Most Deaths in Chinese Earthquake Caused by the Collapse of Sub-par Buildings

Over 2,000 people have died since a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck China earlier this month, and countless more were injured. This death toll isn't near the amount from the Haiti earthquake in January, but is still a tragic disaster, even though it won't tear apart a country of over a billion people. Most of the deaths were caused by cheaply constructed buildings collapsing , which seems to be the pattern in most of the natural disasters that have hit recently. Mud and wood houses don't tend to stand up as well as steel and concrete.

One of the main reasons we don't have near the amount of deaths here in the U.S. is because of stricter building codes, and while that may not even help against an event such as a hurricane or a tornado, at least we generally do a good job predicting when and where a hurricane will hit, in order to give people time to evacuate or prepare for it. We can't really do much about tornadoes, but since they usually have a very thin point of focus they usually don't cause as much widespread damage.

This particular quake was caused when India's plate slipped passed the plate China was on and the energy released by the tension caused the surface to shake. India has been steadily forcing its was into China and if we waited around for a couple billion years it might force China into the Pacific and maybe, eventually California.

After the 7.1 magnitude quake there were three aftershocks between 5 and 6 magnitude which generally cleaned up what the first one couldn't finish off. China has launched a massive relief effort and is still trying to clear out the damage. Without proper equipment in the region, rescuers had to dig manually with shovels to free people buried or stuck in collapsed buildings.

The near freezing temperatures of the region don't help too much either, as thousands of people are stuck without shelter. One of the main focuses of aid is to make sure the death toll doesn't rise on account of other factors such as starvation or freezing to death. The Red Cross and Chines government are trying to keep a steady stream of aid flowing in, in the form of food, blankets, tents, and water.

Natural disasters such as this quake will always happen, the amount of damage they cause will depend on how we prepare and react to them.