Natural calamities strike just about every part of the globe. Since time immemorial, the world has seen its fair share of disasters from time to time. However, there are certain places in the world that are more prone to these disasters than other places, and experience financial difficulties because of it. While blizzards are only experienced in places with snow and hurricanes are more common in tropical areas, earthquakes are also common in certain parts of the globe. Known as the “ring of fire” or the circum-Pacific belt, this is a region in Asia that is hit by 90% of the earthquakes happening around the world. An earthquake is a destructive earth movement whose magnitude is ranked on a scale of one to ten. When the epicenter is in the ocean, an earthquake can generate massive tsunamis that can kill hundreds to thousands of people over a short period of time. The reason that South East Asia experiences earthquakes more often than the rest of the world is because of tectonic plates making up the ring of fire. The two main plates are the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Plate that often rubs each other resulting to powerful quakes. Meanwhile, the North America Plate and the Pacific Plate makes up the ring of fire. Millions die each year because of plate movements that can topple down big buildings and generate tall and powerful tsunamis that can wipe out everything on land.
(Via: http://www.csr-asia.com/csr-asia-weekly-news-detail.php?id=12675) Rapid urbanization is seen everywhere. It is not just a common sight in progressive first-world countries but even in developing ones. Asia is the most populated continent on the planet. The casualties will be high in the event of a strong disaster hitting many of its populous urban cities.
Since directly lying on top of an active fault line, the Philippine capital of Manila has been implementing stricter and regular earthquake drills as well as inspections of at-risk buildings and structures to prepare everyone for the possible coming of the “Big One” that has long been overdue. Other Asian nations have also been preparing for it as earthquakes have been occurring more often than it did in the past.
Asians live with the constant threat of disasters and earthquake is one of the most common calamities they face aside from powerful hurricanes and flooding. Over the past few decades, more and more earthquakes frequently strike various parts of Asia. And as such, many governments have increased their efforts in disaster preparedness to minimize loss of lives and damage to properties. Our achievements pale in comparison to the wrath of Mother of Nature. We only realize how insignificant we are to this world in the face of calamities that can wipe out everything we have accomplished over the past decades and centuries. And we are partly to blame why these catastrophes are happening to us. Natural calamities are a normal part of life but our abuse and misuse of natural resources resulted to the hastening of climate change that in turn worsened global warming and a list of other destructive calamities we have to face in our daily lives. The following blog article Earthquakes Are Not New To Asia is courtesy of SEMP Blog from https://www.semp.us/earthquakes-are-not-new-to-asia/
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