[ad_1]
Gs Paper-1
Syllabus- Earthquake
Context:
Deadliest Afghanistan quake in decades kills over 1,000 people. The quake originated near the city of Khost, which is close to the country’s border with Pakistan and about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Why does Earthquake happen?
The tectonic movements
These are large, thin plates that comprise the Earth’s crust and the upper mantle (commonly called the “lithosphere”) and are constantly moving. Earthquakes occur along fault lines, cracks in Earth’s crust where tectonic plates meet. They occur where plates are subducting, spreading, slipping, or colliding.
 |
The earthquake starts at the focus, with slip continuing along the fault. The earthquake is over when the fault stops moving. Seismic waves are generated throughout the earthquake |
What caused the quake in Afghanistan?
Hindu Kush geography
- Afghanistan is earthquake-prone because it’s located in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, which is part of the Alpide belt — the second most seismically active region in the world after the Pacific Ring of Fire.
- Slow collisions between the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian tectonic plate are thought to be the cause of the extremely-common earthquakes in this region.
- The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has called the Hindu Kush region “one of the most seismically hazardous regions on earth”, boasting one of the highest rates of deep earthquakes in the world.
Seismic events of this nature can cause enormous devastation in places such as Afghanistan, where infrastructure is weak and people live in remote mountain villages that are difficult for emergency rescuers to reach.
Insta Links
Practice Questions
Q. Which of the following earthquake waves is first recorded on the Seismograph?
(a) P-waves
(b) Rayleigh waves
(c) S-waves
(d) Love waves
Answer: (a)
Q. Discuss the factors that cause earthquakes. Why are Earthquakes more common in certain parts of the world than in others? (250 words)
Source: The Hindu
[ad_2]