A massive earthquake struck northern Malawi on December 20, 2009. This was the second in less than two weeks. Malawi’s chief geologist Leonard Kalindekaase said that the tremor was a 6.2 size magnitude, adding that it was the “largest so far” since the tremors began two weeks ago.
As a result, three people were killed and about 300 were injured. One of the three dead was a child while the other two were adults. The child died after bricks fell on him. The other victims included students who were sleeping in a dormitory at a government school when the walls collapsed. This quake had also destroyed several buildings in the uranium-rich mining district. Over 200,000 people whose homes in the district which lies in the earthquake-prone Great Rift Valley have been urged to evacuate their homes. In total 4,656 people have been affected by the quakes, and 1,100 houses were destroyed.
The Malawi government sent rescue teams to search for survivors. In addition, medical aids and food supplies were also sent to the victims of the earthquake. Condolences messages were relayed to families of the victims.
In conclusion, I think that monies donated by other countries should be used to build earthquake proof buildings in earthquake-prone areas. The number of buildings in these places should also be kept to a minimal; buildings should be kept as low as possible and if high rise buildings are required, they should be built in triangular shapes so that it has a wide surface area at the bottom and thus, would not tumble that easily when the earth shakes. These are preventive measures which will minimise damages in case of another unfortunate earthquake.
Bibliography:
http://wiki.answers.com/
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/
http://wikipedia.com/
