2. What is an earthquake?
• A sudden movement of the earth’s lithosphere
(it’s crust and upper mantle). Earthquakes are
caused by the release of built up stress within
rocks along geological faults or by the movement
of magma in volcanic areas. They are usually
followed by aftershocks
3. Why is it important?
• This is the world’s largest earthquake ever
recorded occurring on May 22, 1960 commonly
known as “The 1960 Valdivia Earthquake”
• The first earthquake measured in at a 7.6
magnitude, the second earthquake the next
day measured in at a magnitude of 9.5
• This earthquake resulted in a tsunami with
waves recorded as high as 82 feet
4. The Nazca plate is largely associated with the amount
and intensity of Chile’s earthquakes. This ongoing
subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench, of the Nazca
plate under the South American plate is largely
responsible for the orogeny.
5. This earthquake of 1960 was so powerful, that the shock
traveled from Chile, all the way to Japan, Hawaii, New
Zealand, and the Philippines.
6. This earthquake was estimated
to have caused $400-$800
million dollars in damages, left
over 2 million people homeless,
and was said to have killed
2,200-5,700 people. The
margins are so large because a
majority of bodies were never
recovered.
7. How does it affect life on
Earth?
• This earthquake affected life on Earth tremendously by
leaving over half of the building in the area uninhabitable.
• We often have the misconception that only the direct
location that the earthquake occurred would be affected
and this simply is not true.
• According to United States Geological Survey, there was
“$75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50
million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the
Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of
the United States.
8. Are there any solutions?
• There really are no solutions to fix he “Earthquakes” themselves, but
we can definitely invest more time, money, and resources into
staying prepared for an earthquake.
• Such as:
• -Buildings being constructed to withstand high magnitude
earthquakes.
• -Properly trained emergency response teams ready and prepared for
such occasions.
• -People staying prepared with personal emergency earthquake kits.
• -Proper work/classroom procedures in case of an emergency.
10. It is important to have a plan if there is ever another
major earthquake. The shaking ground itself is not the
factor that claims lives, its the destruction of man
made structures and instigation from tsunamis and
landslides that claims lives. Each year Southern
California has an average of 10,000 earthquakes,
although most of them go unnoticed and unfelt.
11. In case of emergency
1. React Safely. Learn what to do during an
earthquake.
2. Take Cover. In each room of your home, identify
the safest places to “drop, cover, and hold on”
during an earthquake.
3. Try to stay in contact. ...
4. Care for People, Pets, and Property.
