UNC Charlotte

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Lack of Awareness of Earthquakes
Bring Awareness Organization Formatted: Strong

Abas Sheikh

ENGL-2116-012

Ms.Kailan Sindelar

March 2, 2018
Abstract Formatted: Strong

Earthquakes are one of the many natural disasters that occur every day. However, Formatted: Line spacing: single
Eearthquakes are have the least amount of awareness compared to other natural disasters such as
floods, hurricanesas hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis. The purpose of this document is to
inform and address the lack of knowledge people have about earthquake due to the insufficiency
of earthquake awareness established created by the government. Government officials are not
raising awareness that reaches the people of the United States. In addition, , one has not
provideding key ideas that will bring light to this problem that the government and other
organizations can perform to raise that awareness. Some of the issues include lack of preparation
before, during and after an earthquake as well as enforcing the idea of the dangers an earthquake
can inflict cause. Informing the people about the danger of an earthquake will instill a fear in
them to help motivate them to become more prepared than before.

Introduction Formatted: Strong

An earthquake occurs when two plates of earth slip past each other. When a high magnitude Commented [SA1]: Cannot remove this space for
some weird reason
earthquake happens other smaller earthquakes occur in that region. These smaller earthquakes
are known as foreshocks. The largest of the earthquakes that happen in that region is called the Commented [SA2]:

mainshockmain shock. Due to the sheer force generated by the mainshocksmain shocks, it can Formatted: Heading 1, Indent: First line: 0", Space
Before: 30 pt, After: 15 pt, Line spacing: single,
sometimes cause aftershocks to occur. Aftershocks are a series of smaller versions of the main Pattern: Clear (White)
earthquake that occurs over the same region. The crust is the surface of the planet and it has
many tectonic plates that are connected with each other. However, some of these plates are not
fully connected and in those places is where the fault forms. The fault is where earthquakes
occur due to the plates slowly moving and passing each other. What makes an earthquake
dangerous is the energy stored up from the gradual friction which upon release creates an
explosive tremor. According to U.S. Geological SurveyUSGS, the shaking of an earthquake Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt,
arises when “the energy that would normally cause the blocks to slide past one another is being Not Bold

stored up. When the force of the moving blocks finally overcomes the friction of the jagged
edges of the fault and it unsticks, all that stored up energy is released.”(USGSC). After an
earthquake transpires, the aftermath can be devastating and can lead to life-threatening problems.
Earthquakes can damage buildingss, often causing them to collapse while civilians are trapped
inside. Earthquake can destroy propertyhomes which will render people homeless. Recovering
from an earthquake is very difficult since you might lose family members, or, or build your
home again in the process. Overall, an earthquake is one of the worst natural disasters that does
not get the attention it needs in order for civilians to be kept safe. Being unprepared before,
during or after an earthquake occurs, can lead to serious harm as mentioned above. Therefore,
the following paragraphs will suggest a solution to this problem. Formatted: Font: (Default) Source Sans Pro, 27 pt, Font
color: Gray-80%

Lack of Preparation Formatted: Strong

Earthquakes can be frightening but not knowing what to do when it arrives can be worse, Formatted: Line spacing: single
leaving civilians in a state of shock and panic. Most civilians do not know what they need in
order to prepare for an earthquake.the preparation needed in case of an earthquake. In most
cases, no one is thinking about an earthquake occurring. People tend to only worry about the
things that happen to them but do not understand earthquake are reported every day of the
happens every day andyear and can occur almost anywhere. For instances, natural disasters such
as tsunamis and hurricanes only occur on the coast of the country while an earthquake can occur
in any urban or rural areas. Exploring pervious the past earthquakes and the damages they cause
the damage it causes is an aspect civilians and the government really need tomust study.
Government and people only turn to The actionthis action is only executed when it
transpirestranspires (earthquake hits the region) in that certain region which in those cases the
damage is done and a great quantity of money is lost. Incorporating a solution can lead to lives
being saved as well as money. In addition, what causes this lack of preparation is the
unpredictability of earthquakes compared to other natural disasters. In the media coverage, you
can track hurricanes and estimate when they are going to occur. However, an earthquake is
almost impossible to predict. When hurricanes occur the civilians of that state have up to two
days to prepare and leave the state. On the other hand, with an earthquake you simply don’t have
that time and you must be able to make quick decisions or you might end up in harmsharm’s
way. Therefore, arranging a guide and regulation before, during, and after an earthquake happens
is important. This will create more attention on the dangers of earthquakes and prepare people in
a better way than ever before.

Misconceptions of Eearthquakes Formatted: Strong

Misconceptions of earthquakes prove the lack the preparation and research people have Formatted: Strong
aboutfor earthquakes and the amount of research it lacks. For example, some people tend to think
earthquakes happen in a certain season or inon an earthquake type of weather. However, an
earthquake occurs underground with no type of season impacting it. Therefore, earthquakes can
happen at any time, anywhere and in any given conditions. This demonstrates the
unpredictability and risk of earthquakes and why enough research, at this point , has not been
organized to look further into these issues. In addition, civilians are inclined to think earthquakes
occur only in California because of the San Andreas Fault and watching countless movies about
it. The peoplePeople derive their perception of what an earthquake is from urban myths and
movies that use super effects that do not depict real earthquakes. Most importantly, one of the
greatest myths about earthquakes is if you stand under a doorway you will be at the safest point.
In spite of that, this is false and can cause more damage to a person because of the door swaying
back and forth. Overall, people will carry many misconceptions about earthquakes and it is the
government job to put a better effort into informing and preparing the civilians. Earthquakes
might not be able to be stopped, but the more prepared one can be increases one’s chance for
survival.

The Hazards of Earthquakes Formatted: Strong

There are four main hazards that can develop because of an earthquake. One is the effect
of the ground shaking which can cause various structures and objects to collapse, trapping
civilians underneath them. For instances, when Taiwan had an earthquake, a search was launched
to find the civilians trapped inside the buildings. There were missing people, some were found
alive while others were dead. The second type of hazard is ground displacement, which is when
a building is built on a fault. If an earthquake occurs on that fault, the building will be ripped
apart because of the mass-energy being released. Another hazard hazard iswould be flooding and
this is caused by the earthquake breaking dams around a river. Some of these floodingsflooding’s
can become as dangerous as a tsunami. A tsunami is another natural disaster and that has the
same or even greater impact than an earthquake. Finally, the last main hazard caused by an
earthquake is fire. Fires are usually ignited when gas lines or another type of electricity is
broken. This can turn into an even more chaotic situation when dealing with a collapsed building
that is on fire. Overall, earthquakes cause a lot of problems and can have a chain-like effect
causing another natural disaster to occur. Therefore, it is important that we bring in a solution to
reduce the death of civilians and destruction of property.

The Solution Formatted: Strong

As a company, we have developed multiple solutions to solving the lack of awareness of

earthquakes. One is funding research institutes on creating technology and finding better analysis
insight of earthquakes. Technology is a rapidly growing industry that is creating things we could
never imagine before. Developing an instrument that predicts when earthquakes occur would be
game-changingcan be evolutionary. This would allow the people in danger to receive alerts
before the occurrence of an earthquake. Therefore, permitting people to gather their belongings
and evacuate in time. In addition, this instrument could reduce casualties and allow first
responders to encounter fewer issues. Another solution in raising awareness about the
earthquakes and better preparing people is creating a guide that teaches how to respondwhat to
before, during, and after an earthquake happens. This guide can be taught in schools or within
communities. By using this guide it will generate more knowledge about earthquakes and how to
survive it more efficiently. Finally, the last solution would be to reduce the amount of destruction
an earthquake can cause as well as keeping the civilians safe while in the earthquake. This
solution involves the government investing in building improved infrastructure around regions
that are heavily populated. Less buildings collapsing can save a lot of lives as well as money. For
instances, buildings destroyed by earthquakes must be rebuilt again but incorporating the above
solutions we can save a lot more money as well as many lives. Overall, earthquakesEarthquakes
are one of the most dangerous natural disasters and integrating these solutions will reduce the
amount of stress and suffering a community undergoes once it is hit.
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Conclusion Formatted: Strong, Font: (Default) Arial, 14 pt
Overall, creating guides and better infrastructure around populated areas will help reduce
the casualties caused by earthquakes. People will understand the hazards of earthquakes making
them more aware and prepared. Avoiding the misconceptions of earthquakes being more
prepared will the results of the above solution. Formatted: Strong, Font: (Default) Arial, 11 pt

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 References

http://www.conservation.ca.gov/index/Earthquakes/Pages/qh_earthquakes_myths.aspx

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/hazards.html

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php