September 8, 2023 Morocco Earthquake

 

September 8, 2023 Moroccan Earthquake

Figure 1. Example of the extensive damage of the 6.8 magnitude that struck Morocco (Werbeck et. al 2023).

On September 8, 2023 a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the country of Morocco just after 11:00 pm local time. The epicenter of the earthquake was 37 miles southwest of the populous city of Marrakesh (British Red Cross 2024). While the shaking from the earthquake impacted this urban city, the worst damage from the earthquake occurred in small rural communities in the High Atlas Mountains, such as Adassil and Tafeghaghte (Voiland 2023).

Figure 2. Damage proxy map of the September 8, 2023 Moroccan Earthquake also showing the epicenter of the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 16 miles underground (Voiland 2023).

As stated, on September 8, 2023 a 6.8 magnitude earthquake happened in Morocco just after 11:00 pm local time. An aftershock event occurred 19 minutes later, having a magnitude of 4.9 (Cheloni et. al 2024). The earthquake event claimed the lives of 2,946 individuals, and an additional 600,000 people were affected (British Red Cross 2024). People were affected in a variety of ways as a result of the earthquakes. At least 530 schools were damaged from the shaking, affecting the education of over 100,000 children (British Red Cross 2024). Many people’s homes were destroyed, many people were left without power, and roads were also damaged from the shaking. The damaged roads even slowed rescue efforts to the mountainous villages around the epicenter (Al Jazeera 2023). One interesting cultural impact of the earthquake involves the city of Marrakesh. Marrakesh is a city known for its historical architecture such as its medieval mosques. The oldest part of Marrakesh was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and has buildings dating back to the 11th century (Al Jazeera 2023). Damage in Marrakesh was concentrated in this older part of the city according to locals, due to the buildings being prone to collapsing. Locals said that the older buildings sometimes even collapsed on their own due to them being in a fragile state, but luckily most of the ancient district was left intact (Al Jazeera 2023). 

Figure 3. Shake Intensity Map of the September 2023 Morocco Earthquake. Note the strongest intensity felt southwest of Marrakesh, in the High Atlas Mountains. Map from USGS. 

This earthquake was devastating for Marrakesh and the surrounding rural communities. One reason the community may not have been as prepared for an earthquake of this magnitude is because of the infrequency of earthquakes in the area. The last large earthquake to strike western Morocco was in 1960. An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 occurred near the western coast of Morocco that caused at least 15,000 deaths (Voiland 2023). Perhaps due to the infrequency of earthquakes in the area, people were ill prepared and more lives were lost in the 2023 earthquake as a result. Another factor that could have led to the large amount of casualties is the old architecture found within the oldest parts of Marrakesh. The old architecture was very prone to collapsing. Mitigating the collapse of these structures is tough. Balancing the line between preserving historical architecture or retrofitting these older buildings in case of earthquakes is tricky. It is known that many of these ancient structures were not retrofitted to anti-seismic regulations (Al Jazeera 2023). One aspect of earthquakes and earthquake mitigation I had never really thought of until reading about this earthquake was cultural identity. Maybe people resisted retrofitting these buildings due to their strong cultural relationships with them. This aspect of earthquakes is just one more planners have to account for in order to best mitigate the impacts of earthquakes.  

 Short Video of the Moroccan Earthquake. Includes clips of the earthquake, what areas were impacted, and the plates that caused the earthquake. Link in case the embedded video doesn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy-7QH2ZEZU

References

Al Jazeera. September 2023. Fears for Marrakesh’s Ancient Structures After Morocco’s Earthquake. Accessed September 15, 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/9/fragile-state-fears-for-marrakeshs-ancient-structures-after-earthquake 

Al Jazeera. September 2023. Over 2,000 Dead as Powerful Earthquake Hits Morocco Near Marrakesh. Accessed September 15, 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/8/powerful-6-8-magnitude-earthquake-rattles-morocco.

