Twin earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador over the weekend wreak havoc with local populations. Point up signs that emergency preparedness is essential to thwart the after effects of large destructive earthquakes on fault systems.
The latest first…Thousands of Ecuadorians awoke this morning from a second night sleeping outside or in temporary shelters following a weekend earthquake that killed at least 272 people and collapsed overpasses and buildings. “What am I going to do now?” one man asked, as he stood in front of the rubble that was his home. “Cry, that’s what. Now we’re on the street with nothing.”
Japan-At least 32 people have died in the latest Kyushu earthquake, according to Kumamoto Prefecture’s disaster management office. The magnitude-7.0 quake hit early Saturday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the search for survivors amid piles of rubble as a “race against the clock,” noting that bad weather had conspired with the devastating quake, its aftershocks and the threat of landslides to make a dire situation worse.
