Activity
13.1
We have all heard of the earthquakes in
Latur, Bhuj, Kashmir etc. or the cyclones
that lashed the coastal regions. Think
of as many different ways as possible in
which people's health would be affected
by such a disaster if it took place in our
neighbourhood.
How many of these ways we can think of
are events that would occur when the
disaster is actually happening?
How many of these health-related events
would happen long after the actual
disaster, but would still be because of the
disaster?
Why would one effect on health fall into
the first group, and why would another
fall into the second group?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Latur earthquake
The Latur earthquake of 1993 (M6.2) occurred at 3.53 AM and killed 7,635 persons in 52 villages in
the state of Maharashtra. This being a winter night time, most people were sleeping indoors at the
time, which caused high casualty rates. Being a shallow focus earthquake, the affected area was rather
small. The earthquake intensity in affected region ranged upto IX on the MSK scale of intensity. Due
to some ambiguity in the data collected from two villages, only 50 villages have been used here for the
analysis. Distribution of the casualty data from Latur earthquake is given in Table 2.1.1.
Table 2.1.1. Casualty data from Latur earthquake
Intensity wise
distribution Distribution of total death toll Distribution of death rates (per
10,000)
Intensity No. of
Villages
Death
rate range
(per
10,000)
No. of deaths No. of Villages Death rates (per
10,000) No. of Villages
1-10 18 1-10 2
VII 17 3-340 10-100 16 10-100 19
VIII 19 15-2022 100-1000 14 100-1000 16
IX 14 855-3280 1000-10000 2 1000-10000 13
It may be noted that the 50 villages are evenly affected by intensity VII, VIII, and IX (34%, 38% and
28%, respectively). Maximum death rates of 3.4%, 20% (about one-fifth of the population), and 33%
(about one third of the population) are observed in zones affected by intensity VII, VIII, and IX
shaking, respectively. Almost one third villages had more than 100 deaths. 58% villages had death rate
of more than 1% deaths while approximately 45% of them observed more than 10% deaths.
2.2. Bhuj earthquake
The Bhuj earthquake of 2001 (M7.7) occurred at 8:46 AM and killed 13,805 persons in a much larger
area in the state of Gujarat. The timing of the earthquake was quite favorable with many people
outdoors. The earthquake intensity in the affected region ranged up to X on the MSK scale of
intensity. Distribution of casualty data from Bhuj earthquake is given in Table 2.2.1. Out of 73 talukas,
59 talukas (about 81%) experienced intensity VII. One taluka experienced intensity VIII, while in the
remaining talukas shaking intensity varied. Maximum death rate of 0.03% and 0.11% are observed due
to intensity VII and VIII, respectively. 90% of the talukas had death rates less than 0.10%.
It is clear from the above discussion that the death rate for a given shaking intensity was much higher
in Latur earthquake as compared to that in the Bhuj earthquake. Range of death rates for Latur
earthquake is 3 to 3280 deaths per 10,000 population while for Bhuj earthquake death rate ranges
between 0.06 to 420 deaths per 10,000 population. This is due to two main reasons: a) much higher
vulnerability of dwellings in the affected area of the Latur earthquake, and b) more unfavorable timing
of the Latur earthquake which occurred when most persons were sleeping indoors.