Earthquakes: How We Detect Them Before It’s Too Late

The Earthquake of Syria and Turkey

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded in Turkey, struck on February 6, killing more than 40,000 people and devastating a densely populated area in southern Turkey and northern Syria. Rescue efforts have been complicated by the quake zone’s location in a region already burdened by war and the refugee crisis, as well as government and opposition-held lands in Syria.

The Syrian civil war: The earthquake has put new attention on the conflict in Syria, which broke out in 2011 in a popular uprising against the oppressive regime of the country’s long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad. Although the uprising began with peaceful protests, it quickly turned into a bloody conflict between rebels and government forces. Fighting has decreased since 2019, but peace talks led by the US and Russia have been stalled for years. This did not end the humanitarian crisis, which lasted for more than a decade. More than 5 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, including Turkey, according to the United Nations.

Now, we can’t stop tectonic plates from shifting. Although, we can use technology to detect earthquakes before they strike. Using the idea of earthquake detection can and will save lives. First, we have to understand seismic waves.

Seismic waves are vibrations that travel through the Earth’s interior as a result of an earthquake or other seismic activity. These waves can be categorized into two types: body waves and surface waves. Body waves are waves that travel through the interior of the Earth, while surface waves are waves that travel along the Earth’s surface. Both types of waves can be used to detect earthquakes. Body waves are further divided into two categories: P-waves (primary waves) and S-waves (secondary waves).

Instruments called seismographs are used to find seismic waves. They are made up of a mass that is suspended from a spring and a base that is anchored to the ground. The base of the seismograph moves with seismic waves as they travel through the Earth’s surface, but the suspended mass stays in place. A seismogram is a graph that shows the relative motion of the mass and base. The distance between a seismograph station and the earthquake epicenter can be calculated using the interval between the arrival times of the P- and S-waves at the station. The epicenter of an earthquake can be triangulated using data from several seismograph sites.

Anecdotal accounts of animals acting strangely before earthquakes have been recorded throughout history. Examples include dogs barking nonstop or birds taking off. There is some scientific evidence to support the possibility that animals may detect approaching earthquakes, despite the fact that these claims are frequently written off as coincidences. According to one theory, animals are capable of recognizing minute alterations in the Earth’s magnetic field that take place prior to earthquakes. It is known that some animals, including fish, turtles, and birds, are sensitive to tiny changes that take place before earthquakes because they can detect magnetic fields for navigational purposes.

https://www.mtu.edu/geo/community/seismology/learn/earthquake-study/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/14/earthquake-early-warning/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/02/07/animals-turkey-syria-sense-earthquake/

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=14.77488,-140.97656&extent=56.21892,-49.04297

TAKE ACTION:

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/disaster-relief/earthquake-relief.html

https://www.unicefusa.org/what-unicef-does/emergency-response/earthquakes