British Red Cross. September 2024. Morocco Earthquake 2023: Red Cross Red Crescent Response. Accessed September 15, 2024. https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/morocco-earthquake-2023-latest-news-and-updates

Cheloni, D., Famiglietti, N.A., Tolomei C., Caputo R., and Vicari A. 2024.The 8 September 2023, MW 6.8, Morocco Earthquake: A Deep Transpressive Faulting Along the Active High Atlas Mountain Belt. Geophysical Earth Letters 51. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL106992#:~:text=The%202023%20Morocco%20earthquake%20sequence,Koulali%20et%20al.%2C%202011%3B 

USGS. September 2023. M 6.8 - Al Haouz, Morocco. Accessed September 15, 2024. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000kufc/shakemap/intensity 

 Voiland, A. September 2023. Devastation in Morocco. Nasa Earth Observatory. Accessed September 15, 2024. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151847/devastation-in-morocco 

Werbeck, N., Sherlock, R., and Lozano, V. September 2023. Photos: See the Aftermath of the Earthquake in Morocco. NPR. Accessed September 15, 2024.  https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2023/09/09/1198656355/photos-see-aftermath-of-earthquake-in-morocco 

Hualien City, Taiwan Earthquake April 3, 2024

 Hualien City, Taiwan Earthquake on April 3, 2024

Location: Epicenter 15 km south of Hualien City (Eastern Taiwan), in the Pacific Ocean

Figure 1. April 3, 2024 Hualien City Earthquake Shake Map from the USGS shows the shake intensity of the earthquake. United States Geological Survey. (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan Interactive Map. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/map

Summary

On April 3, 2024, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:58 am local time 15 kilometers south of Hualien City, Taiwan (Figure 1). The eruption occurred on a northeast-southwest striking, moderately dipping reverse fault in the Eurasian Plate near the boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates at a depth of 34.8 kilometers (USGS 2024). The earthquake had multiple aftershocks, the strongest being a 6.3 magnitude shock just 13 minutes after the initial quake (USGS 2024). The earthquake also triggered many landslides (Figure 2), as well as a one foot tsunami wave that reached Japan (Chang & Regan 2024).

Figure 2. Landslide damage to a road near Taroko National Park. This photo is an example of the rockfall near Taroko National Park, where most of the fatalities occurred. Xu, An Rong/Bloomberg. (2024). A landslide blocks a road near Taroko National Park in Hualien County yesterday. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/04/05/2003815973

A tsunami warning was issued in Taiwan, southern Japan, and the Philippines. Flights were grounded at some airports due to the warning, but they were later lifted (Chang & Regan 2024).

The earthquake and its secondary events caused 18 confirmed deaths (Chi & Kuan-hsien 2024) and at least 1,145 injuries (USGS 2024). Over 700 people across Taiwan were trapped in tunnels waiting for rescue teams to arrive (Huang, Yiu, & Shalvey 2024). Many of the fatalities were hikers who were killed by rockfall at the nearby Taroko National Park. A Singaporean couple hiking on the Shakadang Trail in the national park is still considered missing (Chi & Kuan-hsien 2024), though search efforts were eventually suspended (DeAeth 2024).

The earthquake also caused a massive power outage and multiple rail and road closures (Chang & Regan 2024). According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 371,869 households were affected by the power outage, 125,675 households were affected by a water stoppage, and 80 cell phone base stations had been damaged (Chi, Li-yun, & Yang 2024). An estimated $166 million US dollars was lost in tourism revenue. Some hotels in Hualien City and near Taroko National Park decided to suspend operations until the end of April due to the impacts of the earthquake (Ming-yan & Huang 2024). Over 100 buildings suffered structural damage (Chang & Regan 2024) , notably the Uranus building (Figure 3) in downtown Hualien City (Hsaio 2024).

Figure 3. The Uranus building in Hualien City partially collapsed, ready for demolition. This photo is an example of the earthquake’s destructive impact on the city. Hsaio, B. (2024, Apr. 17). Demolition of building damaged in Hualien earthquake completed. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404175001

Discussion

Relative to the earthquake’s magnitude, many sources say that the death toll was surprisingly low, due to Taiwan’s safety measures and preparedness (Chang, Gan, & Watson 2024). Taiwan’s location between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ring of Fire makes it a hotspot for seismic activity (Chang & Regan 2024). The earthquake also took place during rush hour, when many commuters were making their way to work and to school. The congestion of cars on the roadway and people in trains may lead one to assume that the death toll would be higher. However, the earthquake taking place during the day may have been beneficial, because most people were awake and were able to receive the earthquake warning.

