4 Natural Disasters Have Happened in the World in 2014

Bang Ta

CIN: 303474033

Geology 158-2

2014 Natural Disasters

In 2014, many natural disasters had happened in awful ways and we can’t prevent this disaster going to happen, but we can prepare for it. Throughout the world natural hazards are frequent to occur. There are many types of disasters such as: earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfire, volcanoes etc... Each type of disaster is not subjected to specific area. This means people in certain areas have to prepare for those disasters that are likely to occur in their region. Last year, thousands of natural disasters have happened all over the world, and the damages cost of lost citizen’s life and their economic.

One common natural disaster is earthquakes that can cause many facilities. The movements of the plates in the earth’s crust cause them. These plate don’t always move smoothly and can get struck, causing build up pressure. It is when this pressure is release that an earthquake occur. In 2014, the strongest earthquake magnitude of 8.2 struck off the coast of Iquique, Chile on April 1 at around 8 o’clock. The epicenter of the earthquake was approximated 60 miles northwest of Iquique. It has a depth of 12.5 miles. The main shock was preceded by numerous of moderate after shocked.  The reporter report that four men and one women which two suffer heart attack and three were crushed by wall. About 300 prisoners escaped from the northern port city of Iquique in the immediate aftermath. Electricity and water services were out and many homes were destroyed. Many people were scared of tsunami is going happen, and they try to evacuate to a higher level of ground. The population of Iquique more than 200,000. The cost of this earthquake for this country could be billions of dollar and would slow down the economic. I think people need to prepare for the earthquake because the larger quake was happened back in four year ago and now they know it is going to happen again. This country is mostly about earthquake and we could not predict when another would strike again. One basic important message if an earthquake happen is to take cover and drop, we shouldn’t panic about it.

Another common natural disasters, but also the one of the most commonly forgotten is wildfire. These take place in many countries all over the world, particular during the summer months, and can caused by many things. Something can cause wildfire are natural while other are manmade but it can spread down the entire nature or forest in seconds. One of the wildfire happened in Glendora, Los Angeles County, United States called the Colby Fire. The fire started on January 16 and burned around 1,992 acres. It destroyed 5 homes, injured 1 person, and forced 3,600 people to evacuate. The fire spread by the Santa Ana winds and three men in the mid-20s were started the fire while they were camping. This fire was unusual to going to happen in Southern California around the month of January but there was not much rainfall in the area leading up to the fire. The warm temperatures, low humidity, and an excess of dry brush in the foothills around the area caused fire. We need to be careful about wildfire and it usually happened in the summer but it can happen anytime.