Mother Natures Fury?
Fort Collins Daily-As 2010 rolled around this year people sang "Auld Lang Syne,” as they made their usual resolutions to lose 10 pounds. It began as a normal New Year until January 12, 2010, when the world got angry and decided to start the New Year off a whole different way.
It seems to be that 2010 started off as a year filled with numbers…6.4, 7.0, 8.8, 342, 230,000, and 64, numbers that left many people feeling pain and sorrow.
These numbers represent the various magnitudes of the earthquakes that have hit in 2010 and the death tolls from each. With four earthquakes affecting Haiti, Chile, Japan and Taiwan within three months, it seems as though the Earth is angry… very angry.
Forming a connection
As people turn on the news each morning, they seem to be hearing more information regarding a recent earthquake or another aftershock that has left hundreds of people affected. While watching the news pour in about more earthquakes hitting around the world, people can’t help but wonder if these earthquakes are connected.
The United States Geological Survey, U.S.G.S., whose headquarters are right here in Colorado, has been spending a vast amount of time researching these earthquakes and determining what connection, if any, they might have.
“There is no connection that we see,” Paul Caruso, geophysicists with U.S.G.S, said. “The time difference between January and March and the space difference in outer space is to large for there to be any connection.”
Caruso has been studying earthquakes with U.S.G.S for many years and has had his work published in newspapers such as USA Today. Caruso got his bachelors degree in geology at Colorado School of Mines, and completed his masters at the University of Nevada.
Although we seem to think that we have had more quakes in the past few months than normal that is not the case.
“We have not had more quakes than usual, you are just hearing about them more than you have in the past because they are in such highly populated places,” Caruso said. “When an earthquakes hits in the middle of nowhere and we hear about it, no one else seems to care since no one was affected. These numbers are normal for this time of year.”
Caruso and his team cannot explain why they are hitting in more highly populated places this year than in the past, but they can assure us that more are to come. Caruso and his team are hoping the earthquakes to come will shake things up in the middle of nowhere so no more people are affected.
Getting the information out quickly
Caruso’s job is to respond to earthquakes as quickly as he can so that he can get information back to the news and medical suppliers so that they can get to the scene as fast as they can. Caruso and his team can determine the magnitude of an earthquake within 20 minutes of its occurrence.
“We think it is important to get the information out as fast as we can so that people can asses the damage and determine what supplies to send down there,” Caruso said. “We help people determine the aftershocks levels so that they can prepare for what is to come.”
The U.S.G.S. is located in Golden, CO and is the main headquarters in the United States. However Caruso and his team work with other geological facilities all around the world. They work with the University of Utah and the University of Nevada within the United States and also connect with other people around the world. Germany and Russia have two large headquarter locations as well that help assess the magnitude and aftershocks and get the information out in a timely manner.
Mixing work and emotions
Although Caruso has been doing this for years, he sometimes still gets emotional when dealing with earthquakes. Caruso works directly with the earthquake data because he knows it is be easier than actually working in the field where you often see the repercussions of the quake.
After working on the data with the Haiti earthquake, Caruso sometimes felt emotional. Although he only looks at figures and graphs all day, he would come and watch the news and realize that the data he was analyzing had caused hundreds of thousands of people to die.
“I have to remember that I have a job to do,” Caruso said, “and I just try to focus on that.”
Feeling the earthquakes around the world
Although students at Colorado State University didn’t actually feel the earthquake, they felt pain in their hearts for the millions of people affected by the earthquakes.
While walking through the halls the students pass the televisions in Clark Hall and see the death toll numbers rise from one class to another. With each new earthquake that hits, a tear is shed and a candle is lit for those hurting.
CSU sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma held a fundraiser called “Kappa Kisses” on the plaza to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. For each dollar donated the Kappa’s gave a person a Hershey’s kiss. All the money raised went to Haiti.
Other organizations outside of CSU have also gotten involved around the Fort Collins area. Corepower Yoga Studio, located off of College Avenue and Drake, hosted a few donation classes where all the money raised when to Haiti relief programs. Over one thousand dollars was raised at the yoga classes. Each person lit a candle and placed it somewhere around the room as they flowed in the yoga class and dedicated their practice to the earthquake victims.
Haiti relief concerts also took place around the Fort Collins area. The Aggie Theater, a famous concert venue in the area, hosted a benefit concert called “Stand With Haiti.” Students and music performers from Colorado State University voluntarily entertained guests with crazy performances and raised over $3000 in one night.
“I was asked by a friend to perform and I was so excited” CSU student and artist Josh Madry said. “It was such a great cause and the outcome was phenomenal. CSU students really took a stand and stepped up to help others.”
A connection all the way from Colorado State University
Although many people at CSU care about how people have been affected by the earthquakes, not many people have been directly affected. Except for one student, Jorgen Smith.
“When I heard news of the earthquake in Chile I just sort of froze and thought of my sister who is studying abroad there right now,” Smith said. “I just imagined something happening to her and how awful that would be.”
Smith’s sister moved to Chile in January 2010 to study aboard. Luckily she was okay but Smith said that it took a few days for his parents to get ahold of her.
“When the earthquake hit in Haiti I felt so bad for everyone but couldn’t imagine what it was like to not know where one of your family members was, “ Smith said. “I never thought I would experience that but I did, and now I know that it is one of the scariest things in the world. My heart goes out even more to those affected.”
Smith is praying for everyone in Chile and has been working to raise money for those that have lost everything they have.
Is she really mad?
Although some people think that Mother Nature truly is mad at us, others think that this is simply how the Earth works.
CSU student organizations are already planning new ways to help the victims of the other recent earthquakes around the world.
“It is great to see how much my fellow classmates care about helping others,” CSU senior Brianne Bracken said. “They don’t need to help any of the victims since no one in Colorado was affected, but they want to and they care, and that is another reason CSU is great.”
Either way students, teachers, families and the community of Fort Collins have really stepped up to make sure and help the victims of these earthquakes anyway that they can. And they have continued to keep their heads up and thanked God that they have been safe from the earthquakes.
Mother Nature can shake things up, but people are always ready to lend a hand to each other.
-For more information contact Abigail Jorgensen with Fort Collins Daily at Abigail.Jorg@FCD.com.
