This is from Time : http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1968576,00.html?xid=rss-topsto... The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile early on Feb. 27 was 500 times stronger than the 7.0 quake that killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians last month. And yet the number of casualties in Chile appears to be exponentially smaller, with the official death toll still in the hundreds. Far fewer people were rendered homeless than in Haiti, and much of the telephone service in Santiago and parts of central Chile had been restored within five hours. Comparisons between the two countries will no doubt be much discussed when the U.N. hosts a conference in New York City on March 31 to hash out how best to help Haiti rebuild. Donor governments already know why there was so much less destruction in Chile: it's because the government there forces builders to adhere to rigorous codes, while Haiti's incorrigible corruption and carelessness left such regulation all but non-existent. On the global corruption index put out by Transparency International, a Berlin-based nonprofit that lists countries from the least to most corrupt, Chile ranks 25th and Haiti 168th. And while Chilean President Michelle Bachelet hit the streets on Saturday reassuring citizens about her government's earthquake response, Haitian President Rene Preval has been seemingly AWOL for weeks.
True Aki, Coupled with demographics and other factors. - "Shallow source factor" ->less warning time to get out of buildings compared to deep quakes. - The Terra firma -> Port au Prince is built not on solid rock but on soil, which collapses when shaken. This is put forth in the article below: http://blog.taragana.com/science/2010/01/20/why-haiti-quake-killed-so-many-p... BBC also did an article that covered basic comparison between similar incidences in L' Aquila, Port au Prince & Sichuan. Find it below: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8510900.stm Interestingly there's a similarly headlined blog post: "Haiti and China: A Tale of Two Earthquakes". http://american-tigress.blog.sohu.com/143547212.html Tony.
On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 9:13 PM, Tony Likhanga <tlikhanga@gmail.com> wrote:
True Aki, Coupled with demographics and other factors.
I fear for Nairobi - esp places like Umoja where it looks like there is a competition to see which constructor can ignore the most best practices/building codes etc. And what's this about Nakuru being especially at risk? Anyone with more information? -- Pamoja e:daudi.were@gmail.com <e%3Adaudi.were@gmail.com> skype: d.were
And what's this about Nakuru being especially at risk? Anyone with more information?
Daudi, I'm not privy to the exact info you may be looking for. My wild guess would be: - Seismic adjustments are most prone along some identified zones. - Our dear Rift valley happens to have been formed through seismic activities ->Indicates that this belt was once seismologically active. This gives it a marginal propensity to behave likewise should an outside chance present itself. - Now with Nakuru being the most built up and inhabited area within this belt, the casualty/damage risk factor therein increases. Tony.
I hope that some of us were able to see the LIVE footage of Tsumani heading into Hawaii. I saw the entire event on live cams and it was an event to watch and also how Hawaii authorities were in full force. The vast amount of sea water rushing out in the first phase then returning back in second phase was something to see. On natural distaters, I believe that there should be an international body that has a mandate to punish/convict/sieze govts who are responsible for mass deaths. Haiti lost over 200k lives because of failed govts and the yours truly corruption and grand theft of resources. We are all sitting on a time-bomb because if any natural disaster of such a scale was to hit developing nations, you may as well be one of the victims of a building collapse rather than survive it. What excatly will a govt do for its citizens? *This is how I see the answer from any developing govt : " We have gotten what we wanted, shida ni yeni....." *
I fear for Nairobi - esp places like Umoja where it looks like there is a competition to see which constructor can ignore the most best practices/building codes etc. And what's this about Nakuru being especially at risk? Anyone with more information?
-- Pamoja
e:daudi.were@gmail.com <e%3Adaudi.were@gmail.com> skype: d.were
participants (3)
-
aki -
Daudi Were -
Tony Likhanga