Powerful quake hits Turkey's east: Again!

[Fatleaf]

It is a horrendous disaster that is made worse with the coming of winter. We are very lucky here in the UK with no active fault lines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15422595

[Okti]

Must say as a person experianced the 1999 earthquake in Istanbul, we are not safe agaınst nature at all. As far as earthquakes are concerned better buildings do help but there are more nature hazards as the ones hit Japan lately. I must thank to the to the regulars at IRC channel concerning about me or my relatives about the earthquake in Turkey.

[snork]

Damn.

[DaddyHoggy]

Just seen the news of a 14 day old baby pulled from the wreckage of an apartment block. My fingers crossed that there are more miracles.

To all those affected - my thoughts are with you.

[Ironfist]

USGS reports 43 shocks since the 7.2. Can't imagine how that effects the rescuers.

Ironfist

[ClymAngus]

It is a horrendous disaster that is made worse with the coming of winter. We are very lucky here in the UK with no active fault lines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15422595

Truly horrifying, a disaster for a country that could ill afford it. Not to detract from this humanitarian imperative but when it comes to planet earth few places are immune to it's wrath;

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 81634.html

We find ourselves blessed, if we live during a "hiatus".

[Eric Walch]

Truly horrifying, a disaster for a country that could ill afford it. Not to detract from this humanitarian imperative but when it comes to planet earth few places are immune to it's wrath;

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 81634.html

We find ourselves blessed, if we live during a "hiatus".

you can't compare a 5.5 with a 7.0 one. 2 magnitudes higher means that 1000 times more energy is released. In 1992 we in the Netherlands had our strongest in recent history. It was of magnitude 5.8 and did almost no damage. No house collapsed and only a few cracks in some houses were observed.

An earthquake of magnitude 7 happens every few thousand years in the Netherlands. (according to some scientists) The last big one is already a few thousand years in the past so we can expect one in the next few centuries now. There is a big fault running north-south through Europe: in France through the Rhone valley, than in Germany through the Rhine valley, than diagonally through the Netherlands towards the Nord-sea and ending going upwards along the Norwegian shoreline.

This fault is far less active as the one going through Turkey and Greece were we see every few years a big movement. It is just a shame they build houses knowing there is a realistic chance of experiencing an earthquake, while from experiences in Japan, we know its possible to build houses that survive a magnitude 7 earthquake.

[Fatleaf]

This fault is far less active as the one going through Turkey and Greece were we see every few years a big movement. It is just a shame they build houses knowing there is a realistic chance of experiencing an earthquake, while from experiences in Japan, we know its possible to build houses that survive a magnitude 7 earthquake.

Which is all well and good when you have the resources of Japan. Yet even a lot of their buildings were damaged beyond repair. With poor Turkey it is a case of necessity. They don't have much of a choice.

It is a sad state of affairs when we can find trillions of currency for the financial sector but when it comes to lives it is very cheap.

[snork]

Which is all well and good when you have the resources of Japan. Yet even a lot of their buildings were damaged beyond repair. With poor Turkey it is a case of necessity. They don't have much of a choice.

I don't think Turkey is that poor.

... and also that the situation could actually be an(other) opportunity to come to better Turkish/ Kurdish relations, and also for EU to show how serious they (we) are about solidarity with Turkey - but, well, ...

It is a sad state of affairs when we can find trillions of currency for the financial sector but when it comes to lives it is very cheap.

Yup. and very embarrassing.

2 magnitudes higher means that 1000 times more energy is released.

[Eric Walch]

2 magnitudes higher means that 1000 times more energy is released.

That was no typo. Two magnitudes higher means really 1000 times more energy released: See Richter magnitude scale

[Cmdr Wyvern]

It is a sad state of affairs when we can find trillions of currency for the financial sector but when it comes to lives it is very cheap.

That's why I'm voting for Ron Paul, and no confidence for the rest. I believe Ron can fix the mess, because Obama sure can't (or won't). Sadly the dollar would've flatlined before the time he's in office.

[CommonSenseOTB]

These are tragic events, earthquakes. The people are in my prayers.

[snork]

That was no typo. Two magnitudes higher means really 1000 times more energy released: See Richter magnitude scale

You really got me there.
As you are the kind of person I tend to believe in what you say about anything mathematical and the like, I was all wtf ? Did I totally misunderstand basics of dekalogarithmic scales - damn!
(see, in 15 years of school I never had any lessons about logarithmic anything, only been visiting bad schools).

Now I studied this again, and so I was thinking about the amplitude (1 step = x10), while you were clearly speaking of the emitted energy (1 step = ~x32).

Uff.

---------------------------------------
I still wonder - on the news I only ever hear about how disaster struck Turkey - but such earthquake must have affected Iraqish Kurdistan too ?

What a shame.

[ClymAngus]

(please understand I hold you in the highest respect) but I didn't "compare" the two, and I do understand the certain eccentricities of the richter scale

No where on earth is safe, because the earth isn't safe. The earth (and the solar system that surrounds it) is a dynamic thing and prone to change. I'm sorry if I didn't put my point across clearly enough and made it a target of aberrant reading as a result.

you can't compare a 5.5 with a 7.0 one. 2 magnitudes higher means that 1000 times more energy is released. In 1992 we in the Netherlands had our strongest in recent history. It was of magnitude 5.8 and did almost no damage. No house collapsed and only a few cracks in some houses were observed.

An earthquake of magnitude 7 happens every few thousand years in the Netherlands. (according to some scientists) The last big one is already a few thousand years in the past so we can expect one in the next few centuries now. There is a big fault running north-south through Europe: in France through the Rhone valley, than in Germany through the Rhine valley, than diagonally through the Netherlands towards the Nord-sea and ending going upwards along the Norwegian shoreline.

This fault is far less active as the one going through Turkey and Greece were we see every few years a big movement. It is just a shame they build houses knowing there is a realistic chance of experiencing an earthquake, while from experiences in Japan, we know its possible to build houses that survive a magnitude 7 earthquake.

[Fatleaf]

More heartache for the Turkish people.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/stor ... 51139796/1