research paper

Zui Tao

ISB200

9/24/2019

Milestone 1

Section 1:

The hazard I’m investigating is the earthquake happened in Sichuan, the Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred at 14:28 on May 12th, 2008. The epicenter was located about 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at a depth of 19 km at 31.99 degrees north latitude and 103.36 degrees east longitude. The earthquake, measured 8.0ms on the Richter scale according to the seismological bureau of the People's Republic of China, was caused by the collision of the Indian-Australian and Eurasian plates along the Longmenshan Fault. As the Indian Ocean plate is moving northward at a speed of about 15cm per year, it puts pressure on the Eurasian plate and causes the rapid uplift of the Tibet plateau. Due to the influence of gravity, the eastern Tibet plateau is gradually sinking along the Longmenshan mountain and is facing the strong resistance of the Sichuan basin, resulting in the long-term accumulation of tectonic stress energy. The final pressure in the Longmen mountain beichuan area suddenly released. The Wenchuan earthquake killed 69,227 people, injured 374,643 and left 17,923 missing, included more than 5,300 children.

Section 2:

The earth is regarded as a dynamic planet. As such, the biological and geological processes normally cause energy and other elements necessary for oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and sulfur to be able to circulate in the global reservoirs. In the case of the earth cycle and system, the earthquakes are regarded as one of the factors that tend to influence the earth and this normally takes place in a negative way. A good example of this is the Wenchuan earthquake and the impact of this is that it injured so many people and large number of the affected ones were listed as missing. It also destroyed the earth’s system such as the buildings and the land caved in thus killing so many people. The impact was so bad that close to seventy thousand people were reported as dead since it affected a region that was near the mountains thus having a bigger impact on the earth surface. Almost eighty percent of the buildings were destroyed by the earthquake.

Section 3:

It is evident to note that the factors that have been identified in the previous section in terms of the cycles and the systems have been changing over time and this has been due to the effects of global warming. For instance, the increase of temperature in the earth’s surface has been changing and this has contributed to additional chemical composition in the surface of the earth. The other factor that has been changing is the carbon composition and this has been due to the increase of activities that contribute to carbon emissions, which has ended up influencing the earth’s cycle on a changing basis. Earthquakes have been reported and this is a major factor that continues to affect the earth system. The effect of this is that it causes harm to people as well as destroying property such as buildings and land.

Section 4:

I think it will greater than in the past. Sichuan is the earthquake-prone area especially for the Longmenshan Fault Zone. As I know, it’s a city in mountainous areas so that the rock cycles may influenced later. So the aftershocks and earthquakes followed again and again. According to incomplete statistics, Sichuan province had 5 earthquakes with magnitude of 6.0 and greater. For instance, on November 22th, 2014 a magnitude-6.3 earthquake happened in Kangding and on August 8th 2017, a magnitude-7.0 earthquake occurred in Jiuzhiagou (wikipedia). There are definitely earthquakes elsewhere in Sichuan which related to the faults formed under similar tectonic background. Once it gets to the critical point, the motion will be reactivated suddenly and tremendous energy is released, hence the earthquake.

Citations:

1. Gan, Fengling et al. “Water and soil loss from landslide deposits as a function of gravel content in the Wenchuan earthquake area, China, revealed by artificial rainfall simulations.” PloS one vol. 13,5 e0196657. 3 May. 2018, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196657

2. Lin, Yongming. “Soil Quality Assessment in Different Climate Zones of China’s Wenchuan Earthquake Affected Region.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2017, www.researchgate.net/publication/234028354_Impacts_of_Wenchuan_Earthquake-induced_landslides_on_soil_physical_properties_and_tree_growth.

3. “List of earthquakes in Sichuan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Sep. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Sichuan

4. Rafferty, John P., and Kenneth Pletcher. “Sichuan earthquake of 2008.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 3 May 2013, www.britannica.com/event/Sichuan-earthquake-of-2008.

5. Yin, Yueping, et al. “Landslide Hazards Triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, Sichuan, China.” SpringerLink, Springer-Verlag, 17 Mar. 2009, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10346-009-0148-5.

6. Yan, Robin. “Why There Are so Many Earthquakes in Sichuan Lately?” Quora, 23 Aug. 2017, www.quora.com/Why-there-are-so-many-earthquakes-in-Sichuan-lately.

7. “2008 Sichuan earthquake.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Sep. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake.