Category: Current Affairs

This terrible cyclone left China traumatized as almost 16 people were dead and 27,000 people were left stranded and were later evacuated. 24th August 2017 was a black day for China as the most potent storm hit its southern parts. A lot of people were injured, and many were forced to leave their homes. The regions of Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong were severely affected. The team to safeguard citizens against geographic disasters was deployed immediately. Guangxi and Guangdong provinces received about 30 cm of rainfall as the storm passed by them. Macau and the mainland China regions had a violent wind of 160 kilometers per hour.

There was a power outage and the city of casinos was trying to recover by using their generators. There was a moving picture of people waddling through murky and knee-deep water on the roads. Electric pillars and wires were dismantled. Almost 200 people were hurt in Hong Kong and Macau. There was a severe shortage of food, medicines and drinking water. Infections were rising, and people were afraid of poisonous insects and reptiles that could enter the houses through the water. As said earlier, 27000 people were sent to safe places and cyclone rehabilitation centers. Two million population was practically living in darkness.

The chief weather forecaster at the meteorological department issued a statement saying that the cyclone Hatho moved faster and became more powerful than expected and caused immense rainfall. The maximum ten signal was awarded to the cyclone, and it was quite a serious one since 1968. Cyclone Wanda of 1962 was even worse causing more calamities and deaths. Astronomical tides were caused rising the water levels in many water bodies. When the cyclone weakened, it brought heavy rains and tornado to Vietnam too. The total estimated economic loss was around 1.5 billion. 220 acres of agricultural land was damaged beyond recognition.

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In the west coast of Chile, near Santiago, a major earthquake occurred of magnitude 7.1. There was a fear of tsunami along the Pacific coast, but later, studies revealed that there is no tension of tsunami.
The epicenter of the quake:
· 85 miles from Santiago
· 22 miles from Valparaiso
· 6.2 miles below the sea
·
The quake lasted for a concise time but had great intensity. All the people ran hither and thither, and a rumor spread that all the people must run to the hills to escape from tsunami but later the officials termed the rumors as baseless. The Pacific warning center and Chilean navy said that the earthquake could not lead to dangerous seismic waves. The maximum height of the tsunami wave could be 15 cm.

There was no damage to the structures in Valparaiso, but the mobile networks and phone connections were down. There were a few landslides but were not serious. An earthquake of this intensity is pretty severe but this quake didn’t cause any damage because it occurred offshore. Magnitudes of earthquakes 5 and 5.4 were recorded in the same region as aftershocks. More tremors were felt in Santiago.

Chile is located on the Pacific ring of fire and has a history of high magnitude earthquakes. People living in this region are always under alert as even a small tremor could cause immense loss of lives and properties.

Earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates in the earth. The faulty or weak zones are those where more earthquakes are caused. There was an indication of rupture along the subduction megathrust fault. The quake was felt in the neighboring regions of Argentina too. Valparaiso was jolted but remained unaffected; evacuation was canceled as there was no possibility of a tsunami. The initial magnitude was 6.7, and later it was modified to 7.1.

The mountainous region of Italy was shaken by four earthquakes in four hours. The tremors have deadly reminded the people of earthquakes they faced a year before. 18th Jan instilled fear in the minds of the people. Buildings collapsed, but there were no injuries or deaths. The regions affected were Abruzzo, Lazio, and Marche. In the previous earthquake, almost 300 people lost their lives. Due to heavy snowfall, these areas were covered in blankets of snow, and the rescue operations were hindered as they had difficulty in reaching the remote villages in the mountains and remote lying farms. The tremors were felt in Rome also, and people became tensed, and metro services were halted.

The first tremor was felt at 10:25 am and the second one occurred at 2:30 pm. The magnitudes were 5.3 and 5.7. In Amatrice, the bell tower of a church came crumbling down. The village of Montreal was the epicenter of the earthquake as it falls under the category of faulty zones. Many villages were under the impact of cold winds and low temperatures. People were waiting outside for further instructions which were delayed due to extreme weather conditions. About one lakh people were stranded due to the loss of power, and there was a risk of avalanches too that could damage the situation further. The problems were two- snow and earthquake. Many of the hamlets were covered in snow and were difficult to approach. Many regions in Italy lie on seismic fault lines that make them vulnerable to earthquakes. Loss of power, disruption in communication systems and snowfall made the situation even worse. Days later, there were almost 45000 aftershocks in various regions. The Eurasian and African tectonic plates are always in conflict with each other causing tremors. Even the four quakes came in succession; there was no much loss bringing relief to lakhs of people.