Much of the reason for the surprisingly low death toll is due to the response to the devastating 7.7 magnitude Chi-Chi earthquake that took place in 1999. This earthquake took the lives of 2,400 people and injured 10,000 (Chang & Regan 2024).  It caused the collapse of over 100,000 buildings, including 300 schools. Buildings were even completely collapsed in Taipei, which was over 100 miles from the epicenter (Chang & Regan 2024). As a result, the Taiwanese government cracked down on corruption within the construction industry and strengthened building code regulations (Chang & Regan 2024).

Taiwan also has an early warning system comprised of a network of seismic instruments that send warning signals to smart phones and live television within seconds (Bush 2024).

Figure 4. Students in Taiwan taking part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan Ministry of Education. (2024). Students take part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

Students receive disaster response education and take part in safety drills (Figure 4) across the country on the anniversary of the 1999 earthquake (Chang, Gan, & Watson 2024). During these safety drills, an earthquake alert is simulated and students take shelter in their classrooms. Afterward, they exit the building and each student is accounted for by their teachers (Strong 2024).

Following initial earthquake event on April 3, railway services were reinstated on April 4, just one day later (Chi, Li-yun, & Yang 2024). Additionally, power was restored to most households by the end of the day on April 3, less than 24 hours after the earthquake (Chi, Li-Yun, & Yang 2024). Water and cell phone outages were estimated to be restored by the end of the day on April 5 (Chi, Li-Yun, & Yang). The restoration of these essential services was impressively fast, considering the magnitude of the earthquake.

This is a newscast from ABC News, showing different videos of the impact of the earthquake. At the time of the broadcast, search efforts were still underway and the death toll was still rising. The video ends with details of recovery efforts following the disaster.

Video Source: Huang, J., Yiu, K., & Shalvey, K. (2024, Apr. 4). Taiwan earthquake toll climbs to 10, with hundreds still stranded. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/taiwan-earthquake-death-toll-climbs-10-38-people/story?id=108836898

References

Bush, E. (2024, Apr. 3). Earthquake showed Taiwan was well prepared for a big one – more so than parts of U.S. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/taiwan-earthquake-well-prepared-rcna146243

Chang, W., Gan, N., & Watson, I. (2024, Apr. 5). Taiwan shaken but unbowed as biggest quake in 25 years spotlights preparedness – and lessons learned. CNN News. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/asia/taiwan-hualien-earthquake-resilience-dst-intl-hnk/index.html

Chang, W. & Regan, H. (2024, Apr. 3). Dozens trapped in tunnels after Taiwan’s strongest quake in 25 years kills at least nine. CNN News. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/asia/taiwan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-intl-hnk/index.html

Chi, C. & Kuan-hsien, W. (2024, Apr. 25). High school student injured in earthquake dies. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404250021

DeAeth, D. (14 Apr. 2024). Search called off for foreign couple missing in Taiwan after quake. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5472773

Hsaio, B. (2024, Apr. 17). Demolition of building damaged in Hualien earthquake completed. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202404175001

Huang, J., Yiu, K., & Shalvey, K. (2024, Apr. 4). Taiwan earthquake toll climbs to 10, with hundreds still stranded. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/taiwan-earthquake-death-toll-climbs-10-38-people/story?id=108836898

Ming-yan, J., & Huang, F. (2024, Apr. 8). Hualien could lose NT $5.3 billion in April tourism income after quake. Focus Taiwan. https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202404080010

Strong, M. (18 Sept. 2024). Taiwan schools to take part in earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

Taiwan Ministry of Education. (2024). Students take part in an earthquake safety drill. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5937757

United States Geological Survey (USGS). (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/executive

United States Geological Survey. (2024). M 7.4 – 15 km S of Hualien City, Taiwan Interactive Map. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pt24094050/map

Xu, A. (2024, Apr. 5). A landslide blocks a road near Taroko National Park in Hualien County yesterday. Taipei Times. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/04/05/2003815973

Cyclone Tracy of 1974

Devastation in Darwin

Location, Type of Disaster, and Date: 

Darwin, Australia (Northern Territory of Australia)

Cyclone

December 24th, 1974 after 10 pm. 

