Why do LEDC's Suffer Greater Damage From Earthquakes Than MEDC's

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Homework                16th October 2004

Why do LEDC’s Suffer Greater Damage From Earthquakes Than MEDC’s

A MEDC is a more economically developed country; therefore it can afford to spend money on improving the countries stability and helping to decrease the damage from an earthquake.  An example of a MEDC is Kobe, in Tokyo, where in January 1995; an earthquake that measured 7.5 on the Richter scale hit the city. A LEDC is a less economically developed country and therefore cannot afford to spend money to protect the country from earthquakes.  An example of an LEDC is Armenia, in Columbia, where on the 25th January 1999; an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale was the worst earthquake the country had experienced since 1983.

As MEDC’s have more money to spend on prediction methods, I would expect there to be less deaths and damage in MEDC’s than in LEDC’s.  This is due to a number of reasons.  Firstly, because MEDC’s are more economically developed, they can afford to spend money on prediction methods, such as GPS satellite, which is when data is sent from satellites to computers with information such as plate movement and changes in the earth’s surface.  This prediction method is very accurate; however, a disadvantage is that if the computers fail then all of the data will be lost.  Also, the fact that MEDC’s have more money would also mean that they can spend more money on preparing the country for an earthquake.  This can be done by reinforcing the bridges and by starting to make earthquake proof buildings. Also, the government could give out information of what to do if an earthquake strikes.  This could be posted to each person’s house explaining the key steps involved.  In comparison, as LEDC’s do not have as much money, they cannot afford to spend money on earthquake precautions.  Therefore, LEDC’s have poor quality building and precaution methods, whereas MEDC’s have sophisticated building and prediction and prevention methods.  

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An example of an earthquake in an MEDC is the earthquake that occurred in Kobe, Japan, in January 1995.  There were devastating effects of this earthquake.  There were 5,100 deaths as a result of the earthquake and over 25,000 people were injured.  The short term social effects were that an estimated 230,000 people were made homeless and had to live in temporary shelters (which were usually unheated school gyms or in open parks).  People were afraid to return home because there were. 716 (74 of which were strong enough to be felt) recorded aftershocks lasted several days after the ...

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