Final Hazards Report

Russia is the largest country in the world contains 6.60 million sq miles within its borders. Within that in mind, it should be no surprise that it experiences all of the natural hazards we have discussed besides true hurricanes. I say true hurricanes because it experienced a thunderstorm that was nearly the strength of a hurricane, coming just shy a few miles per hour. Maybe if climate change continues there will be more storms near or at hurricane strength. Every other hazard has potential to strike, some relatively often with the potential of increased frequency due to climate change. Should I be put in charge of the Russian effort to mitigate natural disasters I would focus on earthquakes and subsidence. From what I have come to understand concentrating on mitigating these two would save the most lives. They are also related to earthquakes which can set off landslides so addressing the landslide issue could potentially lessen the consequences of a mighty quake. I will go over first the issue of earthquakes and then landslides, ending with where I would build my Russian stronghold considering what I talked about in this paper and my knowledge of the other hazards that I have picked up this semester.
   
For my first midterm essay I choose to write about earthquakes because out of the three choices we had it was the most significant threat. After going through each of the hazards it still is the first one I would choose to combat. This is because how potentially devastating earthquakes can be to areas unprepared, which is a lesson that was learned in my country during the Sakhalin earthquake. This earthquake claimed the lives of over half the people who lived in the town nearest the epicenter and leveled most of the buildings. A clear example of the power that tectonic plates can generate and the need to prepare for their jolts. There are many events like this, and even weaker ones, that can be compared to strong quakes in areas properly prepared to demonstrate the necessity for preparation and construction of buildings in a way to compensate for the strong shaking from these disasters. An area that is accustomed to earthquakes and has put into place building codes that reflect this can be hit with a significant one and have minimal damage. A place that is not can be hit by a weak one and experience great destruction, much more than a greater magnitude quake will wreak upon a well-prepared city. Over 20% of Russia's land has the potential of experiencing a 7.0 earthquake or higher, 5% an 8.0-9.0, and about 50% has the chance of experiencing a quake of some sort. The frequency of the most ferocious quakes may not be extremely high yet since there is little to no warning when they do people in the area will suffer the consequences of any negligence with no chance of escaping once it begins.
  
 My recommendations for addressing this issue would start with strictly enforcing building codes designed to allow the building to withstand the effects of the strongest earthquakes. This would likely raise the costs of construction yet it would be well worth the cost for many lives could be saved. Any company who shirks these codes will be sent right to the gulags. Just kidding, Russia does not have these anymore. There are a number of effective engineering techniques that exist that have proven to mitigate the effects of shaking and more could possibly be invented in the future. All buildings currently existing would either need to be retrofitted to meet the current standards or condemned. As technology progresses the ease and the number of buildings that are able to go through this process may increase. Any building that cannot be updated yet is deemed worthy of remaining may stay yet it must be made clear to any who might go inside or those who inhabit it that there is the danger. The center of Russia has mostly been devoid of quakes so there is not much worry there. History will have to be examined to determine if any areas that do not regularly have quakes that may need to consider retrofitting or adopting new building codes. If the instances of quakes are extremely rare and it is not known to be near a fault line then it is probably fine. Another key step is to install seismic monitoring systems in as many places as possible, focusing on areas known to be active. While these systems will do no real good for the disaster zone during an event, it will provide important information for future projects and preparedness efforts. There are times when small quakes will occur before a large one so the seismic sensors will be able to provide warnings in these instances. Having these sensors in place will also aid in dealing with other natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcano eruptions, and my second choice subsidence. Emergency teams will need to extensively train on the best ways to deal with disasters and constantly be refining their methods. Any team members who do not meet standards will be sent to the gulags. Just kidding, Russia really doesn’t have these anymore. Even with all the above-mentioned efforts, there will still be times when buildings will fall or destruction will be wrought that necessitates these teams being deployed. Having elite teams of rescue workers will be invaluable when the inevitable disaster strikes so as much funded was needed to keep them in tip top shape would be given. Citizens would also need to be educated on how they should react when a quake hits and how to increase their chance of survival. Drills should be conducted at least annually and information easily accessible.
  
