Disaster Preparedness: The Big Earthquake 1

Disaster Preparedness: The Big Earthquake

By: Jacob Baggaley

2/13/2019

Geography 1700

Professor Sally Timmins

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Introduction

Every place in the world as at least prone to some sort of natural disaster- whether it’s a

hurricane, volcano, landslide, tsunami, tornado or other disaster. Here in Salt Lake County we are

prone to avalanches, crazy snowfall, landslides, and other disasters. One disaster that has been

talked about by many scientists is the change that we experience “The Big One”; a giant earthquake

that could cause major issues and possibly a catastrophe in the Salt Lake Valley. What are the

chances of this earthquake? Can we see warning signs of the earthquake? What can we do to

respond? These ideas must be answered and we must find a way to prepare for this earthquake so

that when it happens we can avoid a catastrophe and be able to function as a society.

Science of Earthquakes

An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth that comes from a release of energy

deep inside the earth. This shaking on the surface is what causes so much damage; buildings can

fall apart, roadways and highways can be destroyed, people can be crushed by debris, and the

earthquake can even cause other natural disasters such as landslides and tsunamis. An earthquake

can also cause aftershocks, which can also be powerful and cause more damage.

Earthquakes are measured most commonly using a system called the Richter Scale. The

Richter Scale is a scale that expresses the magnitude of an earthquake based on a seismograph that

records the energy produced by the quake. The scale is based from 1-10, and the difference from

one specific number to another is equivalent to a ten times more powerful earthquake. Therefore,

a 3.0 on the scale would be ten times more powerful than a 2.0 earthquake. This can bring major

issues when you get to larger earthquakes on the scale, such as moving from a 6.0 to a 7.0

earthquake.
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Earthquakes are most likely to occur along a tectonic plate boundary. Tectonic plates are

giant plates of crust that hold the ocean and the continents. These plates move, crashing against

each other and moving apart from each other creating different three different types of boundaries:

transform, divergent, and convergent. Along each of these boundaries there can be earthquakes

that occur.

A famous transform boundary moves through California called the San Andreas fault

(Lynch, 2013). It was made famous from a disastrous earthquake in San Francisco in 1906 (USGS,

n.d.). This earthquake erupted at about 5am, creating strong shaking that lasted for almost a minute.

It caused a large destruction along the fault line, which actually showed that the land had moved

from its original placement. This fault line continues to be active and will eventually be the cause

of other large earthquakes happening in the area of San Francisco and regions surrounding.

Geography of Earthquakes

Like was mentioned earlier, Earthquakes are more likely to happen along a plate boundary.

These plates don’t seem like the move a lot (1-3 inches per year), but when you consider the size

and the pressure build that must happen as these plates move together, a couple inches can mean

catastrophic damage for a large buildup of pressure (Society, 2015). Although earthquakes are

most common along the boundaries, they can happen anywhere. These plate boundaries crashing

together and moving against each other is what creates mountains, such as the Rocky Mountain

Range. Having mountains surrounding the area we live in tells us that earthquakes and plate

tectonics has played a large part in the building up of our geographical area.

Below is a picture of the tectonic plates. The arrows point the way that the boundaries are

moving.
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Impacts of Earthquakes

Earthquakes have impacts on society in many ways. They can cause roadways to break,

buildings to fall or have major damage, cause volcanos to form or erupt, and cause wildfires. In

fact, after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake there was a large fire (USGS, n.d.). Earthquakes can

also cause tsunamis when they happen in the ocean, which bring great destruction when they hit

land.

In Utah we are in danger of a large earthquake, which could have catastrophic

consequences. The majority of the population lives along the Wasatch Front, and the fault line is

also right along the Wasatch Front. It is believed from evidence that there were at least 20

Magnitude 7 earthquakes along the central segments of the Wasatch Fault in the last 6000 years

(Utah, 2019). If we had another magnitude 7 earthquake, we would see extreme damage to our
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roadways, buildings, and possible wildfires could begin. Lives would be lost and there could be

large danger from landslides following the earthquake.

Mitigation and Preparedness of Earthquakes

So how do we prepare for an earthquake? Preparation and Mitigation in Utah is very similar

to other places, and there are some guidelines that we can follow to help us have a disaster plan

when the disaster strikes.

First, we must build our buildings so that they can withstand a large magnitude earthquake.

This involves building so that when the structure shakes, it can stretch and move a small amount

to work with the earthquake so that the tension doesn’t overcome the basic form of the structure.

If caught in an earthquake, we should turn of all gas lines as soon as safely possible and

make sure that we sit and cover our heads next to something solid that can protect us from falling

debris.

Before the earthquake we should be aware of how well our home is prepared for an

earthquake and if its structure has any issues. We should make sure that objects are secured so that

they can’t move and fall very easily should an earthquake shake your home. We should make sure

to keep a good food storage that has clean water, food, and an emergency kit so that we can have

the means to survive for a short amount of time on our own.

After an earthquake we should secure our safety and then help others who are injured, turn

off gas lines, and put out any small fires that could have started and grow. We must also be aware

of aftershocks that could bring us more potential danger (Security, 2016).

Conclusion

Earthquakes can and will continue to cause a lot of damage to society, but we can prepare

and plan so that we can avoid having a major catastrophe. Taking the major steps of improving
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our buildings, securing loose objects in our house, and having food storage can prepare us for the

next major earthquake or disaster. Making a disaster less of a disaster starts with each of us

preparing our own household for something to happen.

References
Lynch, D. K. (2013). San Andreas Fault Information. Retrieved from San Andreas Fault .org:

http://www.sanandreasfault.org/Information.html

Security, D. o. (2016, August 17). Earthquake Safety at Home. Retrieved from FEMA:

https://www.fema.gov/earthquake-safety-home

Society, N. G. (2015). Plate Tectonics. Retrieved from National Geographic:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/plate-tectonics/

USGS. (n.d.). The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Retrieved from earthquake.usgs.gov:

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/

Utah, U. o. (2019). Utah's Earthquake Threat. Retrieved from U of U Seismograph Stations:

https://quake.utah.edu/outreach-education/utahs-earthquake-threat