Are You At Risk?

Do you live or work in a region prone to earthquakes? Actually, no one is immune to an earthquake, although certain areas of the United States are more likely to experience one more so than other areas.

Check the incidence of earthquake activity in your area by contacting an expert source like your local American Red Cross Chapter for your chapter number or check the business listing of your white pages.

Dangers From An Earthquake
The four greatest dangers that exist from an earthquake are the effects of the ground shaking, the effects of ground displacement, flooding, and fire.

The greatest danger is the effects of the ground shaking.
The actual "quaking" of the earth seldom causes death or injury. Most casualties result from the effects of the ground shaking, such as collapsing walls, falling glass, or falling objects during a quake.

Other effects from the ground shaking include buildings damaged as the ground beneath them settles to different levels. If the earth is mixed with water, like ground water, then the ground becomes soft and the building may lean or even tip over.

The second greatest danger is the effects of ground displacement.

This includes landslides and mud slides, avalanches, and destructive oceanic waves, such as a tsunami. Also, if a building was built across the fault, it could be seriously damaged or ripped apart.

The third greatest danger from an earthquake is the flooding that may occur.

This may be in the form of flash floods, the result of the breaking of a dam or river levee. Also, tsunamis inundate coastal areas, doing catastrophic damage to the coastline.

On a lake shaken by an earthquake, seiches, similar to an oceanic tsunami but on a smaller scale, can flood the shoreline.

The fourth greatest danger is fire, usually started by broken gas and/or power lines.

If the water mains are also broken, then putting out these fires becomes more difficult. In countries where wood or coal is used as a heating source, tipped over stoves can start a fire.

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