Preparing for the Extreme Events, Essay Example

Earthquakes

The subject that will be viewed in the essay is the characteristics of geological faults.  The question that will be explored is the following: Are faults that are experiencing active creep (relativelyconsistent but minor movement) considered safe? The answers to the question will be reviewed from the perspective of Hung (2003), Marsh and Kaufman (2013), Rymer et al. (2006) and Smith (2013).

Earthquakes

Earthquakes take place when the layers of the earth experience an abrupt rupture and fracturing of rock that is under tension.  The rock that is under tension experiences rapid vertical and horizontal motions that can be attributed to the block which are laterally aligned with the surface of the rupture.  The failure of these blocks takes police when the strain surpasses the intervallimits of the bonds that maintain the rock mass in a cohesive state.  The motions that are failures are catastrophic liberations of energy.  An elevated proportion of the tension that is experienced by the rock is transformed into ground spams and vibrations.  After the earth quake, the tension begins to accumulate once again until it is released (Hung, 2003; Marsh & Kaufman, 2013; Rymer et al., 2006; Smith, 2013).

Creep Movements

The faults that are experiencing creep movements should be considered as relatively safe. This is attributedto the decrease of the tension that has been accrued in the rocks along the fault area. The absence of creep may demonstrate two distinct conditions. The fault may be experiencing creep; however, the creep cannot be detected due to the tectonicstress that affixes the rocks in position. Consequently, a potential energy that is delineated as elastic strain is produced.  In the second circumstance, the movement may exist;however, it may be toominutefor detection.  A fault that is not experiencing any movement due to the characteristic of being affixed has the potential of releasing energy in the form of a catastrophic earthquake (Hung, 2003; Marsh & Kaufman, 2013; Rymer et al., 2006; Smith, 2013).

Conclusion

The application of the study of tectonic movement can facilitate the reduction of disaster risk.  The creep lines are important phenomena that enable the forecasting of future earthquakes. An area that has a fault and is not demonstrating creep may have two causes. The first cause may be that the quantity of creep is too small to observe. The second may be that the rocks are affixed in position.

References

Hung, J. J. (2003). Preparing for the extreme events of natural hazards and reflections from the 1999 Taiwan earthquake (pp. 177- 185). In K.S. Ho, K. Ho and S. Li (Ed.), Geotechnical Engineering? Meeting society´s needs. (Volume 3). The Netherlands: Swets and Zeitlinger, B. V. Lisse.

Marsh, W. M. and Kaufman, M. M. (2013). Physical geography: great systems and global environments. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Rymer, M. J., Hickman, S. H.  and Stoffer, P. W. (2006). A field guide to the central creeping section of the San Andreas Fault and the San Andreas Fault observatory at depth (pp. 237- 273).  In C. S. Prentice (Ed.), 1906 San Francisco earthquake centennial guide: Trips associated with the 100^th anniversary conference 18 – 23 April 2006, San Francisco, California. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America, Inc.

Smith, K. (29013). Environmental hazards: Assessing risk and reducing disaster (6th edition). Oxon, UK: Routledge.