Earthquake struck Acheh at a strength of 8.8. No casualties

@yanzalong (18988)
Indonesia
April 12, 2012 9:36pm CST
Some cities have undergone a disaster: the most common ones are tsunami and earthquake. It seems to me their coming is not predictable. If we had the technology to detect when earthquake and tsunami will come, Japan would have saved a lot of lives and properties. At least people would have moved away from the scene, right? What do you say about it?
2 people like this
3 responses
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
13 Apr 12
Personally I don't think we will ever see a significant increase in the prediction rate of natural disasters, there are just too many variables. Hurricanes we are pretty good at because they move slowly, but when they are far out at sea they are quite unpredictable. Some become monsters when they were forecast to be in areas of shear, others with favorable environments fizzle out. Earthquakes would be much harder. The Earth is on tectonic plates, and there are faults in those plates. They can stay dormant for years, under pressure until something causes that pressure release, the plates shift and an earthquake results. This is something that is hard, if not impossible to predict with any certainty. For example it is known that the San Andreas Fault will move again, but it is not easy to determine when the fault will move, and if that movement will be sufficient enough to cause an earthquake. As far as would people move away from the danger, maybe. Just look at some of the problems that Hurricane Katrina caused in Louisiana. There was plenty of warning, yet some people refused to move. This of course does not account for the people that could not move on their own.
@yanzalong (18988)
• Indonesia
13 Apr 12
jzone, long time no see. Been on a mission? Regarding earthquake and tsunami, i think they are totally unpredictable. There are signs of their arrivals but few know it.
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
13 Apr 12
Hi Yanzalong, No, I've still been here, nothing exciting happening. I know science is working on defining commonalities that occur before earthquakes; they are studying temperature variables, wind, water content of the soil, all kinds of natural dynamics to try and find common conditions before quakes. It is a difficult but fascinating area of study. Can you imagine, any one of those environmental factors can be the " last straw" and an earthquake happens.
• India
19 Apr 12
Well i don't know if there was causality or not, nice to know there was none, the place where i live never had earthquakes or tsunamis we are safe lol.. Have a nice day ahead. Professor ‘@Bhuwan@’. .
@yanzalong (18988)
• Indonesia
19 Apr 12
Thank for your attention, Professor2010. I hope that will never happen in your city. Indonesia has been so many times struck with this fearsome and devastating earthquake. I think most people in Indonesia have sinned.
@Sanitary (3968)
• Singapore
13 Apr 12
Ever since a major Tsunami hit Thailand Phuket, most countries in the world have equipped themselves with technology to predict natural disasters coming to them. However, technologies are just technologies. People can be evacuated but there are times, people in charge are being blamed for the needless evacuation. It's not an easy decision to order mass evacuation based on prediction, especially if nothing happens after that. At the end of it, everything depends on people's decision to go along with technology or trust their instinct. In this case here, everybody is safe from the strong earthquake that affects Phuket, Chennai and some parts of singapore.
@yanzalong (18988)
• Indonesia
13 Apr 12
It is because the warning and prediction are not accurate, people would not listen. As you said mass evacuation was done but nothing cropped up.
1 person likes this