 I would focus my efforts on the border areas of Russia for this is where the most quakes occur. The mountain ranges that make up its border with China is a hot spot along with the mysterious fault line that cuts across Siberian in the northeastern part of the country. The Kamchatka Peninsula is another area that has a lot of earthquakes that definitely warrants priority. The most northeastern area of the Russian continent also has frequent quakes as well as an area going west on the northern coast where the mysterious fault line I mentioned nears the ocean.

 Mass subsidence, aka landslides and avalanches, is a huge problem for Russia. Out of the 1110 cities and towns that currently exist in the country 725 are at risk of this type of disaster happening. This is due to the number of mountains and glaciers that exist within the country coupled with the earthquakes that can occur in these regions. Estimates say that the frequency of these events will increase as climate change occurs for more rain and ice melting will make more slopes unstable. This disaster can be tied in with my first choice because when earthquakes happen the potential for landslides and avalanches is very real so preparing for both could go hand and hand in some regions.
   
My recommendations for dealing with this mass subsidence would be first to identify all the slopes that threaten people. This should be easy for some areas that frequently have landslides and maybe they have already taken steps to take care of the issue. Since climate change is increasing there will be new dangerous slopes so these will have to be discovered and taken note. A danger level for each slope near settlements should be established and detailed information about its makeup acquired. This will help determine what may cause it to come down and what are the options for stabilization. With the base danger level known then the task of monitoring these slopes can begin. In periods of rain or defrosting the information gleaned from the initial examination can aid in making predictions on how the slope may react. Weather forecasts of extreme weather or extra heat causing melts can allow a warning to be sent out to residents in the risk area either to advise or force an evacuation. The slope information can also be used to determine the likelihood of an earthquake triggering a slide. Unless there are small prelude quakes before there will probably no warning for those at risk. If there are then it can be made at least known that there is activity going on. Other than warnings this information will be utilized to stabilize slopes as much as possible and plan for future construction projects. There are many times where there is not much that can be done to prevent something from happening and people have already established themselves in dangerous areas. If this is the case then they should be made aware of the risk, and if extremely great, strongly advised to leave. Any new construction in areas with a high enough risk should be prevented for that is often the best way to 100% avoid the danger presented here. Just like for the earthquake hazard, the same emergency teams would be trained to deal with this issue and made as prepared as possible. Citizens would also be taught on steps they can take to make themselves safer and possibly survive a landslide. I would target all the settlements that are near mountains, especially all the areas that have a high risk of earthquakes. I could not find any information about specific places and their landslide frequency but I can infer from what I learned about the quake-prone regions is that those happen to be around mountains and volcanoes. Chances of a landslide occurring on one of the slopes in those areas are pretty great so starting there sounds like a good idea to me.
 
Considering what I wrote about above and what I learned this semester I would build my Russian fortress just west of the Ural mountains miles away from the mountains in an area sort of near a town yet still not in a city. I would set up a solid fire defense system which would include clearing dangerous trees directly next to the house and make defensible walls to prevent the evil fires of destruction from encroaching. I probably would be the highest risk for this hazard since I would ideally be out in a fairly isolated area but it is the price you have to pay for that kind of living. This general area does not experience noteworthy earthquake nor would I be near enough a hill or mountain to worry about landslides. It would be inland so no tsunamis or coastal erosions to make me uneasy, nor any extreme weather that would be terribly unmanageable. Since Russia does not experience true Hurricanes that threat is nonexistent. Even if climate change changed that fact they never go that far inland so I would be fine.  I would make sure to not be super close to a river so no flooding could occur. I also would make sure the ground is solid so the chances of a sinkhole forming would be very low to nonexistent. Maybe an impact event would do me in, though the chances of that are extremely low and if you have to go somehow then an impact from a space-born object is a pretty good out.

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Works Cited

"Apocalyptical Full-scale Landslide Swallows up Entire Road in Ulyanovsk." GhostFront. N.p., 08 Apr. 2016. Web.

"Avalanches and Landslides in Russia." Climatechangepost.com. N.p., 12 Oct. 2017. Web.

