Reducing the impacts of earthquakes

There are many ways of reducing the impacts of earthquakes

Prediction:

It's currently impossible to predict when an earthquake will happen. If you could, it would give people timeto evacuate- this would reduce the number of injuries and deaths. There can be clues that an earthquake is abuot to happen though. For example, lots of small tremors, cracks appearing in rocks and strange animal behaviour ( e.g rats abandoning nests). It's possible to predict where future earthquakes may happen using data from past earthquakes, e.g mapping where earthquakes have happened shows which places are likely to be affected again- these places can prepare themselves for the impacts of an earthquake.

Building techniques:

Buildings can be designed to withstand earthquakes e.g by using materials like reinforced concrete or building special foundations that absorb an eathquake's energy. Constructing earthquake-proof buildings reduces the number of buildings destroyed by an earthquake, so fewer people will be killed, injured, made homeless and made unemployed.

Planning:

Future developments e.g new shopping centres, can be planned to avoid the areas most at risk from earthquakes. This reduces the number of buildings destroyed by an earthquake. Firebreaks can be made to reduce the spread of fires ( a secondary impact). Emergency services can train and prepare for…