Cause and Effect of Earthquakes

Cause and effect of earthquakes The ground trembles, shakes and growls. Pictures that were once hanging so beautifully on the wall smash to the ground exploding into glittery slivers of broken glass, roadways break apart, engulfing whatever was in its path, never to be seen again. For many, this would seem to be the makings of a fictional horror movie created by Hollywood with intent to frighten a person and to play with ones senses. For those who live in the areas depicted by film, this is real life, all of the fear and terror of a shaking ground comes to life and people everywhere grab those that are most precious to them and scream “Earthquake!” According to Lisa Wald (2012), “an Earthquake is what happens when two blocks of Earth suddenly slip past one another.” Wald also says that the reason the earth shakes when there is an earthquake is “that the edges of the faults are stuck together, and the rest of the block is moving, the energy that would normally cause the blocks to slide past one another is being stored up. When the force of moving blocks finally overcomes the friction of the jagged edges of the fault and it unsticks, all that stored up energy is released.” Wald goes on further to suggest that this energy is then released into seismic waves, it is these waves that cause the Earth to shake. This shaking, while normal for the Earths development, can be fatal for those who live in it. The damage that is caused by an earthquake can be broken into three specific areas. These areas include the Emotional damage, physical damage and environmental damage. The emotional damage caused by loss is one of the more detrimental areas of concern for humans as they are the ones whose lives are so greatly affected by feeling. People generally tend to have a harder time accepting death if it is spontaneous (Hamilton health sciences, 2000). The grieving process is harder, last longer and is full of disbelief. When natural occurrences such as earthquakes

References: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-11/indonesia-hit-by-8-7-magnitude-quake-tsunami-warnings-issued.html http://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/documents/Patient%20Education/SuddenDeathPORTRAIT-th.pdf