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Marching Quaking into Spring ...
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Marching Quaking into Spring :-(
 When
I picked the theme as "Spring" for March edition, a theme
about nature and earth, I never thought that I had to write about
nature and earth for a completely different reason. Our planet earth
has experienced three earth quakes in a span of two months and thousands
are injured or lost their lives in Haiti, Chile and Turkey.
Haiti, which is one of the poor countries in the world had suffered
the biggest (230,000) casualty in terms of property, lives and injuries
due to a 7.0 earthquake. Chile and Turkey experienced 8.8 and 6.0
earthquake and lost around 1900 and 51 lives respectively. Even
though Chile experienced a high intensity earthquake their loss
is small compared to Haiti. The bigger loss in Haiti is attributed
to the poor construction standards that were followed. Turkey suffered
a little because it is reported to have impacted a less populous
zone.
While relief operations are in full swing scientists
have released the findings from the analysis of the seismic data
from Chile. According to scientists the city of Concepcion has moved
at least 10 feet (3 meters) from its original position. Chile's
capital, Santiago is reported to have moved about 11 inches to the
west-southwest, while Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, has
moved about 1 inch to the west. In summary, the scientists are reporting
that the tectonic plates are moving towards the west and there are
possibilities of further energy release due to this move. This is
not a good news :-(
So what is happening? Is the world coming to an end?
Is the doomsday is nearing?
Based on the US Geological survey information it is
not :-) Based on their reports every year earth experiences 134
earthquakes that have a magnitude between 6.0 and 6.9. These earthquakes
do not get enough attention either because it might have occurred
in a less populated place or it had a lesser impact. This year it
is little different because the earth has already experienced 40
earthquakes within the first two and a half months. And out of the
40 earthquakes, one had a major impact on Haiti. The extent of devastation
has what caught the attention of everyone. Such earthquake devastation
is attributed to the poor construction standards and dense population
due to more urbanization. As Paul Earle, a seismologist at the U.S.
Geological Survey says " The earthquakes don't kill people,
buildings do". Let us hope the world leaders take a serious
note and enforce strict structural engineering standards to withstand
most seismic impacts!
Coming to this issue:
First, we would like to thank you for your great support
for the Valentine edition. We have published the feedback you provided
to us about the Valentine edition in this issue. We have also provided
a link to the Valentine edition (at the bottom) for any new readers
visiting us.
In this Spring edition, we have hand picked the contents
for you around three topics:
- Planet Earth: Year 2830, It slowly sprung to
prominence (Story)
- Women's day: World and Women, Powerful women
- Spring: Which tree did you fall from? Surfboard,
Spring Tamil picks - Songs, Poems
We are very confident that you will enjoy our picks.
Write to us after you read. Over to you ...
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