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How are Earthquakes Recorded?
When an earthquake takes place, people say that it measured 6.2 or 6.5 on the scale. The scale they are referring to is the Richter Scale developed by Charles Richter in the 1930s. The Richter Scale measures the magnitude of the seismic waves or vibrations that travels across the earth’s surface. The scale uses a logarithmic formula using high-frequency data collected from seismograph stations. However, long before Richter developed his scale, a Chinese philosopher Chang Heng invented a device to measure earthquakes in 132 A....
Elevator Physics
You get into an elevator (or a lift, as we sometimes call it) and for a second or two, just as the elevator moves down, we feel weightless. On the other hand, if we go up in an elevator, we suddenly feel heavier just as the elevator lurches upwards. To understand this feeling of weightlessness, we need to understand a few basic things first. Mass: The amount of matter that constitues us results in our mass....
Why do Earthquakes Occur?
As a result of upheavals below its surface, the earth shakes now and then. This shaking of the earth is known as an earthquake. Few natural events are as violently destructive as an earthquake. It usually strikes without warning, giving off violent vibrations in the process. These vibrations not only shake the ground but also sometimes crack it open. And then, there is chaos, for earthquakes have been known to wipe out cities and civilisations....
The Quake that rocked Gujarat
Where: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India February 5, 2001 : It was 8.45 am on January 26, 2001. A day when the country was celebrating Republic Day. Like their counterparts across India, the people of Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, were settling down to watch the Republic Day Parade on television. Basant Rawat was one of them. Suddenly the earth began to shake under his feet. Basant ran out of his house. And, the sight that greeted him seemed to be straight out of an action film – Tagore apartments, a five-storeyed building, 400 yards from his house, collapsed like a pack of cards, says a report in ‘The Telegraph’....
Scales for Safety
When you go swimming in the river, you are told to be careful about the rocks, as you may bruise yourself if you hit against them. But, fish swim in the water all the time. Through cracks and crevices in rocks inside the water, and between the branches of thorny water plants. They do not get bruised so easily. And its not because their parents had given them sound advice. They don’t have to. They know the little fish are safe....
Earthquake Rocks New Zealand
Where: Wellington, New Zealand July 16, 2009 : A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in New Zealand’s South Island, near the city of Invercargill. No one was injured, nor was there any major damage. The region, South Westland, is almost uninhabited, and the quake was centred 35 kilometres under the sea off its coast. An earthquake of this intensity could have caused destruction on a massive scale had it struck near the heavily populated capital city of Wellington....
Is New York Burning?
In New York, people consume about 500 million kilowatt hours of energy per square kilometre every year. This is almost half of the total amount of solar energy (heat of the sun rays) falling on such an area in a year. So New Yorkers, in effect, live under a sun-and-a-half. In addition, paved areas, walls and the roofs of buildings absorb and re-radiate more heat than soil or plant-covered ground. Water runs off these surfaces more rapidly, allowing little cooling by evaporation....
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