Earthquake in Tangshan, Hebei Province

Plate tectonics are the cycles that majorly contribute to movements of the rocks in different parts of the world. Plate tectonics postulates that the outer shell of the earth is in various divisions (plates) which glide over one another hence contributes to sinking of some regions on earth. The plates move in different direction relative to one another thereby resulting in occurrences such as earthquakes that were observed in Hebei Province, in China.

Section 2

            Human impacts are the activities that people undertake in their daily affairs and the actions lead to different results on the earth. A majority of actions that humans undertake to generate energy involve exploration of minerals and destruction of vegetation cover. Consequently, the earth’s structure becomes bare and at a risk of sinking as evident in Tangshan earthquake which led to demise of various personalities in Hebei Province. Furthermore, the nitrogen compounds that emanates during earthquakes play a vital role in the deaths of a majority of people who become victims of the previously mentioned earth cycle (earthquake). Therefore, it is prudent for humans to change their actions and help reduce occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides.

Section 3

As mentioned above, human impacts contribute to adverse changes in the vegetation cover and atmosphere and the changes in conditions of the earth structure are the primary contributors to Earthquakes such as the one which occurred in Tangshan. An analysis of Hebei region indicates that it has various mineral resources and the region is also fertile because it is in a mountain and hence experience adequate rainfall. Earthquakes adversely affect the welfare of humanity and it is necessary that leaders initiate effective strategies to address the issue (Doocy, Daniels, Packer, Dick & Kirsch, 2013). The result is Tangshan earthquakes is the deaths of various individuals because of earthquakes, as evident in figure (Fig.3) below

Figure 2: Earthquakes and their impact on human populations by region, 1960-2009

 (Doocy et al., 2013)

Section 4

One of the major geographic features that contribute to the development of earthquakes is volcanic eruptions. When magma exerts pressure on rocks until the latter cracks, a region is likely experience earthquake because layers of the earth becomes weak and hence cave inwards. Every time a rock cracks, an earthquake develops and the result can catastrophic when the process is frequent and occurs in a wide geographical area. However, a majority of earthquakes emanate from movements of plates but not the changes in magma. The diagram below represents changes that occur hence lead to earthquakes in the regions where there are volcanic eruptions.

Figure 2: Illustration of volcanic-tectonic earthquakes (PNSN, n.d)

References

Doocy S, Daniels A, Packer C, Dick A, Kirsch TD. (2013). “The Human Impact of Earthquakes:   a Historical Review of Events 1980-2009 and Systematic Literature Review.” PLOS          Currents Disasters.

Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, PNSN. (n.d). “Volcanic earthquakes.” Retrieved from    https://pnsn.org/outreach/earthquakesources/volcanic