Prepare yourself!

Serena Juma

I’ve lived in Bellevue my entire life, and usually, nothing out of the ordinary happens.  When I was in first grade, I sat through my first earthquake.  At first, I heard this almost loud tapping sound, which was followed by the ground quivering beneath me.  I followed my instinct, and got half way under my desk, but noticed no one else was ducking.  As I popped back up, my teacher reassured the class that there were workers on the roof, but when a more thunderous shake came about, we dove for the ground.  No one was expecting an earthquake in boring, old Bellevue.  My personal experience has taught me to always anticipate and prepare for the worst when you live in an area that is at risk.

            Even though that was ten years ago, the memory of February 22, 2001 hasn’t diluted from in my mind.  Earthquakes are taken more seriously now that the people of the greater Seattle area have experienced one in their lifetimes.  I have observed that there are more frequently earthquake drills in Bellevue School District, and people are more aware that the Juan De Fuca plate is right on the coastline.  Although the magnitude was 6.8, the Nisqually Earthquake was not detrimental due to the focus depth being 51 feet.  The focus depth of an earthquake affects the severity of the tremors; the deeper it is, the less violently the ground shakes.  Washington is at risk of earthquakes because it’s on the coast and right by a fault line.  Because of this, Washingtonians take precautionary measures to avoid casualties and detrimental damage to buildings.  So, if a quake does happen, it doesn’t stop people from living their daily lives.

            Earthquakes can happen unexpectedly anywhere on the planet.  One could happen somewhere that hasn’t had a quake in many lifetimes, like Haiti’s first earthquake in 240 years, in January 2010.  Or, one could occur where the majority of the population has experienced at least one throughout their lifetime.  An example would be Chile, with the largest earthquake ever recorded in 1960. People that live in high-risk areas for earthquakes are ready for one when it hits.  In Chile, the majority of their buildings are designed with earthquakes in mind, and the Chilean citizens have been trained to stay put and get under cover.  On February 27, 2010, Chile experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8, with a total of 512 casualties.  On January 12^th, 2010, Haiti endured a 7.0 magnitude quake, and more than 230,000 lives were lost.  This shows that being prepared for an earthquake can save hundred of thousands of lives.  Knowing that one could occur, and how to protect yourself ensures order. The citizens of Chile were not chaotic and frantic when it happened; they got under furniture for cover and buildings still stood tall.  But, for places that earthquakes aren’t as prominent in, the people have less knowledge about what to do when one happens, and how to ensure that little damage is done.  Therefore, the outcomes are more severe.  This is why Haiti faced such horror in 2010, and had 540x as many deaths as Chile when it had a harder-hitting earthquake.  Most major cities in the world are built on the coastline and near fault lines.  This is due to the usage of ports and necessity of water, but this choice puts people at high risk for a natural disaster.  The areas that choose to prepare, are the places that are most prosperous due the fact that there is less damage to repair afterwards.

            When two solid substances grind against each other, there is going to be friction that causes shaking; this is what an earthquake is.  The severity of the earthquake can also be based on the type of fault that it is caused by.  Normal faults are the type of cracks where one plate is sliding away from another. These faults are common where a plate is slowly splitting apart or where two plates are pulling away from each other.  Reverse faults are cracks that are formed when a plate is thrust against another one. They also occur when a plate is being folded up because a different plate is compressing it.  Strike-slip faults are known as the cracks between two plates that are sliding past each other.  The type of rupture that caused the Chile earthquake was a “mega-thrust fault alone a subduction zone offshore.”  This is a type of reverse fault, but occurs at the plate boundaries and creates a large quake.  The Haiti earthquake was caused by “thrust faulting along a strike-slip system,” which is a strike-slip, but occurs in a crack of earth, so the pressure is relieved.  Even with a more fatal type of fault, Chile still received less damage because it’s in a high-risk area and was prepared because they frequently occur there. 

            After experiencing a significant earthquake, I was more aware of the reasons why Washington prepares for them.  No one saw it coming, and neither did anyone else that has experienced one.  Even the citizens of Chile and Haiti didn’t know an earthquake was going to happen before it hit.  The only thing that humans can do is to anticipate and be ready for when one does happen.