1

Created byTaras Priadka and Zev Kalechofsky

Cover picture was taken by Songquan Deng

Beautiful disaster 3

Contents

Survivor talks 5

Explaining natural disasters 6What do you think? 9

1

Created byTaras Priadka and Zev Kalechofsky

Cover picture was taken by Songquan Deng

Earthquake

Article was written by Henry Spall Pictures was taken byArnold Genthe and Andy Campbell

Mr. Bert L. Smith, Jr., was born in Eureka, Nevada, and was in the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, at the time of the great earthquake of 1906. Now retired, he lives with his wife, Emily, in Santa Rosa,Califonia, 45 miles north of San Francisco. From 1926 to his retirement in 1966, he had various assignments in the �eld of agriculture with such organizations as the U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies and State and Federal farm and water agencies. For 18 years he was involved in activties of the Commmonwealth Club of California and has been a Regent of the University of California.

H.S.: What happened at 5:18 a.m. the next morning? Smith: Well, of course, it was dark at the time. I remember distinctly being awakened by the earthquake - and the shock, the terror of it all. And the efforts of my mother to calm us children as best she could. Then we heard the panic from the room next door where out friends, the George Bartletts, were staying. They couldn't get to their children in an adjoining room because the earthquake had jammed the door shut.

H.S.: What did your family do then? Smith: Well, you must remember that I was a small child at the time, and at that age you don't recall all the minute details. But several distinct memories have stuck in my mind. I recall being dressed on the bottom steps of the magni�cent stairway in the lobby of the hotel. There was fallen plaster from the ceiling all around us, and I couldn't help wondering if the chandeliers were going to fall, too.

H.S.: Did the earthquake have any long-lasting effects on your family? Smith: I don't think my mother ever recovered from the shock of going through something like that. From that day on she always wanted to have a light on at night or a candle with matches. She was never going to be caught in the dark again. She always had a money belt with money in it of course. When you think about it, these were very sensible precautions.

H.S.: What about your father? Smith: My father took it almost routinely. After the ups and downs of the mining business, he was used to commotions. We moved back to Eureka and then to Rhyolite. The next year, 1907, was very bad in mining, and our af�uence was gone. We moved to Tonopah, then to Elko. My father just moved around according to the changing fortunes of the mining ventures in Nevada.

Survivor Interview

For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the waters, which over time �owed higher because silt accumulat-ed on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising river, swollen by days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes on around 28 September, causing a massive �ood. Since there is no international unit to measure a �ood's strength it is usually classi�ed by the extent of the damage done, depth of water left and number of casualties.

FloodThe waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayuankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the �ood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimated 50,000 square miles (130,000 km2), swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the �ood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly to the �ood. It was one of the worst �oods in history, though the later 1931 Yellow River �ood may have killed as many as four million.

Pictures taken by:Campbell Phillips

Article written by:Zev K.

On the night of July 9, 1958 an earthquake along the Fairweather Fault in the Alaska Panhandle loosened about 40 million cubic yards (30.6 million cubic meters) of rock high above the northeastern shore of Lituya Bay. This mass of rock plunged from an altitude of approximately 3000 feet (914 meters) down into the waters of Gilbert Inlet (see map below). The impact generated a local tsunami that crashed against the southwest shoreline of Gilbert Inlet.

Tsunami

The wave hit with such power that it swept completely over the spur of land that separates Gilbert Inlet from the main body of Lituya Bay. The wave then continued down the entire length of Lituya Bay, over La Chaussee Spit and into the Gulf of Alaska. The force of the wave removed all trees and vegetation from elevations as high as 1720 feet (524 meters) above sea level. Millions of trees were uprooted and swept away by the wave. This is the highest wave that has ever been known.

Pictures taken from National Geographics

Article written by:Zev K.

The World’s largest earthquake with an instrumentally documented magnitude occurred on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia, in southern Chile. It was assigned a magnitude of 9.5 by the United States Geological Survey. It is referred to as the "Great Chilean Earthquake" and the "1960 Valdivia Earthquake". The United States Geological Survey reports this event as the "largest earthquake of the 20th Century". Other earthquakes in recorded history may have been larger, however this is the largest earthquake that has occurred since accurate estimates of magnitude became possible in the early 1900's.

The earthquake occurred beneath the Paci�c Ocean off the coast of Chile. Ground motion from this earthquake destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings. The Chilean government estimated that about 2,000,000 people were left homeless. It was fortunate that the earthquake occurred in the middle of the afternoon and was preceded by a powerful foreshock. That foreshock frightened most people from their buildings, placing them outside when the main earthquake occurred.

Earthquake

Pictures taken by:Henry Spall

Belis Etem’s View on Natural Disasters

5.22.16

“My experience with natural disasters is that it’s important to be ready at all times in life in case one strikes. This involves stocking up on water and canned and dry foods which can be stored somewhere easily accessible. I once took a class on this. I learned that you should always have a pair of shoes under your bed, a �ashlight, and a pair of glasses tied to your bed (if you wear glasses). If an earthquake happens at night, you would then be prepared because earthquakes can shatter windows and you would have extra shoes! And earthquakes knock out lights, and you would have a �ashlight. I also learned that during such a time you have to quickly turn off the gas coming to your house to prevent �res.”