Natural Disasters: Earthquakes

Nature is an amazing and beautiful thing however it can also be very unpredictable and catastrophic. Other tragedies such as a man made disaster can potentially be stopped unlike a natural disaster. Nature is the most powerful thing on earth and with that power can cause major destruction. For example the San Andreas Fault in 1906 was devastating to the North and South parts of California.

California is a western U.S. state that stretches from the Mexican border to the Pacific for nearly 900 miles. The beautiful state catches many peoples eyes but not always for the right reasons. This state is well known for their amount of natural disasters, “Earthquakes cause changes in stress along and across fault systems…” cited from “Fertile fields for seismicity”. Due to California’s location, it sits where two tectonic plates come together which rub against one another causing many earthquakes. California has about 10,000 earthquakes each year most of which are small and can’t be felt, but several hundred can be. “California’s faults of varying sizes.” stated in “Fertile fields for seismicity”.

The San Andreas Fault in California of 1906 was a natural disaster no one will ever forget. This earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday April 18th. The earthquake had a magnitude of 79 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. After the storm many people had no homes to return to for a long time. According to “San Francisco unprepared for earthquakes”, “only 10% of homes in the area are covered.”. The damage done will never be able to be fixed to the natural state.

The earthquake wiped out 296 miles of land causing a damage cost of around 5 million dollars. Stated in “Housing loss upped”, “California… would leave 250,000 to 400,000 homes uninhabitable.”. Nearly everyone lost their homes and some, their loved ones. Over 3,000 people lost their lives due to the San Andreas fault of 1906. In the article “Trade is on San Andreas Fault”, “We are simply waiting, like those who live on the San Andreas Fault…” The San Andreas Fault of 1906 isn’t promised to be the worse earthquake of all time, so people need to realize how one event can change your whole life. For the people who survived the horrific disaster will never forget the unbearable pain of watching their state be torn apart and not being able to do anything about it.

In conclusion natural disasters have such an impact on the world. They occur so often that damage does not get fixed before the next one hits. It’s important to try to prepare yourself for these unpredictable storms as much as possible. Earthquakes are not the only tragic natural strom to strongly impact a state, many other areas face different types disasters frequently. Although California is a well known place for these events it happens all around the world but still affects everyone the same way.

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