Friends rang us in great excitement this morning to ask if we were following the news about the big earthquake in Chile, and of tsunami alerts that had been issued for coastal areas around NZ. (The answer was actually ‘no’; I’d just got in from a walk with the puppy & hadn’t turned the radio on.)
Anyway, the Science Media Centre has some very good commentary & resources centred on this seismic event, & I thought that those teachers with students who’ll be working on ‘Planet Earth’ standards this year might find them extremely useful. There’s a media briefing here, and a post by Peter Griffin, that includes a presentation by Victoria University’s Dr John Townsend, here.
Big quakes are not uncommon in Chile, given that it sits above the boundary of two big tectonic plates. Charles Darwin wrote about the aftermath of one such event in his Beagle diary, and it’s still worth a read today. He also complained, in a letter to his sister Catherine, about how he’d experienced ‘just’ one little earthquake himself – he almost sounds disappointed! Those looking for some other reading material might enjoy Perils of a restless planet by Ernest Zebrowski. I found it fascinating, although my Significant Other laments that there a are no colour pictures (hardly surprising when you consider that the book covers past events, some of which occurred well & truly before cameras were invented, much less colour film!)
Ernest Zebrowski says:
Glad to hear you liked my book. I’m considering an updated edition; suggestions are always welcome.
–EZ
Alison Campbell says:
Loved the book 🙂 And I find it’s one of those books that you can re-read several times & still enjoy each time.
PS re a new edition – the husband would say, needs colour pictures! 😉
Jorge Leiva says:
This major earthquake was an extremely terrible experience. I was at Rapel Lake (Central Region in Chiel)with my wife & 3 kids when the earth started to shake the new apartments in this area. Window glasses didn’t break…they BLEW UP… When we returned home after 3 hours driving, 70% of our house was seriously damaged. But after all, we are ALIVE.
Alison Campbell says:
Great to hear that you & your family survived the earthquake. Such a huge event – it is hard to grasp the scale of the damage. I imagine the ongoing aftershocks will be almost as bad for many people.