Earthquakes In Kathryn Schulz's The Really Big One
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In "The Really Big One" published by Kathryn Schulz in the New Yorker magazine, seismologist Chris Goldfinger asked how should a society prepare for environmental crises that lead to severe damages? Goldfinger explores both earthquakes and tsunamis to comes to the conclusion that there is not enough time before "geological time catches up" (pg. 20, para 42). Although the danger of earthquakes and tsunamis is obvious, one should still gain knowledge of unexpected natural disasters. One of the major environmental disasters are earthquakes. Earthquakes cause severe damages to a society and kill many people. While experiencing an earthquake, Goldfinger states that the "earth snapped and popped and rippled" (pg 2, para. 4). Earthquakes are one of the most extreme natural disasters, but they only last couple of minutes. Goldfinger states that the earthquakes in Loma Prieta, California, killed "sixty-three people and caused six billion dollars" (p 2, para. 2). The longer the earthquake lasts the more damage is likely to occur.…show more content… The longer an earthquake lasts and the higher its magnitude, the more damage and deaths are caused. Goldfinger, while attending a seismology meeting in the city of kashiwa, experienced an earthquake of "magnitude - 9.0" which killed approximately "eighteen thousand" people and caused a damage of "two hundred and twenty billion dollars" (pg 3, para. 7). A single earthquake can change the shape of a society leaving it in disaster. Earthquakes are not preventable, therefore if one takes place more are likely to occur. Seismologists can only predict the magnitude of the earthquake to gain an idea of its