CARIO, EGYPT - On October 12, 1992, at about 3.10 pm, an 5.9 magnitude earthquake plunged this bustling city into chaos. Authorities said that at least 370 people were killed, and more than 3,000 others were injured. This is one of the most forceful earthquakes in Egypt’s modern history.
Apparently, Egypt is situated in the north-eastern of the African Plate, interacting with the Arabian and Eurasian plates through abnormal and merging plate boundaries, respectively. Egypt is also affected y the opening of the Red sea and its two branches. The relative motion along these plates creates areas of high seismcity in Egypt.
The impact of the earthquake was so huge that shocks from the earthquake could be felt as far away as Jerusalem, a country which is 250 miles northeast of Cairo. The earthquake also caused more than 116 buildings to either collapse or become badly damaged. The worst damage was where the 14-story apartment building crumbled and reduced to only a pile of stones and twisted steel. Reports of scattered power outages and downed telephone lines throughout the city were reported but fortunately there were no reports of major fires.
The government sent out rescue teams to Cairo to rescue the people who were trapped under collapsed buildings upon realizing the situation there. The president of Egypt who was visiting Beijing announced that he would cut short his Asia tour and return back to his country.
I think that in order to minimize damage from such events, we need to take action by improving building standards, which includes better planning and constructing. Humans can also use our advancing technology to have a more efficient and accurate warning for natural disasters.
Apparently, Egypt is situated in the north-eastern of the African Plate, interacting with the Arabian and Eurasian plates through abnormal and merging plate boundaries, respectively. Egypt is also affected y the opening of the Red sea and its two branches. The relative motion along these plates creates areas of high seismcity in Egypt.
The impact of the earthquake was so huge that shocks from the earthquake could be felt as far away as Jerusalem, a country which is 250 miles northeast of Cairo. The earthquake also caused more than 116 buildings to either collapse or become badly damaged. The worst damage was where the 14-story apartment building crumbled and reduced to only a pile of stones and twisted steel. Reports of scattered power outages and downed telephone lines throughout the city were reported but fortunately there were no reports of major fires.
The government sent out rescue teams to Cairo to rescue the people who were trapped under collapsed buildings upon realizing the situation there. The president of Egypt who was visiting Beijing announced that he would cut short his Asia tour and return back to his country.
I think that in order to minimize damage from such events, we need to take action by improving building standards, which includes better planning and constructing. Humans can also use our advancing technology to have a more efficient and accurate warning for natural disasters.
