Dangerous & Natural Energy

Dangerous & Natural Energy

Cynthia Lizotte

Kaplan University

SC 300

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The world as we know it appears to be a solid mass to the naked eye. Though it really is not just a solid mass. When you look at the center of the Earth you will find that our planet has techtonic plates which shift and move. The shifting and moving of these plates is what causes earthquakes to happen.

The majority of earthquakes in the United States seem to occur on the western shorelines of California and also in Alaska. There seems to be limited activity of earthquakes in the inland areas of the United States. I reside in Lewiston, Maine and based on the interactive map provided by USGS we are in the green area and there appears to be minimal risk that my area will be affected by an earthquake in the near future. However, based upon this map it did show there was an earthquake detected in Maine on July 3, 2011 about 7 miles from Winthrop and it was measured as a 1.3 in magnitude. This shows me that although I live in a relatively safe area there are still earthquakes occurring in my area.

The majority of earthquakes around the world appear to occur along the coastlines that lie adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Most of the earthquakes seem to occur on the coast rather than inland areas. There are earthquakes happening every day in various parts of the world.

The earthquake I chose from the map occurred in the region of the Kuril Islands which is a set of islands located off the Eastern coast of Russia situated closely to Japan. The earthquake’s magnitude was listed as 5.2 on the Richter scale.

I would not be willing to live in one of the red areas on the map. The red areas on the map are known for high magnitude earthquake activity. Living in this area would put mine and my family’s safety at risk. I have no experience with earthquakes and from the devastation I have seen caused by such activity I do not want to ever...