Mitigation of Earthquakes in Mega Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Mitigation of Earthquakes in Mega Cities - Essay ExampleAlthough earthquake is a natural phenomenon that cannot be averted, we can take some precautions in order to mitigate the destructive potential of its aftermath. The invention of Richter scale has enabled us for computing the magnitude of earthquakes. Today, it is possible to identify frequently earthquake occurring places and the color of every earthquake. Modern facilities such as earthquake alarming systems are some of the advancements in this area. However, deprivation of improved infrastructural deterrence techniques often affects the effectiveness of disaster prevention in mage cities. According to census reports create by Government of Maharashtra (2000) in 1991, 60% of the registered buildings in Mumbai were made up of non-engineered materials such as at large(p) masonry. It is important to note that Mumbai is categorized under seismic zone 3, which indicates the high vulnerability to the occurrence of annihilating earthquakes. The earthquake history of Mumbai reflects that large number of earthquakes occurred across different parts of the city during the last speed of light and even in the last two years. Severe losses had not been reported until 1967 when one attacked Koyna component of Mumbai with a magnitude of 6.3. Large number of buildings was destroyed at this calamity. Damages of such sorts can be avoided to a large extent only if the city employs geotechnical guidelines for the disaster prevention. The Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI) reports that poor governance structures, insufficiency of awareness, and poor professional standards and ethics are some of the major impediments for disaster prevention in mega cities (cited in Wenzel, 2006).