Page 253 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

602 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

for the large number of fatalities was once more the gen-
erally poor construction quality of buildings, 85 percent
of which were damaged. Many of these were traditional
houses of mud-brick construction, with heavy roofs.The
unreinforced masonry holds almost no resistance against
the ground motion generated by strong earthquakes.
Experts classified the region as a highly exposed zone even
before the earthquake—given this fact, the buildings
should have been of safer construction. But the catastro-
phe demonstrated once again the connection that exists
around the world between a low standard of development
The Earthquake Recorder—half science and a high number of earthquake fatalities.Even if the haz-
education/half entertainment in London ard is known, the people in such regions simply do not
in the early twentieth century. have the money to build earthquake-resistant houses as a
means of cushioning or avoiding catastrophes.
Situated on the legendary Silk Road, Bam is famous
been the family, in the broad sense of the term, but this for its two-thousand-year-old citadel Arg-e-Bam.This for-
working system has been destabilized by the conse- tified settlement is one of the country’s most important
quences of the earthquakes, and there is nothing to make cultural monuments and was badly damaged by the
up for this deficiency. earthquake. The destruction of Bam and its citadel will
bring tourism in the region to a standstill for years. The
26 December 2003 Bam, area has thus been robbed of an important economic
Iran, Earthquake support. The impoverished population itself will suffer
On 26 December 2003, an earthquake occurred below from the economic effects caused by the earthquake.
the city of Bam in the southeast of Iran, that illustrates Besides having to deal with the immense human tragedy,
once again the tragic connection between poor building the region thus also faces complete economic collapse
quality and large numbers of victims. The strong earth- (Munich Re Group 2004, 33).
quake had a magnitude of 6.5 and the hypocenter was
only 8 kilometers below the city of Bam, approximately Outlook
180 kilometers south of Kerman, the provincial capital. As cited earlier, the Munich Re Group stated in its annual
The maximum intensity recorded in Bam, which lay in review about natural catastrophes of 2003 that several
the epicentral area, was IX on the EMS scale,VIII at Bar- hundred millions of people throughout the world live in
avat, and V at Kerman, where it was also felt. (The place buildings that would collapse in a strong earthquake, as
at which rupture commences is called the“focus” or“hypo- did those in Iran. It is anticipated that in the future more
center,” whereas the point on the earth’s surface directly catastrophes with high death tolls will occur. In fact, it is
above the focus of an earthquake is called the “epicenter.” only a matter of time before a strong quake occurs again
The distance between the focus and the epicenter is called directly beneath a city with over a million inhabitants and
the “focal depth” of an earthquake.) The people of Bam claims the lives of several hundred thousand people, as
were still sleeping when the earthquake struck.The death in Tang Shan, China, in 1976. Owing to the rapid growth
toll was estimated at 43,200, with more than 30,000 of many Third World metropolises in highly exposed
injured, and 100,000 made homeless. The main reason regions, such a scenario has become distinctly more