the worst thing is that some of these buildigs are new, and it's painful thinking that if they were build in earthquake-proof way many lives could be saved
Yeah, I heard many comments about that now. Even the WHO is astounded that the hospital was completely destroyed and says that hospitals need to be earthquake proof.
Apparently after the last earthquake, that resulted in a collapse of a primary school and in the death of over 20 (?) first graders, politicians promised that things would change. A few things happened, but only on paper. The entire country was classyfied in different areas, from endangered to low danger, there were rules implemented etc. But nothing actually changed, deadlines were deferred, Berlusconi granted amnesty twice to people who illegally built houses or enlarged their houses without making sure that those houses are safe.
The earthquake was between 5.8 and 6.3 (there were different numbers) -
that's somewhere between a moderate and strong earthquake. For example the last 6 big earthquakes in Japan (since 2004) were all stronger than that and didn't cause nearly as much damage.
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Reading about earthquakes now... Among the worst and strongest earthquakes are the ones in Alaska and Kamchatka. But nobody lives there, so there was never that much damage. And apparently after the Great Kanto earthquake in Japan, vigilantes in the Japanese population hunted down Koreans, because they thought that those were responsible for the fires :think: Why do we always need a scapegoat? I have one for Italy though, in this case it is of course the rotten political system in Italy. The most powerful earthquake ever recorded was in Chile, 9.5 Heh, see that map
here, that long yellow line through Middle Europe, with the two red spots? That's me! Well, obviously not me, but Aachen is one of the two tectonic active places in Germany, the mountain range south of Aachen consists of ancient volcanoes (that's what the two red spots are for I guess). Isn't it strange that Russia is such a huge country but somehow not very earth-quaky, apart from Kamchatka?
This
map looks a bit scary, like a bunch of ants ruling the planet, but for anyone who is afraid of earthquakes: Belarus looks to be a safe bet (not sure about the political climate though), Uruguay and the Sahara aren't too shabby either.
So this is how the Japanese islands came to exist (image from Wiki). I didn't know that, I only knew how the Himalaya and the Alps originated. But it is actually quite logical that something similar would occur if two oceanic plates meet.
That's one complicated subject. I need to know more! But my English is deserting me, I guess I'll get myself a good book from the library.
