A Great Threat to this World nowadays:

There are many types of threats to human beings on earth. But today I’m going to highlight a very big threat causing a great level of disaster. Yesterday(20-Dec-2019), I was in my office and writing my blog when suddenly I felt the motion of the wall. Wall was tilting towards left and reversing which helped me to recognize this earthquake threat. After some moments, Updates were available on news channels. This earthquake was recorded of 6.4 Degree on the scale.  This session remained continuous for 5 minutes. It was not the first time in my life but still, it was dangerous. This was 3^rd happening in my life which encouraged me to write about this major threat. This was an Earthquake.

What is an earthquake?

Earthquake is a natural phenomenon of shaking the earth surfaces to release the energy by their sliding. The surface of sliding these surfaces is called a fault plane. Earthquake threat starts from a point/location which is known as hypocenter. The location points exactly above this hypocenter from where the earth's surface starts are the epicenter.

Classification of Earthquake threat:

Earthquake is classified into 6 major types with respect to magnitude. There are followings:

Table 1 Earthquake threat classification

Class	Magnitude
Great	8 or more
Major	7 - 7.9
Strong	6 - 6.9
Moderate	5 - 5.9
Light	4 - 4.9
Minor	3 -3.9

What type of effects these earthquakes may cause?

Magnitude	Earthquake Effects	Estimated Number Each Year
2.5 or less	Usually not felt but can be recorded by seismograph.	900,000
2.5 to 5.4	Often felt, but only causes minor damage.	30,000
5.5 to 6.0	Slight damage to buildings and other structures.	500
6.1 to 6.9	May cause a lot of damage in very populated areas.	100
7.0 to 7.9	Major earthquake. Serious damage.	20
8.0 or greater	Great earthquake. It can totally destroy communities near the epicenter.	One every 5 to 10 years

Which is the biggest recorded earthquake in the world?

 9.5 scale is biggest earthquake record in the world recorded by the United States Geological Survey on 22 May 1960 near Valdivia, in southern Chile.

What to do while Earthquake (threat) to be safe and secure?

This question can be answered in 2 ways.

If you are indoors:

·         Drop down and take cover under a desk or table. Be prepared to hold on until the shaking stops.

·         Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to exit.

·         Stay away from bookcases and other furniture that can fall on you.

·         Stay away from windows and light fixtures.

·         If you are in bed – hold on and stay there. Protect your head with a pillow to protect yourself from flying glass and other debris.

·         If you are in a wheelchair – go to a safe position and lock the wheels. Stay where you are and cover your head and neck with your arms if you are unable to move quickly to a safe location.

·         If you are inside a high-rise – drop, cover and hold on.  Avoid windows and other potential hazards. Do not use elevators and be prepared for sprinkler systems and fire alarms to activate.

If you are outdoors:

·         Drop to the ground in a clear spot away from buildings, trees, and power lines.

·         If you are driving – pull over, stop and set your parking brake. Avoid overpasses, bridges, power lines, trees, signs, buildings, vehicles and other things that may fall on your car.

Reference: This data is collected from multiple websites from the Google search engine.

About the Author:

Rizwan Bhatti is a Pakistani Blogger and SEO Content writer with multi-tasking expertise in Digital Marketing and Graphic Designer. In fact, the Designer of Techno graphics | Techno Innovations and Blogging platform.