Concerning the article entitled “The Really Big One” by Kathryn Schulz’s that was posted on July 2015 in the New Yorker, it can be noted clearly that earthquakes are majorly caused by the interactions of different plates. Some of the areas that are prominent to earthquakes are California, Alaska and Japan, with Japan mostly experiencing shocks (Schulz, 2015). According to the author, any form of major earthquake is more likely to contribute to several other tiny earthquakes. According to Seismologists, they have set standards on the estimation of earthquakes in consideration to the period in which each of them occurs.
The devastating tsunami that caused much damage had a massive magnitude of 9.0. It had extraordinary powers, though from the start, it was avoided or disregarded as a typical earthquake that takes around fifteen minutes to calm down. In history, regular earthquakes are smaller. According to Seismologists, earthquake magnitude determines how long it lasts. According to the article, fifteen seconds is appropriate for a typical shock even though, at that, some of them do record substantial damages, for instance, in the Loma Prieta earthquake in California that took place in 1989, sixty-three people lost their lives and six million dollars’ worth properties were also damaged (Schulz, 2015). The earthquake lasted for fifteen seconds with a magnitude of 6.9.
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Earthquakes do occur along the fault lines, which comes as a result of underground a fracture that arises as a result of the earth’s tectonic plate movements. One of the major fault lines that are prompt to earthquakes in the Cascadia subduction zone located at the north of San Andreas. This fault is significant in that it covers seven hundred miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, thereby making it the most desirable place where the Pacific Northwest is likely to occur (Schulz, 2015). The fault line covers a wide geographical area within the coastal area of the Pacific Northwest. Some of the prominent places that are covered by the fault line include Cape Mendocino, California as it continues all the way to Oregon and eventually, Washington.
In the Pacific Northwest, the earthquake is likely to impact a wide range area of about hundreds and forty thousand square miles. Earthquakes are natural disasters that must be treated with lots of cushions, for instance, they do lead to loss of several lives and destruction of properties, for example, In the Francisco, the 1906 earthquake claimed roughly three thousand lives (Bredeson, 2017). Additionally, roughly two thousand people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina, while about three hundred died as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
According to the article, in approximating the possible effect of the Pacific Northwest, there is a possibility of big calamity to occur more than what had been caused by the other earthquakes. In approximation by the author, depending on the research articles, more than thirteen thousand people are likely to lose their lives. About twenty-seven thousand people are expected to obtain injuries during the calamity (Bredeson, 2017). The government, through the department of the natural calamity response team, must make the necessary preparations by providing shelter for a large number of displaced individuals.
The Pacific Northwest is more likely to strike because it sits squarely within the Ring of Fire just within its coast and oceanic plate. Currently, within the government through departments that deal with natural calamities, their primary focus is on how to equip the society with better ways of responding to the looming crisis of uncertain but of catastrophic proportions. Generally, earthquakes like Tsunami are natural calamities that cause loss of lives and destruction of properties. There is a need for the government to design a well-equipped disaster management team that will offer appropriate services during such occurrences (Bredeson, 2017).
- Bredeson, K. (2017). Staging the Cascadia Earthquake before It Happens: Faultline Ensemble’s Holding onto the Sky as Community Health and Theatre Manifesto. Theatre Topics, 27(2), 95-107. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/664864/summary
- Schulz, K. (2015). The Really Big One. The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest. The New Yorker.
