Violent earthquake in Tonga effects other countries.
By: Siwon 8.2
The earth that we are standing on looks so firm and strong, but it isn’t as stable as it seems when an earthquake occurs.
Earthquakes usually happen where the tectonic plates meet. Because the plates move against, away from or alongside each other, unimaginable amounts of pressure build up. The sudden release of this pressure causes the ground to shake. Mostly, earthquakes that happen around the world are at around 3 to 5 magnitudes. Magnitude is a way to measure how impactful the earthquake is, the strength of the shakes. When the magnitude is small, (1 to 4) it feels like ‘bumps’ and ‘sharp rolling and shaking’. However, earthquakes can be very violent, dangerous destroyers as the magnitude gets higher. For example, the Valdivia Earthquake occurred at a 9.2 magnitude in 1960. An earthquake with a magnitude of 8 or greater is considered a ‘Great Earthquake.’ This is because it can destroy the buildings around the area completely. Can you imagine your house collapsing because of a severe earthquake?
One of the most well-known earthquakes in history is the Haiti earthquake that occurred at an 8.0 magnitude on 12th January 2010. It has made at least 1.5 million people homeless. Moreover, about 220,000 people were killed and most of the schools and hospitals were destroyed or damaged. This earthquake has especially affected Haiti severely as earthquakes were not so common in the area, and people weren't used to this violent earthquake. The buildings that were poorly built also resulted in this huge damage. Consequently, emergency rescue and medical teams arrived from numerous countries.
The Haiti earthquake happened about a decade ago but here is an example of a violent earthquake that happened more recently:
“A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck the pacific nation of Tonga on January 27th 2022,” the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports.
The focus of the earthquake was at a depth of 14.5km and about 219 km north-west of the island of Pangia, Tonga. It was 7:40 pm local time. Although the magnitude was quite high, no tsunami warning was reported by either the Tongan or Fijian government, with Pangia being close to Fiji’s Lau Group.
“The underwater volcanic eruption and the consequent tsunami from earlier that month are likely to be the cause,” reported the geologists who have investigated the disaster.
Humanitarian aid to the Pacific Island nation is expected to land after the airport was cleared of ash, making it safe for planes to land. Aid agencies have warned that access to clean drinking water continues to be a significant issue while the clean-up efforts are continued.
Earthquakes have occurred for more than a millennium, injuring or killing many people and separating many families. Although it is impossible to stop this from happening, we can predict when it's going to happen, build safer structures and get deeper knowledge of what to do when an earthquake occurs.
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