Geologic Hazards project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Geologic Hazards project - Research Paper Example The world at large has appreciated the enormous damages that earthquakes cause and responded positively by setting up disaster management teams which aid in an earthquake. Although the risk to earthquakes is higher in certain geographical regions than others, the fact that an earthquake has never occurred in a particular place is no guarantee that it would never occur. It is based on that premise that I opted to research on earthquakes with an aim of examining the causes, the effects, possible preventions and the responsibility of governments and the people at large (Fountain, 2012). At or below the surface of the earth within the crust which is the third layer of the earth, a sudden energy release occasions seismic waves which trigger the movement or tremor of the crust. It is this phenomenal activity that constitutes an earthquake. Two foremost origins are linked to earthquakes; tectonic forces associated with plate margins and faults and explosive volcanic activity. The theory of tectonic plates posits that the crust of the earth is composed of numerous plates which are large and float freely on the mantle. The free flow of the plates enables their movement drifting as independent layers towards, away and against each other. The drifting though gradual in nature triggers the earthquakes when the layers collide or slide against each other. This process can be explained by the Elastic rebound theory. Essentially, if one holds both sides of a twig and applies pressure on both ends, the pressure piles in the middle until when the elastic limit of the twig is exceeded then it snaps suddenly with a consequent release of energy. The energy traditionally causes the twig to vibrate (Simon, 2006). Similarly when the layers of the crust collide with each other, the pressure applied on the end of a particular layer forces is spread all over the plate(layer) and it succumbs by snapping at a particular point just like the twig snaps in the middle. The snapping is what