Earthquake in your Country

Earthquake in your country

***You will need to know the Earthquake terms to know in order to fully understand this assignment.

1)     Find an Earthquake that has occurred in your country. When did it occur?

In 2004 the Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 00 :58 UTC on December 26. This event was known as the Sumatra Andaman Earthquake. The magnitude was estimated to be a 9.0 or 8 (scientist have a rough estimatg).

2)     Where was the focus of the Earthquake? Was it a deep or shallow focus earthquake?

The epicenter was between Simeulue and mainland Indonesia.  3.316°N 95.854°ECoordinates: 3.316°N 95.854°E

3)     What caused the earthquake to occur? (Plate names, boundary type, human caused) Explain.

The under sea mega thrust earthquake was caused because the Indian plate was subducted by the Burma plate and triggered multiple tsunamis along the coasts of landmass bordering the Indian ocean. The earthquake was unusually large  and was estimated that 16000 km of the fault surface slipped along the subduction zone. The slip did not happen instantaneously but took place in two  phases over a period of several minutes.

4)     What was the Richter scale magnitude of your earthquake.

On the Richter scale the magnitude of this earthquake was around 8.0 to 9.0. Since 226 scientist have been estimating this strong impact.

5)     Describe the damage caused by your earthquake.

a.       What was the impact on the biosphere? (Humans, animals, plants)

There was a huge impact on the biosphere about 222,879 people died because of the earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami caused serious damage to the plants and trees. Salt water was added into the soils of the plants. In addition, the spread of solid and liquid waste and industrial chemicals, water pollution and the destruction of sewage collectors and treatment plants threaten the environment even further. The drinking water contained a spread of diesasees such as cholera and typhoid.

b.      Lithosphere (Roads, mountains)
Because of the earthquake the roads have been damaged.  Buildings crushed onto the roads and have damaged them. Homes are part of the lithosphere and they have been damaged due to the earthquake. Things have either broke apart here or fell on them and broke it apart.

c.       Economic Impact

Austria pledged 819 million dollars for  aid packages and about 760 million went towards Indonesia.  The level of damage to the economy wasn't as huge. The two man occupations affected but the tsunami was fishing and tourism. The impact on coastal fishing communities and the people living there, some of the poorest in the region, has been devastating with high losses of income earners as well as boats and fishing gear. Because of the tsunami there became a demand for fiber glass and the industry  for plastic boomed. However the huge demand led to lower quality in the process.

Impact on the infrastructure (buildings, roads, overpasses , bridges) 
The impact on infrastructure is a negative one. It either completely ruined or destroyed certain parts of  buildings, roads, overpasses and bridges. Without a proper bridge townspeople cont have ways to go home or to their workplace. A bridge helps goods and ideas transport and when there is no bridge its harder to transport stuff.