Earthquakes

[Mel]

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 10 (April 2010).

Earthquakes
By Casey (Cas*)

Earthquake! Wait, what? March was a month full of earthquakes, and now you're telling me that April will be too? Not necessarily, even though the world was shaken up after Haiti, this past month, it still hasn't gotten the chance to settle down.

It started in Chile. The first earthquake, 8.8 magnitude, hit February 27th. It was a massive earthquake, that caused Tsunamis to hit Hawaii and that headed toward Japan. That first Earthquake shifted the city of Concepcion ten feet, and the capital of Chile, Santiago, eleven inches. Sounds bad, right? That's not all. It also shifted the Earth's Axis, more than a normal quake would. It shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. Now, that doesn't sound too life shattering, but in two years, two months and a few days, the earth could be off by a whole second, which is pretty scary. Also, the shift in the Earth's axis wouldn't be so bad if the Earth had time to recover. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

There are Earthquakes every single day, and these quakes aren't minor. Any quake shifts the Earth's crust, but with the amount we are having, the damage done to the Earth is massive. Most of the Earthquakes are above 5.0 magnitude. Chile is hit almost daily by earthquakes, as are other parts of the world, like Indonesia, Turkey, and China. The world is still focused on Haiti, where there is still great need, but other parts of the globe are in danger as well. Although Chile is better off than Haiti, they are still hurting greatly due to these quakes.

It is almost a guarantee that there will be earthquakes in April, although hopefully they will be the minor, daily earthquakes that we have come to expect in places like California, and not the massive earthquakes that have recently devastated our world. What should you do in case of an Earthquake? Well, get under a sturdy piece of furniture, or stand in a strong doorway. Do not stand anywhere near or under anything that can fall, and if you are inside, stay inside until the shaking has stopped, at least for several minutes after it has stopped.

How can you help? Consider donating money, or even canned food, to local organizations that are helping with Earthquake relief.