Why should all houses built from now on be built to withstand the shakes of the most violent of earthquakes? All of a sudden we are having very large earthquakes. In fact, we have earthquakes on a daily basis, sometimes 50 per day or 20,000 a year according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). However, their magnitudes are too small for us to feel them, (USGS). In addition, many earthquakes occur in remote areas of the world where people don't live, (USGS). The first big one in quite some time was the one in the Indian Ocean that triggered the largest tsunami in recent memory, which took thousands of lives and destroyed cities and towns.
As recently as May 12, 2008, a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake shook down buildings and caused thousands of lives to be lost in the Sichuan province of China. In just a couple of months taken from the destruction in China caused by a large earthquake, is the huge 7.0 magnitude trembler in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti--January 12, 2010, the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
Earthquakes occurring in the ocean do not pose a threat by themselves. They are only threatening when they trigger tsunamis; in which case, we cannot do much about. However, massive destruction and loss of lives from earthquakes occurring on land are preventable to a certain extent.
Earthquake-proof constructions should be the norm when erecting buildings anywhere in the world, regardless of whether they are public buildings or private homes. It was said that buildings in Sichuan China where the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck, were not earthquake proof. This is why such wide-spread damage occurred.
China is one of the richest countries in the world, and they had a tough time coping with the destruction caused by their earthquake. Homes and buildings in Sichuan China were not earthquake proof, so they suffered grave damages. Schools, hospitals, and homes were destroyed in large numbers. Can one imagine the impact that the recent earthquake in Haiti will have on its economy?
The main reason why it is a wise idea to erect buildings that are earthquake proof is that Mother Earth is going through changes that she has always gone through, in regards to the shifting of tectonic plates within the Earth's crust; however, those tectonic changes occurred centuries ago. This is the reason why we hadn't experience them in modern times, until now. Now is the time for those Earthly changes to start occurring again. This is probably the way Mother Earth grows. The Earth is considered living also, in its own way. It has energy that is released each time there is a shift in the tectonic plates beneath the Earth. Why in the past earthquakes cause less destruction than they do today?
In the past, people lived in rural areas of the world. However, as industrialization became the main stay of today's world, people migrated to where industrialization manifests itself, and that is in the cities. Therefore, massive earthquakes in the past did less damage than they do today because there were next to no densely populated areas of the world at that time. However, in today's world, cities are densely populated- a result of overpopulation--Mass exodus of people migrated to inner cities in the quest of finding jobs. This trend of people migrating to cities will not end any time soon.
Large and destructive earthquakes are inevitable and are occurring more often in the world today, so both nature and people are on an inevitable collision course. The loser in this confrontation is people, obviously. Nevertheless, we can be the loser of such confrontations, yet live to tell the tales, by surviving of course. How will we be able to survive the next big earthquake? We know they are coming! In the case of Haiti, large earthquakes have historically shown their devastating effects in years past. Years 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673, and 1618 have seen their share of massive earthquakes, (USGS).
Humans will be able to survive the next big earthquake if we prepare. We can prepare for the next round of magnitude 7.0 or 8.0 earthquakes if we build our countries' infrastructure to withstand earthquakes of such magnitudes and higher. We have the technology to send solar powered vehicle to mars, so we definitely have the technological know-how to build earthquake proof infrastructures in our cities, towns, and country sides.
Poor countries such as Haiti would not have the means with which to build special earthquake-proof homes and public buildings, such as schools, post offices, libraries, etc. However, this is where other wealthy countries can give a helping hand by donating funds to subsidize such efforts.
Now is the time to start taking earthquakes seriously and the time to start taking steps in preparing for them, so our buildings and homes can be left standing long after they have come and gone. Large destructive earthquakes will always be with us. They are certainly not going away anytime soon! If anything, they are coming at us fast and furious-Sichuan, China: May 12, 2008-Port-Au-Prince, Haiti: January 12, 2010.
