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Seismic Hazards In Haiti

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Seismic Hazards In Haiti
Seismic hazards have many different impacts around the world. An earthquake took place in Haiti 2010 and it was measured 7 on the Richter scale. The main hazard was the seismic waves caused by shifting rocks in an earthquake. There are two main types of waves, P waves and S waves. P waves travel through solids and liquids around 6-7 km/h and parallel through the rocks. S ways travel side ways at 2.5-4km/h and can only get through solids. Both waves can have a big impact on the community, a lot of buildings will collapse and as a result people will be injured and infrastructures will be damaged. Over 3.5 million people were affected by the earthquake, with 220000 fatalities and over 300000 people injured as a result of poorly constructed houses …show more content…
This is caused by shallow-focus underwater earthquake; volcanic eruption and large land slide into the sea. The displacement of the water becomes the giant sea wave and they normally have a long wavelength over 100m and low wave height when they are still in the open ocean. When it approaches shallower water near the shoreline the speed and the height increases and it can reach 700km/h. tsunami is one of the most deadly seismic hazards can cause significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake shook northeastern Japan, unleashing a savage tsunami. It killed over 15000 people and the total cost of the disaster was over $300billion and Japan is still recovering today.

Over all, tsunami has the greatest impact due to the long-term damage the people would have to face. For example in Sendai leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused the area around it to be closed for a longtime for it to be safe to enter. Japan relies on nuclear power, and many of the country's nuclear reactors remain closed because of stricter seismic safety standards since the earthquake. Four years after the quake, about 230,000 people who lost their homes were still living in temporary

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