How do I get ready for the next quake?

The basic you must know before, during, and after your place shakes.

The land or the sea shake. It’s a fact that a quake breaks out everyday and every moment. Some are perceived by the human being, other don’t. we can’t avoid the process to happen. The fear and the questions appear almost immediately. Here we are going to take the most frequent ones, so answering them from a scientific perspective.

 

How do the quakes happen?

The soil where we are onto seems to be an only  solid block, but it’s actually thousands of pieces floating over millions of liters of melted rock due to high pressure. Take many objects to float in a case, they could touch, crash, or embed, and every scenario’s cause transmits in waves.

Let’s bring that figure out to the colossal size of the Earth. When some of those pieces interact violently to another, it breaks out a vibration we experience like a shake. Or like we call it technically – a quake. The scientists call it seism, but it describes the same exact phenomenon.

 

Is it correct to say minor quake or major quake?

Both express the intensity concept, the way how we perceive the quake as we far or near the epicenter, if we are outdoor or indoor, or if we are at soil level or five floors above. The proper is to say: “A quake X magnitude, X intensity.” But if you prefer to use minor or major, there’s no problem.

 

Is it the same magnitude than intensity?

No, it’s not. Magnitude measures the energy the quake releases. The Richter Scale is used, decimal numbers are used to express, and the scientists use to compare it to the power it could represent to blast a large explosives load. It’s a coldest mathematical value.

Intensity, as we said before, calculates the perception haven on the surface we live in related to our distance to the epicenter, and the level of alert or destruction it can experience. That’s why its value trends to be much relative, it’s estimated with Mercalli Modified Scale that grades in Roman numbers.

 

What’s the epicenter?

It’s the spot on the surface where the quake is perceived with major intensity, that is exactly above the hypocenter, the underground point where the quake really happens. That’s why it’s spoken about depth in the reports.

For the epicenter, it’s used to take some known place as a reference unless you want to decode sexagesimal coordinates. That’s why it’s said “it happened X miles away X place.”

 

Is it going to shake where I am?

It depends on the seismic history your zone has. But, no place on the Earth is virtually free of a quake to happen.

 

When, where Will be the next quake?

We ignore it. Our technology worldwide is still unable to approach saying when, how the Earth’s depth will act, but we can indeed suppose that if a zone has a seismic history, it’s going to shake again later or earlier.

 

And what about these people who say to predict quakes?

They may be softwares that are fed by prior quakes data as they may be simple charlatans, but the truth is they are not trustworthy even if they match – the science is not based upon the random.

 

How much trustworthy is the alarm I have in my mobile?

As much as it’s managed and broadcast by the official authority of your country or region, it’s surely trustworthy. Tweet us here pointing us out your zone of residence or work, we get you in contact with your official authority for trustworthy quake reports.

 

Can the oficial warning predict quakes?

No, it can’t. It only warn the people in certain distance away the epicenter that an event has happened and they have to be prepared to have the vibration or the shock wave. As far as you are out the epicenter, more time for the warning to notify you, so you apply your action plan.

 

So, how do I get ready for the next quake?

Participate in the drills, have your emergency backpack easy to reach, renew it constantly, follow up trustworthy information sources (like this), work much on controlling your anxiety – as much as you are balanced and aware during the quake, more clarity to save your life and the people’s around you.

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