The two most deadly earthquakes in the world’s history occurred in Haiti and Chile. These two countries were not expecting a huge change in their communities and their society. The earthquakes changed every person because a lot of lives were lost, and the economy was affected. Therefore, back then Geologists could not predict these disasters but in 2010 one geologist from Texas pointed out that disasters will occur in the future because he was monitoring changes on the plates of the earth. The significance that these earthquakes had to Geological studies is that the earth was damaged, and geologist upgraded their technology ever since. A major disaster occurred in 2010 with the Haiti earthquake and the earthquake of 1960 in Chile because it ended with many lives lost and millions of people were injured. In geological terms this earthquake happened because of a slippage along the Caribbean and North American plates. Therefore, the technology is changing every day, so it can help improve the preparations for a disaster of nature in any country and be ready instead of getting people by surprise.
The people in Haiti are still in a situation where they still cannot recover from the earthquake because it was the most dangerous earthquakes in the history of Haiti. The earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010 was the strongest temblor to hit the island nation in more than 200 years. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake caused tremendous damage that officials have yet to fully characterize, and the death toll may run into the thousands. “The Haiti earthquake occurred at a fault that runs right through Haiti and is situated along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates, which are rocky slabs that cover the planet and fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle”(Live Science). The Caribbean and North American plates are continually going past one another a few inches a year and with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North American slab. “Twenty millimeters a year of slippage is very small, and that’s not what people felt” said Carrieann Bedwell, geophysicist” (Live Science). An earthquake of this magnitude literally shook everyone in the island and they were unaware of what was going on. However, there was nothing they could do because it was a force greater than what they can handle. Here is a map showing the intensity of the earthquake in Haiti. “The USGS estimates the epicentre of the magnitude-7.0 quake at a depth of 10 kilometres. The Global Seismic Monitor system, based at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, puts it at 17 km deep and also slightly stronger at magnitude 7.2. Either way, the quake is a relatively shallow one, and this makes it more dangerous. "It would do a lot more damage close up. We could easily be looking at 1 centimetre of ground movement," says Luckett. The geographical proximity of the epicentre to the heavily populated Port-Au-Prince will also have added to the damage caused” (Cressey). As a result of the earthquake, Haiti also experienced tsunamis as well causing even more deaths in the country.
Another earthquake that changed the lives of many people is the earthquake of Chile in 1960. The earthquake originated off of the southern Chile coast on May 22, 1960 and the temblor caused major damage and loss of life both in that country and later the earthquake resulted in tsunamis that generated in the distant Pacific coastal areas. “The shock is generally agreed to have had a magnitude of 9.5, though some studies alternately proposed that it may have been 9.4 or 9.6. A series of foreshocks the previous day had warned of the incipient disaster; one, of magnitude 7.9, caused major destruction in Concepción. The fault-displacement source of the earthquake extended over an estimated 560–620 mile (900–1,000 km) stretch of the Nazca Plate, which subducted under the South American Plate” (Pallardy). The image is a map that depicts the epicentre of the earthquake off the coast of Chile. After this earthquake took place many people studied how earthquakes work and that is when they realized that the earth can actually vibrate like a guitar string. After the destruction that this earthquake caused, hours later people were surprised with tsunamis in other countries like Japan and Hawaii. The seismic waves of this earthquake literally went through every part of the world and therefore as time passes our technology upgrades to the point that geologists obtain something like an ultrasound scan of the earth.
These two earthquakes are similar but different in many ways. Both earthquakes were significant to the world because they helped to improve strategies and technology to detect natural disasters. The Haiti earthquake had a lower magnitude but caused more deaths in the country. Haiti’s earthquake had a death toll of 230,000 people. On the other hand, Chile’s earthquake had the highest magnitude in history and only caused 5,700 deaths. Both were similar however, because they both resulted in tsunamis in both the country and other countries. “Both earthquakes produced deadly tsunamis, with three people killed by waves in Haiti and 16 in Chile. In Haiti, waves up to 3 meters high occurred along the Haitian shore, possibly due to underwater landslides or similar local phenomena” (Lovett). The tsunami was due to the plates colliding and causing big waves to form in the ocean. Even though both earthquakes created deadly tsunamis, Chile’s waves were even deadlier because it caused over 60 deaths in other countries such as Hawaii.
Earthquakes can cause a drastic change to many people in a community, however there is nothing much that humans can do to stop these natural disasters from happening. As years pass and more earthquakes occur, geologist obtain more information and technology to detect when a natural disaster may occur. For example, the Haiti earthquake caused major destruction to the people in the country and many may still be recovering from the damages. As a result, geologists and the community are prepared if another earthquake was to occur. Therefore, whether the magnitude of an earthquake is big or small it becomes a major change in people’s lives.