Geologic natural Disaster

Student name:
Hazard type: Earthquake and mudslides
Location: Gansu province, China
Date: happened on 21st and 22nd July 2013
Geologic background
The area hit by the earthquake in the month of July 2013 is in the Gansu province of China, with the southeast area of the province characterized with hilly terrains and ravine cuts. At the same time, there are weak sandy deposits in the area (Kieffer). The Gansu region is prone to mudslides because of water saturation. The region has suffered other earthquakes with an 8.0 earthquake triggering mudslides in the year 1879 (Kieffer). The epicenter of the earthquake was near the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River and this increased susceptibility to mudslides (Kieffer). The movement of the Indian Plate towards Eurasia has made the region and surrounding areas prone to earthquakes.
Hazard description
According to the US Geological Survey as reported by the BBC, two earthquakes hit the Gansu region. The first earthquake had a magnitude of 5.8 and an hour later, another quake measuring 5.6 hit the area. The number of after shocks appeared to have been 371 as reported by the Earthquake administration in the region. The quake had a devastating effect on Dingxi because bricks mainly built the houses (Boden). Similarly, the quake destroyed telephone lines, and the destroyed debris blocked the road making it difficult to conduct rescue operations (Boden). The remote hilly and mountainous regions triggered landslides, to the extent that at least 75 people had died, while 400 had been injured, 2,000 homes were destroyed and about 14, 066 had no power. (Boden).
The death toll from the disaster appears to have hit hard the rural areas, where more homes were destroyed especially in Min (Boden). The official statement stated that this was a possible indicator of the shoddy construction in the area. This was in contra...