Figure 1. Shows the development of Cyclone Tracy from

a spatial standpoint. This image shows the formation of Tracy.

https://timsweather.au/cyclone-tracy/ 

Description: 

Tracy was a small tropical cyclone in the northern territory of Australia. This cyclone made land on December 24th, 1974 after 10 pm.  Cyclone Tracy developed from a tropical low in the Arafura sea (Hurricane Science 2020). Cyclone Tracy delivered a massive blow to Darwin, leaving 80% of the city in loss and killing 66 people (National Museum of Australia 2024). Wind gusts from Tracy reached up to 217 km/h before the anemometer was destroyed (National Museum of Australia 2024). Tracy left the physical environment in shambles, uprooting every single tree in the town (Hurricane Science 2020). There were no adequate building laws before Cyclone Tracy, leaving 6% of the houses in Darwin still considered immediately habitable after the cyclone (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2010). The estimated cost of destruction was between $400-500 million dollars in 1974 (equal to $2-4 billion in today's USD) (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2010). Sea levels in the environment also changed drastically. The sea levels in Darwin’s harbor rose 1.6 meters (Tim's Severe Weather Queensland). Both the human environment and the physical environment were affected by the cyclone. Without Cyclone Tracy hitting Darwin, Australia would not have been able to see the building code violations or have learned the lessons about construction and preparation for cyclones. Cyclone Tracy led to the Darwin Reconstruction Act 1975, to help coordinate and undertake the rebuilding of Darwin (National Archives of Australia). Darwin has since rebuilt and repaired more than 2500 homes. 

Figure 2. A image of the suburbs of Darwin post Cyclone Tracy. This image displays to true destruction of the storm aligning to the 6% of houses remaining. 

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/cyclone-tracy

Figure 3. Showing the path of the cyclone, building in the Arafura sea before making landfall on Darwin, Australia. 

https://hurricanescience.org/history/storms/1970s/tracy/index.html

Implications and Consequences:

To start, to mitigate the impact of Cyclone Tracy would have been to change the building codes of buildings in the town. Similar to the discussion section, there were no true adequate building laws before the cyclone, leaving the town in despair (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2010). Consequences of not having building codes prior to the event, led to 6% of the houses able to be habitable after the cyclone (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2010). From the same idea of housing, destruction costs were between $400-500 million dollars (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility 2010). With no thought of a cyclone every hitting Darwin, there was not implications put fourth in the town towards such a severe natural hazard. With the cyclone also hitting on Christmas Eve, there was also implications of a large amount of the population being present in the town. This directly correlates to the amount of deaths and injuries in the total amount of the population of Darwin. There was 66 deaths, 145 people seriously injured, and 500 people with minor injuries (National Museum Australia 2024). Another action that took place, but did not provide enough time was alarms. Alarms for Cyclone Tracy went off at the army base in the town, but there was not enough warning for families to hear the alarm (The Consequences of Large-Scale Evacuation Following Disaster: The Darwin, Australia Cyclone Disaster of December 25th, 1974, 1976). With the implications put in place today, Darwin is more informed on future disaster that could occur at anytime. 

Video Description:

This video contains images and videos of Darwin after the Cyclone Tracy. The video has the words of someone who had survived Tracy and their eyewitnesses story. The video portrayed that the restoration efforts lasted 2 years, but were all performed with precision to make sure that if another storm ever happened again, the houses would be able to withstand the storm. The video is concluded with the quote, "if there is one thing that is predictable in this life, it is that nature is completely unpredictable". 

Citations: 

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/cyclone-tracy

https://hurricanescience.org/history/storms/1970s/tracy/index.html

https://www.aidr.org.au/media/1927/cyclone-tracey-key-findings.pdf

https://timsweather.au/cyclone-tracy/

https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/fact-sheets/cyclone-tracy-darwin

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/cyclone-tracy#:~:text=Cyclone%20Tracy%2C%20which%20hit%20Darwin,traumatised%20population%20left%20the%20city.

https://hazards.colorado.edu/uploads/workingpaper/wp27.pdf

M 7.5 - 2024 Noto Peninsula, Japan Earthquake

 Noto Peninsula, Japan Earthquake, 2024

    On January 1st, 2024, at 4:10 p.m. local time, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Ishikawa Prefecture on the Noto Peninsula, about 150 miles north of Nagoya, Japan. The epicenter was located on the northern Noto Peninsula, or about 30km ENE of Wajima, Ishikawa, at a depth of about 16 km (Carpenter, 2024). The temblor triggered a tsunami along the Japan Sea coast, with waves reaching more than 120 centimeters at Wajima, 90 centimeters at Kanazawa, 80 centimeters in the prefectures of Yamagata and Toyama, and 40 centimeters in Niigata Prefecture (N/A, 2024). 

