THE NATURAL DISASTER TIMES
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Saturday, February 27, 2010 |
The 2003 Bam Earthquake
At around 5.26AM, on December 26th Friday, a massive earthquake hit Bam and the surrounding Kerman Province, in Iran. The earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 left devastating damages to the city. It killed over 40 000 people, injured 30 000 and left 45 000 homeless. Most of the victims were crushed during their sleep.
This earthquake was due to all the stress that was generated by the northward motion of the Arabian Plate pushing against the Eurasian plate at a rate of around three centimetres per year. Around 85% of the buildings in the city were either damaged or destroyed. Not a single house was left standing in Baravcat, Kerman. Electricity and water were cut off.
Besides, it had caused emotional and psychological trauma for the few thousands that had survived the impact. There was an urgent need to deliver mental health care to the survivors to reduce the negative health impact of the earthquake.Afraid that the capital city, Tehran, would be struck next, the government seriously considered moving the city away. Besides that, they also established a new institutional framework to address the problems of urban planning and to rebuild Bam in compliance with strict seismic regulations. Most of the buildings and houses were built in the traditional mud-brick style, causing them to be easily cracked when hit against each other. The government then vowed to prosecute anyone who violated building regulations, even setting up a special unit to address this particular problem.
Although scientist cannot predict an earthquake we can always be prepared for it and minimize the damage. For example, the government should enforce tougher building standards, so that buildings can survive major earthquakes. Also, the public should be educated on how to brace themselves during an earthquake and drills should be organized to ensure minimum damage and speedy relief efforts.
307 words.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_earthquakes_in_Iran
http://en.wiki.org/wiki/2003_Bam_earthquake#cite_note -Iranshopefades-13
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/5/4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file:Bamearthquakeabove.jpg
posted by kpoplova # 11:25 PM 
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