Eisenberg, J. M., and V. I. Smirnov. Development of Earthquake Protection Structural Systems Based on Response Control (2012): n. pag. 15 WCEE. Web.

"Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria." ReliefWeb. Government of the Russian Federation, 01 Sept. 2017. Web.

"Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria Rss." Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria. EMERCOM of Russia01, 01 Sept. 2017. Web.

Gonzales, Daria, and Rbth. "Earthquakes: Concerns in Russia's Seismically Active Regions." Russia Beyond. N.p., 30 May 2013. Web.

Hypnotizing Landslide in Russia. Youtube.com. N.p., 17 Apr. 2015. Web.

Keller, Edward A., and Duane E. DeVecchio. Natural Hazards Earth's Processes As Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes Masteringgeology Access Card. N.p.: Pearson College Div, 2014. Print.

Lacerda, W., Mauricio Mauricio, S.A.B. Fontoura, and A.S.F. Sayao. "Landslides: Evaluation and Stabilization/Glissement De Terrain: Evaluation Et Stabilisation, Set of 2 Volumes." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web.

Latest Earthquakes. USGS, n.d. Web
.
Mutsvara, Shepherd. “5.9M Earthquake Shakes Russian Town · Guardian Liberty Voice.”Guardian Liberty Voice, 14 Oct. 2015, guardianlv.com/2015/10/5-9m-earthquake-shakes-russian-town/.

"Russia: Over 500 Tourists Isolated following Landslide in Elbrus September 1." GardaWorld. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Seismicity of Russia and the Former Soviet Union." U.S. Geological Survey. N.p., 2002. Web.

Coastal Erosion 

The mighty oceans of the world are such a prominent part of our planet and affect us and nearly everything around us in many ways. Billions of the world's population lives in coastal zones so the monitoring and adaptation to these processes are crucial for a significant amount of the people currently/will be alive. Chances are that a number of us currently in this class might live in or very close to a coastal zone. Perhaps a comrade amongst us has or knows a comrade who has experienced or witnessed coastal erosion first hand. I can't say or know for sure about that, but I can tell you that there are comrades in Russian lands that are seeing drastic changes along their coasts. Some of which is not only extreme but unstoppable.

The most intense areas of coastal erosion that is being seen in Russia is along the Northern coasts. In this area there is

a large number of glacial coasts or lands that are up to 80% ice. It has been observed that longer periods of summer weather directly leads to this reduction, which to me comes of no surprise. The extra summer weather means that the coasts are surrounded by open water longer. This extra time exposed means extra time for ocean waves to take their toll on the permafrost. These waves transfer heat that either melts the ice or melt the ice mixed soil which is then washed away never to be replaced. When storms hit this process, already rapid, is even more intense. Scientists say that this type of erosion cannot be stopped for it is natural and there is no technology available to combat it. Unlike sandy coastlines or cliffs that might possibly be able to be reinforced this frozen coasts cannot be. The ice cannot be kept frozen nor can protective ice be created. The images here show how extreme these changes are in some areas in a relatively short amount of time. An article published in 2015 states that the northern coastlines are losing 500 square kilometers yearly which roughly equates to the European state of Andorra. Thankfully there are not large populations living in this section of the coast due to how extreme the weather can be in Siberia.

The Black Sea Coast, Baltic Sea Coast - Eastern Gulf of Finland, and Baltic Sea Coast - Kaliningrad Region, are areas that do use the strategies discussed in our text to combat erosion. In some of these areas, man-made structures are being created or have been created to try to slow down the erosion process. These would include T-form groins, submarine breakwaters, artificial reefs, protective walls, beach nourishment, and dams. Even planting pine trees have been used in an attempt to stem the tides. Overall though these solutions are only temporary at best. They either render natural nourishment impossible or make erosion downstream from the structures more intense. So adding them is a game of picking the most valuable beaches which sacrifices the coasts next door and/or committing to continue repairing the beach which can be quite costly.

