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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
6 pages in length. Of all the devastating natural disasters to impact mankind, earthquakes are perhaps the most detrimental due to their unannounced presence. Unlike tornadoes or fires that can be detected in advance – albeit with short notice – earthquakes provide no warning device; when they strike, they do so with a vengeance and without notice. As such, effects from earthquake activity (shaking ground) and subsequent consequences resulting from the violent movement (ground failure, tsunamis) present a number of unfavorable circumstances for those within the reach of the fault line. Thankfully, the combination of technological advancement and the implementation of hazard mitigation plans has given seismologists the ability to forewarn and prepare the public if only enough to take cover before disaster strikes. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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File: LM1_TLCEarthQ.rtf
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notice - earthquakes provide no warning device; when they strike, they do so with a vengeance and without notice. As such, effects from earthquake activity (shaking ground) and subsequent
consequences resulting from the violent movement (ground failure, tsunamis) present a number of unfavorable circumstances for those within the reach of the fault line. Thankfully, the combination of technological
advancement and the implementation of hazard mitigation plans has given seismologists the ability to forewarn and prepare the public if only enough to take cover before disaster strikes."Real-time earthquake information
systems could feasibly be developed with the ability to warn of seismic waves while also helping urban areas to manage the aftermath of earthquakes" (Kanamori et al, 1997, p. 461).
The vibrating action one feels during an earthquake, termed ground shaking, is created by a combination of surface and body seismic waves that either increase or decrease depending upon how
severe the magnitude is. These body waves are broken down into several categories: compressional (P), shear (S), surface, Rayleigh and Love. The P waves that create initial vibration
move their way through the planet at approximately fifteen thousand miles per hour, followed closely by S waves that create side-to-side vibrations, considered to be the most damaging waves due
to the fact that "buildings are more easily damaged from horizontal motion than from vertical motion" (Hays, 1981, pp. 1-108). Working in tandem, these two waves are responsible for
high-frequency vibrations, which is in direct contrast to the low-frequency vibrations of stragglers Love and Rayleigh waves. Building structures that can withstand the devastating P and S waves has long
been part of rudimentary mitigation plans across the country; however, only recently in the timeframe of earthquake activity have construction specialists truly been able to achieve this objective with any
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