Humanities Homework Help

Discussion Requirements

A substantive comment should be approximately 300 words or more for each response (A total of 5 responses).

Read the initial comments posted by your classmates and reflect upon them.

Before writing your comments:

• Review the Discussion grading rubric to see what is expected for an excellent discussion, in order to earn full credit.
• Review some resources to help you synthesize, such as the following:

Sullivan, J. (2011). Strategies for Synthesis Writing. Retrieved from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/edu/Strategies-for-Synthesis-Writing.html

NOTE: You are required to cite sources and include a reference list for the second post if it is simply your opinion. However, if your opinion is based on facts (as it should be), it is good practice to strengthen your position by citing sources.

Be sure to meet all of the criteria in the rubric, as noted in the instructions above.

Third post for each module discussion:

Read the initial and secondary comments posted by your classmates and reflect upon them.

Directly respond to at least one classmate in a way that extends meaningful discussions, adds new information, and/or offers alternative perspectives.

MY POST

Classmates and Professor,

Mitigation measures of Earthquakes

In my community a major potential hazard would be earthquakes (California Earthquake Authority, 2020). Earthquakes are natural hazards that lead to the disruption of the usual way of life of people. Earthquakes lead to the destruction of lives, property, and infrastructure such as buildings, factories, shops, roads, schools, and bridges. This causes the displacement of people, and millions become homeless (NIH, 2021). Besides, they also cause significant disruptions in the public service system by cutting off communication and transport networks. Natural earthquakes are impossible to control, and therefore we need to mitigate and prepare for their effects.

Mitigation measures are central in preventing or reducing the risks that result from earthquakes. The criteria recognize opportunities to assess risks, reduce vulnerability, understand threats and hazards, sustain capabilities, avoid duplication of effort, and identify ways to increase resilience (Fema, 2021). My community’s measures to reduce the disruptive impact of natural disasters include the creation of awareness, education, disaster preparedness, and adoption of prediction and warning systems. However, for the mitigation of earthquakes, the most effective strategies involve adopting building codes and technologies that prevent the actual damage from the hazard.

Building codes have continuously been improved over the years to make society better prepared for the massive destruction presented by Earthquakes. In California, for example, building codes are modified after every significant event of an earthquake (Fema, 2021). The purpose of building codes is to make our buildings safer and resilient to shockwaves. These technologies help prevent a building from collapsing and help the people evacuate safely. Engineers incorporate building codes to stiffen buildings and make the structure more potent than an earthquake. While this may prevent buildings from collapsing, they are not entirely effective in preventing problems such as broken pipes and vents, toppling shelves, light fixtures, and water damage caused by extreme shaking. These damages usually lead to poor and unsafe living conditions, and at times the whole building may require demolition.

However, technology has presented us with an alternative that provides a more effective solution in mitigating the effects of earthquakes which my community needs to adopt. This has been realized with the development of seismic dampers added to buildings and work to absorb the energy of the earthquake (Grolms, 2020). They work with the same ideology as shock absorbers used in vehicles and are added to the structure of a building to contain the vibration and shock during an earthquake.

The technology allows people to reoccupy their homes or workplaces even after the worst levels of earthquakes. It is also cost-effective because the seismic dampers are always ready to handle the next seismic event or aftershock, and more importantly, they last the lifetime of a building. These technologies will significantly reduce the costs incurred in reconstruction and significantly reduce homelessness after major earthquake disasters.

Pedro

References

California Earthquake Authority CEA. (2020, June 8). Earthquake Risk in San Francisco. Retrieved from What is the Risk of a Bay Area Earthquake?: https://www.earthquakeauthority.com/Blog/2020/san-…

Fema. (2021). Hazard Mitigation Planning. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/hazard-mitigation-planning.

Fema. (2021). National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/earthquake/nehrp.

Grolms, M. (2020). Affordable seismic dampers for residential and commercial buildings – Advanced Science News. Advanced Science News. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/affordable-seismic-dampers-for-residential-and-commercial-buildings/.

NIH. (2021). Disaster Information Management Research Center. Disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 14 April 2021, from https://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/.

RESPONSE 1: RESPOND TO THE QUESTION BELOW:

Pedro,

Great discussion! California has changed many of its building codes as a mitigation strategy to reduce the impact of earthquakes. They have also developed educational programs to educate communities on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. In addition to these strategies and actions, what would you like to see improved? In your opinion, and based on your experience; would you say that the State has neglected any areas? If so which ones? Recommend solutions.

Dr. Johnson

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RESPONSE 2

Class,

According to the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT, 2020) floods have been the most frequent natural disaster affecting the region of Korea. It is important to understand, as a military member, the various threats affecting one’s operational environment. Having knowledge of which of all hazards is most probable will assist in crafting an efficient emergency response plan. Although, the threat of war is still existent today, there are already very specific plans set forth for the ease of understanding by all military members. The threat of natural disasters, however, remains less ventured.

“In 1984, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2010, and 2011, Seoul experienced major flooding caused by torrential rains.” (Young-Ran, 2017, para. 4) This was made extraordinarily worse due to the poor infrastructure, sewage facilities, and other water management designs across the city and therefore, led to a reshaping and rebuilding of drainage systems to handle any increased levels of runoff. (Young-Ran, 2017) Due to the threat of heavy floods, typhoons, and tsunamis, the country of Korea maintains emergency evacuation procedures to move heavy amounts of general populations outside of harm’s way using emergency services and if necessary, the military. (Cho et al., 2015) There is no specific plan in place for heavy rainfall disaster procedures, as those issues may be covered under other emergency disaster protocols. The country of Korea ensures that there is adequate planning for each disaster affecting their country as seen through the recent events of the biological-based disaster of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

The current measures in place appear adequate to handle future flood warning disasters. Floods can be covered under the appropriately related disaster procedures such as typhoons and tsunami warnings because both involve the evacuation of personnel and, flash floods appear to be less severe. Although the use of social media and cellular devices as alerting devices would also be helpful to provide tourists with proper information about common disasters found across the country. This information is easily available for United States military members stationed in Korea, however, the same cannot be said for tourists visiting the region. If they do not receive a proper understanding of seasonal natural hazards, they may be placing persons in harm’s way.

Ismael

References:

Cho et al. (September 2015) Tsunami response system for ports of Korea Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307760520_Tsunami_response_system_for_ports_in_Korea

Emergency Events Database (January 2020) Advanced Search. Retrieved from: https://emdat.be/emdat_db/

Young-Ran, K. (July 2017) Seoul’s Flood Control Policy Retrieved from https://seoulsolution.kr/en/content/seoul%E2%80%99s-flood-control-policy

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Module 2 – Background

MITIGATION AND RISK REDUCTION

Required Reading

Earthquake risk reduction: Addressing the unmet challenges; the need for an interdisciplinary research approach (2008). Earthquake Engineering Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.eeri.org/site/images/free_pubs/Interdis…

Oskin, B. (2017). Japan earthquake & tsunami of 2011: Facts and information, Livescience. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earth…

Required Websites

Disaster Information Management Research Center: https://disaster.nlm.nih.gov/

Hazard Mitigation Planning. FEMA. https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-planning

Introduction to Mitigation. FEMA EMI. Retrieved from http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is393alst.asp.
Scroll down to IS393.A-Lesson 4, “Building and Implementing a Community Hazard Mitigation Plan.”

National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/national-earthquake-hazards-re…