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Works Cited

“Alarming Erosion in Russian Arctic.” WWF Russia, WWF Russia, 9 Aug. 2016, new.wwf.ru/en/resources/news/klimat-i-energetika/wwf-vyyavil-rekordno-bystroe-razrushenie-beregov-v-arktike/.

                 

“Coastal Erosion in Russia.” Climatechangepost.com, 12 Nov. 2017, www.climatechangepost.com/russia/coastal-erosion/.

                 

Gertz, Emily J. “This Island in Russia's Arctic Is Vanishing Into the Sea.” TakePart,  Participant Media, 10 Aug. 2016, www.takepart.com/article/2016/08/10/this-island-in-russian-arctic-is-vanishing-into-the-sea-climate-change.

                 

“Russia Is Shrinking Due to Global Warming – Expert.” New Cold War: Ukraine and Beyond, TASS, 9 Nov. 2015, www.newcoldwar.org/russia-is-shrinking-due-to-global-warming-expert/.

                 

“Russia Loses 468 Square Kilometers Annually to Erosion.” The Moscow Times, The Moscow Times , 9 Nov. 2015, themoscowtimes.com/articles/russia-loses-468-square-kilometers-annually-to-erosion-50672.

Most places of the world seem to have some form of extreme weather, whether it be periods of sweltering heats, deluges of rain, intense icy storms, and or powerful winds. Many times this can be easily predicted by looking at the past and seeing the pattern of nature and the trends of recent times. Even so, much like the other natural hazards we have researched this semester, knowledge and preparations of what may come isn't always enough to ensure safety. There are times when the power of the weather exceeds what is expected and prepared for rendering the safety measures put into place ineffective.

As residents of the central coast we enjoy relatively stable conditions with little extreme variation between seasons. Much like how the size of our country means that there is a wide range of climate types the same goes for Russia. Russia is a massive country that experiences the majority of the climate zones. The only ones that it does not are the tropical ones. Often the first thought of extreme weather conditions in Russian lands deals with Siberia. Really you can't blame someone for this for Siberia is one of the coldest places on our planet. -35C degree temperatures is what you can expect for normal winters here. Central Siberia has an area that has nearly the coldest winters the world can offer someone. -50C is what you get to deal with here. That is so cold that boiling water instantly turns into vapor and ice if you throw it into the air. That is insane levels of coldness yet that might not even be considered extreme for the 500 or so inhabitants in this region. The coldest recorded temperature of this specific place is -71.2C which is hard for me to imagine what the experience would be like. Other areas of Russia have less extreme climates that experience the seasons what you could call normally. Hot summers and cold winters, with the intensities of each varied throughout. It sounds like Russia is similar to the US in that regard.

Hurricane that went after Moscow

Changes in temperatures have lead to what I described in a couple of my last posts. Landslide attacks or avalanche attacks caused by extra rain or snowfall and sinkholes due to permafrost thaw can be traced to climate change. I found an article from last may that explains some of the abnormally cold weather in parts of Russia is due to Polar air flows shifting their routes into new areas because of ice melt in the polar regions. This article references another short one about the strongest hurricane to attack Moscow in 100 years. I always associated Hurricane attacks in

Woman picking at her potato field after it was ravaged by a fire

that was in part caused by the heatwave

warm coastal areas which Moscow is not. I found another source from 2011 that deals with a 2010 heatwave attack in Moscow which caused temperatures to rise over 100F. Apparently this was likely the hottest heatwave attack to have struck in this area in the last 500 years. Some groups predict that with global temperatures on the rise this sort of thing will become more and more frequent. So colder colds and hotter hots, extremes will become even more so and areas not used to extremes will experience them. Comrades will be heated and comrades will be frozen.

From what I have learned about Russians response to natural disasters I think that the government agencies tasked with dealing with them will as they hit the country. Russia's Emergency Response Team will likely have to respond to situations in areas not previously struck by these natural attacks as climates change. From all the information I have gathered it looks like they are fairly good at dealing with disasters, at least as good as any developed country. For the citizens living in places with known extreme conditions, such as Siberia, preparation is key. For those who are in recent times starting to see episodes of powerful weather then it is time to start looking into what should be done to ensure their survival.



