Essay on Recent Earthquake
Introduction
Earthquake means earth’s crust shaking suddenly and violently. An earthquake happens when the surface or crust of the earth begins to shake suddenly and violently. Very large plates make up the earth’s crust. Pressure on these plates comes from below the earth’s surface. The pressure builds up over many years and finally may cause the plates of the crust to move, creating an earthquake.
Not all earthquakes cause damage or injury. Most are very mild. About 1,50,000 earthquakes occur each year; but only about one hundred are very destructive. Every part of the world has earthquakes, but in most places they are not strong. For example, in the north eastern part of the United States there is almost never a strong earthquake. If we mark on a world map, the places where earthquakes often occur, our marks will form two large belts, the Pacific belt and the Mediterranean belt.
The earthquake shakes a building and loosens the bricks in a chimney or wall. The bricks fall, injuring someone or damaging other property. Earthquakes may also break water pipes, cut electric lines and damage gas mains.
Recent Earthquake
The severe earthquake rocked Gujarat on January 26, 2001. It shook the whole nation. It was the biggest earthquake in the sub-continent in 40 years. It measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake was in Bhuj district in Gujarat. The collapse of a five storeyed building took the toll of 150 lives. It was a nearly two-minute long quake.
The earthquake originated at 8.42 a.m. about 20 km. north west of the town of Bhuj. The Bhuj Air base, which houses M.I.G.s was badly damaged. The fighters were removed to Jam Nagar as the Bhuj runaway which had developed some cracks was being re-surfaced. Almost all the structures developed cracks. Even the roads cracked. The Manishi Tower in upmarket Vastrapur had collapsed like a pack of cards. One entire wing of 20 flats had also collapsed. It had turned into a graveyard of all its occupants.
The oil production in Gujarat (in ONGC wells) also got disrupted for four hours. Some ONGC buildings also developed cracks.
Ready Action by the Government
Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee dropped the idea of attending the Republic Day Parade. held an emergency meeting with the Home Minister and reviewed the situation. The Cabinet Secretary activated its control room. He could not receive first hand information timely because of the snapping of the communication links in the affected areas. The P.M. described the earthquake as a calamity of national magnitude. The Army and the Navy were put on alert and relief measures were taken without delay. The Home Minis ter left for Gandhi Nagar to have a first hand view of the situation. Teams of medical specialists and communication engineers were also air borne. About 10,000 tents were sent to the affected areas. The Aeroplanes dropped food materials at quake-hit areas.
Help from within and Abroad
The entire nation pro vided succour to quake victims. The quake caused heavy loss of lives and extensive damage to private and public property. Many countries sent condolences to the bereaved families. The United States, European Union and Russia offered huge assistance to India in dealing with the natural calamity. Russia also sent mo bile hospitals capable of providing complicated surgical opera tions on the spot.
Loss of Life and Property
This natural calamity caused heavy damage to life, crops and property. All the Kacha con structions got demolished. The roads and public paths got blocked. Thousands of people became homeless. Many people became invalids.
Conclusion
Earthquakes are generally looked upon as disasters which strike without warning. However recent advances have enabled scientists to identify earthquake-prone areas on the basis of several indications. A significant part of the Himalayan region and some areas in the surroundings of large dams in Maharashtra can be identified as high risk areas. Once earth quake-prone areas have been identified, it is important to formulate policies which will minimise the loss of life if and when a high-intensity quake strikes.
People should be given clean region-specific instructions about how they should behave when a quake strikes. They should be given instructions on radio, T.V., newspapers and other media to save the maximum number of lives by timely action. A warning before few minutes of earthquake can save thousands of lives.
Vocabulary
Crust- surface, Damage- loss, Mild- soft, नरम Occur- take place, होना। Collapse- falling down, निपात। Originated- started, Structures- constructed buildings, Activate- To bring into action, Snapping- breaking, टूटना Indications- clues, संकेत | Formulate- form, बनाना।
IMPORTANT LINK
- आदर्श इतिहास शिक्षक के गुण एंव समाज में भूमिका
- विभिन्न स्तरों पर इतिहास शिक्षण के उद्देश्य प्राथमिक, माध्यमिक तथा उच्चतर माध्यमिक स्तर
- इतिहास शिक्षण के उद्देश्य | माध्यमिक स्तर पर इतिहास शिक्षण के उद्देश्य | इतिहास शिक्षण के व्यवहारात्मक लाभ
- इतिहास शिक्षण में सहसम्बन्ध का क्या अर्थ है ? आप इतिहास शिक्षण का सह-सम्बन्ध अन्य विषयों से किस प्रकार स्थापित करेंगे ?
- इतिहास क्या है ? इतिहास की प्रकृति एवं क्षेत्र
- राष्ट्रीय उच्चतर शिक्षा अभियान के विषय में आप क्या जानते हैं ?
- शिक्षा के वैकल्पिक प्रयोग के सन्दर्भ में एस० एन० डी० टी० की भूमिका
- राष्ट्रीय पाठ्यचर्या की रूपरेखा (एन.सी.एफ.-2005) [National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005) ]
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