    Since the start of the disaster, 1,035 aftershocks of intensity 1 or higher have been observed, which was noted on January 5th, six of which with an intensity of five or higher (Itatani et al. 2024). Damage to infrastructure ignited fires that burned through communities. Heavy snow that fell after the quake complicated emergency response efforts, making it difficult for aid to reach some communities (NOAA, 2024). The Noto Earthquake was the result of a long (150+ km) and shallow (<10 km) reverse fault with moderate dip slipping as much as 3.5 meters (Carpenter, 2024). Some areas of the Noto Peninsula experienced ground uplift by up to 4 meters vertically and 1 meter horizontally.

    The Noto Earthquake resulted in 281 deaths, a reported 83,980 homes were damaged, and some 34,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes as of 6 months after the disaster (N/A, 2024). As previously stated, the damage to the infrastructure ignited fires, notably in Wajima City, which can be seen in the video below; this only shows the aftermath, not the process. Two reactors at the Shika nuclear power plant on the Noto peninsula survived but experienced temporary power outages due to damage (CDP, 2024). 

The delay in the restoration from the earthquake is mainly due to the geographical characteristics of the Noto peninsula and the Ishikawa Prefecture. Ishikawa Prefecture has a long and narrow topography running north to south with only a few major roads to connect the northern and southern parts of the peninsula, as compared to the Tohoku Earthquake of 2011, which allowed for comb-like patterns of rapid recovery efforts to spread (Itatani et al. 2024). Lessons from the 2011 earthquake of Tohoku may have been applied during this disaster, as an analysis of smartphone location data during the 2024 quake shows that about half of users began to evacuate within six to seven minutes of the initial earthquake, while in 201 residents took twice as long to evacuate (CDP, 2024).

Noto Peninsula, Japan ShakeMap (USGS, 2024)
M 7.5 - 2024 Noto Peninsula, Japan Earthquake. Earthquake hazards program. (2024). https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000m0xl/shakemap/intensity

Damage in the coastal town of Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, January 2 (Taylor, 2024)
Taylor, A. (2024, January 3). Photos: The aftermath of Japan’s January 1 earthquake. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2024/01/photos-the-aftermath-of-japans-earthquake/677003/#img09 

Damages to roads in Noto, Ishikawa, Japan (Regan, 2024)

Regan, H. (2024, January 2). “battle against time” to find quake survivors as Japan lifts tsunami warnings and death toll rises. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/02/asia/japan-earthquake-tsunami-warnings-tuesday-intl-hnk/index.html

   Japan Earthquake: Wajima City (Sky News, 2024)

The above video showcases the aftermath of the earthquake and its devastating effects. The video also contains interviews with a few people, some detailing the events and some explaining the relief efforts.

SkyNews. (2024, January 4). Japan earthquake: Wajima City unrecognisable as window for finding survivors narrows. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXPaVZ5DpTw&ab_channel=SkyNews 

2024 Japan earthquake. Center for Disaster Philanthropy. (2024, April 26). https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2024-japan-earthquake/  

Itatani, T., Kojima, M., Tanaka, J., & Horike, R. (2024, January 29). Field report of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake ... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377784087_Field_Report_of_the_2024_Noto_Peninsula_Earthquake-Current_Status_and_Challenges_of_Evacuation_Centers_in_Wajima_City   

NASA. (n.d.). Earthquake lifts the Noto Peninsula. NASA. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152350/earthquake-lifts-the-noto-peninsula 

Post Event Report: Noto Peninsula Japan Earthquake. Post event report: Noto peninsula japan earthquake. (2024). https://www.guycarp.com/insights/2024/01/noto-peninsula-japan-earthquake.html 

Six months on: The state of recovery on the Noto Peninsula. nippon.com. (2024, July 2). https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h02041/