unit 1 earthquake

8/11/2019 Unit 1 Earthquake

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1.3 LESSONS LEARNT FROM T H E PASTEXPER ENCES

The lnost impor-tantlesson learnt by st i~dyingthe past occurrences o f earthquakesis that it has beco~llepossible to delilieable seismic zones in the country as shownin Fig. 1

SEISMIC ZONING M A P ALONG WITH STATE BOUNDARIES (SOURCE)B U R E l J O F INDI N STANDARDS IS : 1893 984

Fig. 1, Seismic Zones

sIt will be seen that the country is divided into five seismic zones with zon 5 beingthe most vulnerable.

The olhel- important less011 kom .recent studies is that these appears to be allincrease n the occurrence of eal-lliquakes in recent years although there is no

apparent scientific reason for this. If we take into accoulit the earttiquakesofmagnitudes 6.0 and niore i.e. those earthquakes that caused damage to life andproperty, India has experienced one such earthquake once in two years during thelast 14 years. On the other liand during the years (1950-75),there was one sucheartllqi~akein 6 years. In the period before such earthquakes occurred rouglllyonce il 13 years during the 130 years

On tlie disaster man ement side also, if we take care of the various lessons learntfroni the past earthquakes, we can minimise considerably tlie damage resultingfrom future earthquakes. Tile following are a few poiuts which emerged as a resultof a study of past earthquakes.


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~ i c r c s s e d ndcl stnrtdingof Disasters - I

2) What necessary steps can be adopted towards constr i~ct ionof ear-tliquakeresistant houses?

3) What is the basic pLlrpose of relief measures talcen L P by the slategovernment in providing relief to people i n case of earthquake? List- the

various heads of giving econom ic relief.

1.5 L ET US SUM UP

India has a long history of ma-jor earthquakes parlicularly in the HimalayanRegion. Earthquakes, as we have learnt in this Unit, cause extensiv e damage tobuildings, infrastruct i~ralfaciliti es, bri dges etc. and result. in loss of life and limb.Fire and flooding can rollow an earthquake. In any SLI II calamity, the primeissue is organising rescue and relief ta the affected. The Maharaslitra EartliqualteReconstruction Project embarl(ed by tlie government in 1993, cnco~npass ingallaspec ts of rehabilitation was a significant measure in this direction. T h is ~ ~ n i t l ~ a salso highlighted tlie need to learn from past experiences to minimise tlie damagesesul.ling from earthquakes whose frequency of occurrence appears to be on the~ncrease.

1.6 KEY WORDS

As an act of grace or favour, w i t h o ~ ~ tfurther responsibility or liability.

Engineered BuiIdings These are those structures that havebeen designed taking into account tlie\mrious effects that would be caused due.to earthquake.

Non-Engineered Buildings These are buildings that have been builtwithout any guidance from a qualifiedprofessional and generally consist ofoneltwo storey residential buildings.

Code Rules, e.g. Building Code which nieansrules for c o n s t r u ~ t i o nof buildings.


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Social rehabilitation in tlie form of special facilities for women, childr en,handicapped.

C o ~ n m ~ ~ n i t yreliabilitation.

Provision for technical assistance, training and equipment.

Check our Progress 2

1 ) Your aliswel- s l i o~~ ldinclude the following points:

Preparation of actioti plans for different regions of tlie country and theirperiodic evaluation and update.

Development or proper nlechanism to ensure proper distribution of relief

niate~ ial.@ Pla~in i~ igof alternate approach routes for the con~muni tyto escape

during emel-gency.

Identification of alternative metl~odsltechniquesfor providing necessaryrelief materials like fl oocl. clothes. medicines etc.

Proper campaigns to make people aware of various aspects ofearthquake management.

Malting houses and buildings earthquake resistant either through properengineered design at the construction stage or through retrofitting of theexisting non-engineered houses.

2) Your answe r sliould include the following points:

Use of light weight building materials n tlie construction of houses.

Construction of buildings with simple, regular layouts.

Design of buildings by qualified engineers and their construction as perthe provisions i l l the code.

Provision for properly laid RCC slabbed roofs. IiI

3 ) Y O L I Tanswer should include the following points: i

he basic purpose of relief measures talten u p by the state government isto provide itnmediate relief to tlie c o l n ~ i ~ ~ ~ n i t y .

The various heads under wliiclz economic, relief call be provided in case ofeartliqualcesare:

Ex-gratia payments to the injured and to the next of kin of the deceased

Damaged crops - compensation for damaged housesCattle loss

Free medicines, clothes and ~ ~ t e n s i l s

Free food in the temporary relief camps

Grant to replace damaged agricultural implements.


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unit 1 earthquake

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