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Consecutive earthquakes shake Earth off its axis
Aftermath is Chile's devastating quake left nearly 800 dead. Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press.
Written by Varun Bajaj - Staff Writer
As the first quarter of the new decade comes to a close, the Earth has been shaken, quite literally, with a horrible series of events. On January 12, 2010, the island nation of Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. So far, this massive earthquake has left over a million homeless and nearly a quarter million dead. Just over a month later, another 7.0 magnitude quake hit, this time off the shore of Japan. Due to better planning for an event like this, causalities and damages were minimal. Later on February 27, the same day of the Japan earthquake, a massive three-minute 8.8 magnitude quake hit Chile creating a massive Pacific tsunami. These three earthquakes have altered the lives of millions and may even have altered the course of the planet Earth.
“I was sitting on my bed surfing the Internet when I noticed silence, followed by a weird groaning sound. I figured it was a passing water truck. But funny, I thought — sounds more like an earthquake. The house started shaking. Then it really started shaking,” said Jonathan Katz, The Associated Press’ Port-au-Prince correspondent, as he recounted the situation. “The city is a ruin. Fuel, food and water are running in short supply. Mothers have lost their children. Children have lost their families. Entire neighborhoods are sleeping in the streets. People walk miles up and down mountains, carrying everything they own, with no real place to go.” Haiti’s 7.0 quake created destruction through the region and left hundreds of thousands dead and at least one million homeless. Plus, the current conditions create a perfect area for bacteria and viruses to thrive, so the death count is expected to increase.
The newest threat to Haiti is the upcoming rainy season. With millions of people in outdoor camps, the rainy season could wipe out the entire camp and make the transportation of essential supplies difficult. Haiti is being helped by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including the United States. Gilbert High School raised over $3,000 for Haiti last month.
On the morning of February 26, the Ryukya Islands off the coast of Japan was smashed with, just like in Haiti, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Due to better building codes and that the epicenter of this quake was off coast, the damages on land were minimal. While the buildings were safe from the shaking ground, another threat was created: a tsunami. The tsunami forced citizens from the Okinawa Islands, Amami Islands, and Tokara Islands to evacuate. The tsunami evacuations were smooth and successful, but were proved to be unnecessary as the tsunami did not make landfall.
Just one day after the Ryukya Islands quake, another quake struck just over 11,000 miles away off the coast of Maule, Chile. This quake was a magnitude 8.8 and was the seventh strongest quake ever. The quake, although only 1.8 points stronger, was nearly 1000 times more powerful than both the Haiti and Japan quakes. The devastation would have been catastrophic if Chile hadn’t prepared for such an event. Chile’s preparation saved millions of lives with a death toll of approximately 800. Even though the death toll is relatively low, there is much chaos in the cities. Looters are taking advantage of the lack of power and electricity. Gas mains were broken leading to some fires. There was a lack of water until aid arrived. About a half a million homes have been damaged, but there is much hope throughout the region.
Even though, Chile itself miraculously survived this, the quake proved to create threats for other regions as far away as Alaska, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and Antartica. There was a tsunami, and this one was much more destructive than the one produced in Japan. A tsunami warning was issued for 53 countries around the Pacific. Deep water sensors detected 25 centimeters high shock waves. “[That is] huge for the deep water,” said Gerard Fryer of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). The PTWC is now under-fire for their exaggerated warning. Fryer went on to talk about that, “at that point, we went to full Pacific-wide warning. Part of the reason we had to do that was because although it was huge, we didn’t quite know what it meant because we haven’t much experience with those. As we get more under our belts, we’ll get better.”
The Chilean earthquake had one major long-term effect as well. According to NASA, the quake may have actually tipped the Earth’s axis three inches, shortening the day by 1.26 microseconds (just over one millionth of a second). Although the average person won’t be able to tell the difference, it will add up. Currently, governments and scientists are discussing changes to future calendars to make up for this change. None of the proposed ideas have been released to the press at this time.
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