Earthquake and Casualties

(From Chapter One)

Part 1  An Earthquake in the Middle East

It was the summer of 1961, late at night when for the first time in my life I felt an earthquake. Since we were hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter, all we felt was the gentle movement of our building. At that point, all we knew was that it must have been a strong yet far away earthquake.

Later on, I was sent on a mission to that area, when I saw the destruction and the casualties, which made me realize how powerful the earthquake was.

Thousands of square kilometers of rugged land were severely shaken, and about thirty villages were destroyed. Among those villages, there was one in which hundreds of people used to live, with many public buildings. What was left was some piles of dirt that used to be buildings and about 20 injured persons.

Part 2  EARTHQUAKE IN LOS ANGELES

In recent years, many earthquakes have shook Los Angeles county, of which 2 were severe and remarkable.

The 1989 earthquake in L.A. left some casualties, and destruction in a limited area. But what was quite noticeable was the extremely loud sound similar to an explosion. This is the case which happens in many earthquakes. Another example is the earthquake that happened in Kobe, Japan in January of 1995, where a loud sound was heard when the quake hit.

The other earthquake happened in Northridge, January of 1994, a city in LA. county. There were about 50 casualties, and much destruction. Within a 30 mile radius, in addition to buildings, many multi level parking lots of shopping center were demolished.

The remarkable case is the nine thousand low magnitude earthquakes which happened over many months following the quake, called “After Shocks.

The focus of this earthquake was at a depth of ten miles underneath the ground.

Since an earthquake has Omni direction, we can imagine that about thirty thousand Cubic Miles of rugged ground was severely shaken.

A huge amount of energy is required to do this job.

So far, we have explained what happens during an earthquake, for those readers who have never experienced one. This will give them an idea, and help them to follow the upcoming discussions about earth-quake.

The known facts about earthquakes, up to this point, besides demolishing, are:

*The effects of an earthquake indicate that it

is caused by a sudden release of energy.

*The released energy as registered is a point

called Focus.

*Small magnitude earthquakes are often

called After Shocks.

*Earthquakes can not be anticipated.

(54 pages)