四川大地震By Angela, Clara, Jessica

Content• Richter Scale

• Magnitude of Quake• Details of Sichuan Earthquake• Primary, Secondary Effects of

Earthquake• Human & Monetary Costs• Why was it destructive?

• How could it have been avoided?

Richter Scale

Also known as Richter magnitude test scale, is a logarithmic scale used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake, ranging from 0-8 or more. On the Richter

scale, the magnitude of the earthquake is usually shown as whole number and a decimal number.

Normally, an earthquake that has a magnitude lesser than 3 is considered as a micro quake

which sometimes can’t even be felt by people. Earthquakes that are more than 7 on the Richter

scale is considered as a major earthquake.

Details

Where? Sichuan province, mountainous region in Western China

When?2008-05-12 14:28 CST

How?Convergence of Indian & Eurasian Plates

The depth of the earthquake is about 19 km. It killed about 70,000 people and more

than 18,000 people had gone missing. It affected more than 15 million of people living in the other areas and there were

quite a lot of aftershocks.

Magnitude: 7.9

Effects of the Damage

Primary Effects• Killed 69,000 people approximately• 18,000 people had gone missing after the earthquake• Damaged the communication such as road or phone

lines.• Destroyed more than 5 million building.

Secondary Effects• More than 5 million people became

homeless• More than one million people became

jobless• The landslides blocking rivers may cause

floods• Shortage of supplies eg. food, water &

toilet facilities.

Human & Monetary Cost

Deaths: 69225Injured: 374171

Missing: 18467

About one trillion yuan is needed to reconstruct the area

Why was this quake was particularly

destructive?

Reason 1:The origin of quake was just 19km below the

Earth’s surface, which caused “extremely powerful shaking felt”. The closer the origin is to the Earth’s surface, the stronger the effect.

Reason 2:Many school buildings were poorly constructed,

which caused about 10000 students to have died when the 7000 classrooms and dormitory

rooms have collapsed during the quake.

Reason 3:The earthquake lasted for 80 seconds, causing the ground surface to shift about 7m near the epicenter of the quake, the effect becoming thirty times more powerful than the quake in

1995 in Kobe, Japan.

How damage could have

been avoided?

The collapse of schools, hospitals, factories during the quake led to doubts of buildings’ safety in

China. If the government had put in more money to ensure the buildings to have better resistance

in such events, especially schools, a lot less would have been killed.

Not many of the schools in Sichuan practiced evacuation during an earthquake, thus students

may have been injured/killed due to lack of knowledge of how to protect themselves. If

schools had drills of such, less students would have been hurt.

References1. Jeanna Bryner (2008) Why The China Quake Was So Devastating,

Retrieved from: http://www.livescience.com/2527-china-quake-devastating.html

2. Facts and Details (2011) Sichuan Earthquake in 2008: Geology, Damage. And Possible Cause. Retrieved from: http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=407&catid=10&subcatid=65

3. The New York Times (2009) Sichuan Earthquake, Retrieved from: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/earthquakes/sichuan_province_china/index.html

4. BBC News.(N.D).Mapping the earthquake zone.Retrieved from. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7400614.stm

5. Tudorgeog.(December 24th 2009).Sichuan Earthquake 2008.Retrieved from. http://www.slideshare.net/tudorgeog/sichuan-earthquake-2773783

6. Caltech.edu.(November 26th 2008).The science behind China’s 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Retrieved from. http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/highlights/2008MayChinaEQ/

References1. China.org.cn.(N.D).Magnitude of Sichuan Earthquake revised

to 8.0. Retrieved from. http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2008-05/19/content_15326773.htm

2. Geology.com.(N.D).Eastern Sichuan, China earthquake.Retrieved from. http://geology.com/events/sichuan-china-earthquake/

3. The New York Times.(May 6th 2009).Sichuan Earthquake.Retrieved from. http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/earthquakes/sichuan_province_china/index.html

4. Michael.A.(2012).What is the Richter scale Retrieved from.http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-richter-scale.htm

5. Tom.H.(2012).How Earthquakes work. Retrieved from. http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/earthquake6.htm

6. USGS.gov.(October 27th 2009). Retrieved from. The Richter Magnitude Scale. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/richter.php

CreditsResearch done by Angela, Clara, Jessica

Photos found by JessicaPhotos edited/PPT done by ClaraReferences done by Clara, Jessica