Natural Disasters Paper
Hunter Herdt
Dr. Schiesser
Geological Disasters
12 October 2011
What Should We Be Doing? Natural disasters occur on Earth every day. They range from earthquake that can’t be felt to Tsunamis that kill and destroy millions of dollars of property. No matter big or small they happen and the best geologist can predict them to a certain degree yet no natural occurring disaster can be entirely predicted or stopped. People seem to look to blame something or someone for these things but we are only able to do so much to lessen the consequences of these disasters. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. It killed 16,000 people and preserved the city of Pompeii by completely covering it in a pyroclastic cloud of searing hot ash and rock. The cloud moved at speeds of 100-650 MPH at temperatures that ranged from 100 Celsius to 1200 Celsius. These people had zero knowledge of any of the dangers they were putting themselves in on a daily basis. They were not living on the age or thought it was cool to live by a giant destructive volcano. They were simply unaware of the danger because there was no knowledge of it. These people cannot be blamed for this horrific disaster they were caught up in. And in that day in age nobody was aware of the danger. For the people of Pompeii there was no way to lessen the consequences of their disaster because they had no knowledge of the possibility of the disaster itself. The Sumatra earthquake disaster was extremely devastating. It claimed 286,000 lives and caused irreversible damage to the landscape. It recorded a 9.0 on the Richter scale and induced megathrust, with a vertical displacement of between 30ft and 50ft and 75 miles long(Iris). It lasted for eight minutes and without warning systems the victims of these disasters didn’t have a chance. In this case money was a huge reason why the death total was so big. Without enough funds to provide the city of Indonesia with the proper early warning system countless lives were lost.
Dr. Schiesser
Geological Disasters
12 October 2011
What Should We Be Doing? Natural disasters occur on Earth every day. They range from earthquake that can’t be felt to Tsunamis that kill and destroy millions of dollars of property. No matter big or small they happen and the best geologist can predict them to a certain degree yet no natural occurring disaster can be entirely predicted or stopped. People seem to look to blame something or someone for these things but we are only able to do so much to lessen the consequences of these disasters. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. It killed 16,000 people and preserved the city of Pompeii by completely covering it in a pyroclastic cloud of searing hot ash and rock. The cloud moved at speeds of 100-650 MPH at temperatures that ranged from 100 Celsius to 1200 Celsius. These people had zero knowledge of any of the dangers they were putting themselves in on a daily basis. They were not living on the age or thought it was cool to live by a giant destructive volcano. They were simply unaware of the danger because there was no knowledge of it. These people cannot be blamed for this horrific disaster they were caught up in. And in that day in age nobody was aware of the danger. For the people of Pompeii there was no way to lessen the consequences of their disaster because they had no knowledge of the possibility of the disaster itself. The Sumatra earthquake disaster was extremely devastating. It claimed 286,000 lives and caused irreversible damage to the landscape. It recorded a 9.0 on the Richter scale and induced megathrust, with a vertical displacement of between 30ft and 50ft and 75 miles long(Iris). It lasted for eight minutes and without warning systems the victims of these disasters didn’t have a chance. In this case money was a huge reason why the death total was so big. Without enough funds to provide the city of Indonesia with the proper early warning system countless lives were lost.
Cited: "History of Johnstown Flood." jaha. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/history.html>. "Sumatra." Iris. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://www.iris.iris.edu/sumatra/>. Lynch, David. "San Andres Fault Line." Geology.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct 2011. <http://geology.com/articles/san-andreas-fault.shtml>.