A Silent Disaster
Kennedy Dunning
Kennedy Dunning
October 1st, 2018 marked the start of the Halloween season in the United States. While we were all beginning to decorate and have spooky celebrations, everyone in Indonesia was fearing for their lives after an earthquake occurred and a tsunami followed.
From days leading up to the disaster, residents of Palu, Indonesia felt small tremors in the ground. Suddenly when the evening hit, a seven and a half magnitude earthquake began six miles underneath the surface. Not even an hour later, a 20 foot tsunami crashed into the coast and flooded the city. The waves destroyed buildings, especially the small homes along the shore. This left over 70,000 people homeless and numbers continue to rise. The death toll is increasing as well, doubling in fact. When the incident first was reported, the death toll was a 400. At this moment, the death toll is at a striking 1,000. Bodies were littered and slung across the city. Law enforcement and soldiers were in charge of locating the bodies. Since the wave was so powerful, it made electrical lines shut down completely. Not only was communication between the rescue teams almost non-existent, families in the more rural areas could not signal that they needed help too. Authorities made a national alert that ran through the island that advised everyone to stay away from tall buildings and trees due to aftershock which could cause additional damage.
What exactly causes tsunamis? Since they rarely happen in the U.S. , you may not know. A strong majority, like Maya Young, believe natural disasters are “ caused from things like global warming. The rising of temperature must have cause it.” This is partly true. Tsunamis are frequent results of a quick force of large earthquakes deeply submerged at tectonic plate boundaries. In addition to tsunamis, earthquakes are not new in Indonesia. The island is one of several islands that sit upon the Ring of Fire, a circular area in the pacific that is on top of active tectonic plates. However, climate change is a new causation of natural disasters. The continuous discharging of Greenhouse gases, which is triggered by the burning of fossil fuels, causes the atmosphere to heat up. Thus, melting ice in Arctic regions. Melting ice masses causes a change in the pressure of earth's crust, which does lead to earthquakes and tsunamis. The melting of ice also causes rising sea levels and an imbalance of earth's surface. This puts a stress on old and active faults, like the Ring of Fire.
Through all the destruction and death, residents of Palu, Indonesia remain faithful. Not even two days later, a mass grave was started. This saves the living from picking up diseases from idling bodies but also puts their family and friends to rest respectively. People praying and crying were the only thing to be seen during the burials. “Prayer...” says Hailee Green “can get you through anything and everything.” To all those affected by the disaster, we hear you, we are praying for you, and we want to help.
To help donate to tsunami relief contact UNICEF USA for Indonesia at : http:// donate.unicefusa.org
If you cannot donate, just being aware and conscious of what goes on outside of the U.S. helps. By reading this, you have already started.
From days leading up to the disaster, residents of Palu, Indonesia felt small tremors in the ground. Suddenly when the evening hit, a seven and a half magnitude earthquake began six miles underneath the surface. Not even an hour later, a 20 foot tsunami crashed into the coast and flooded the city. The waves destroyed buildings, especially the small homes along the shore. This left over 70,000 people homeless and numbers continue to rise. The death toll is increasing as well, doubling in fact. When the incident first was reported, the death toll was a 400. At this moment, the death toll is at a striking 1,000. Bodies were littered and slung across the city. Law enforcement and soldiers were in charge of locating the bodies. Since the wave was so powerful, it made electrical lines shut down completely. Not only was communication between the rescue teams almost non-existent, families in the more rural areas could not signal that they needed help too. Authorities made a national alert that ran through the island that advised everyone to stay away from tall buildings and trees due to aftershock which could cause additional damage.
What exactly causes tsunamis? Since they rarely happen in the U.S. , you may not know. A strong majority, like Maya Young, believe natural disasters are “ caused from things like global warming. The rising of temperature must have cause it.” This is partly true. Tsunamis are frequent results of a quick force of large earthquakes deeply submerged at tectonic plate boundaries. In addition to tsunamis, earthquakes are not new in Indonesia. The island is one of several islands that sit upon the Ring of Fire, a circular area in the pacific that is on top of active tectonic plates. However, climate change is a new causation of natural disasters. The continuous discharging of Greenhouse gases, which is triggered by the burning of fossil fuels, causes the atmosphere to heat up. Thus, melting ice in Arctic regions. Melting ice masses causes a change in the pressure of earth's crust, which does lead to earthquakes and tsunamis. The melting of ice also causes rising sea levels and an imbalance of earth's surface. This puts a stress on old and active faults, like the Ring of Fire.
Through all the destruction and death, residents of Palu, Indonesia remain faithful. Not even two days later, a mass grave was started. This saves the living from picking up diseases from idling bodies but also puts their family and friends to rest respectively. People praying and crying were the only thing to be seen during the burials. “Prayer...” says Hailee Green “can get you through anything and everything.” To all those affected by the disaster, we hear you, we are praying for you, and we want to help.
To help donate to tsunami relief contact UNICEF USA for Indonesia at : http:// donate.unicefusa.org
If you cannot donate, just being aware and conscious of what goes on outside of the U.S. helps. By reading this, you have already started.