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"2010 Russian Heatwave More Extreme Than Previously Thought." Climate Central. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 
                 

"Hurricane in Moscow, 11 Killed." Frontnews.eu. N.p., n.d. Web.

MasterRussian.com. "Weather in Russia." Learn Russian. N.p., n.d. Web. 

                 

Savytskyi, Oleg. "Extreme Weather in Russia Is Caused by Climate Change and Melting of Ice in the

Arctic - Greenpeace." Frontnews.eu. Front News International, 31 May 2017. Web.

"The Siberian Winter Is Brutally Cold and Harsh… But It Is Also Otherworldly Beautiful, WOW!" ViralSpell. The Daily Mail, 14 Dec. 2015. Web.

"There Is a Hurricane with Squalls and Hail in Moscow (photo)." Frontnews.eu. N.p., 30 June 2017. Web.

Weatheronline.co.uk. "Russia." Climate of the World: Russia. N.p., n.d. Web.

Perhaps there has been abnormally intense rain this season. Maybe for a few seasons the rain has taken its toll on the nearby mountainside causing instability. Maybe new construction, logging, or mining, has taken place on this mountainside. A fire could have recently ravaged the area we are referring to, destroying the anchoring trees and plants. Maybe an earthquake has just hit, or the mountain is part of a volcano which has erupted. Possibly it is a combination of a few of these things. Whatever the reason, a tsunami of the earth comes crashing down upon your village and engulfs your abode along with many others. Comrade, you have just been killed by what is about to be explained in this blog post.

Out of all the natural disasters we have learned thus far landslides are the ones I have thought about least. Probably partly due to never living in an area where I would be directly affected by it. I have thought a lot about living in a mountainous area which I now realize should have included landslide contemplations. Russia has many areas that are at risk for landslides due to containing lands with mountains and glaciers. Global warming is increasing the intensity and frequency of this sort of events so it is definitely something that the Emergencies Ministry does and will continue to prepare for. According to one of my sources, 725 cities are at risk including some major ones such as Moscow. Another source says 500 of these cities face some sort of slope movement a year which is a significant amount of landslide-related activity. A landslide happened a little over a month ago in the Prokhladny-Baksan-Elbrus region leaving communities stranded. From researching this event you can tell that Russia has a pretty good emergency response team for they were quickly deployed and received reinforcements. It started as a group of 350 people with 50 units of equipment, whatever that means, and then there was a decision to send more. From what I can tell this wasn't a major disaster for only a highway was blocked. I can imagine a greater response team would be summoned up if a community hit. I found this book online that was all about geo-monitoring in Russia though I unfortunately did not have time to read a great deal of it. Also it cost $554.40 for the ebook O_o which I was not about to spend. The part I could read for free said that there are federal geo-monitoring centers that are tasked with looking for signs of/ keeping an eye on landsides.





During my research I found this video of what I would call a slow-moving landslide. It reminds me of videos of lava movements where the speed isn't rushed though damage can still be great. It's fascinating to see how this wall of earth and ice moves into the roadway.











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Works Cited

"Apocalyptical Full-scale Landslide Swallows up Entire Road in Ulyanovsk." GhostFront. N.p., 08 Apr. 2016. Web.

"Avalanches and Landslides in Russia." Climatechangepost.com. N.p., 12 Oct. 2017. Web.

"Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria." ReliefWeb. Government of the Russian Federation, 01 Sept. 2017. Web.

"Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria Rss." Emergencies Ministry Reinforces Group of Rescuers in Landslide Zone in Kabardino-Balkaria. EMERCOM of Russia01, 01 Sept. 2017. Web.

Hypnotizing Landslide in Russia. Youtube.com. N.p., 17 Apr. 2015. Web.

Keller, Edward A., and Duane E. DeVecchio. Natural Hazards Earth's Processes As Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes Masteringgeology Access Card. N.p.: Pearson College Div, 2014. Print.

Lacerda, W., Mauricio Mauricio, S.A.B. Fontoura, and A.S.F. Sayao. "Landslides: Evaluation and Stabilization/Glissement De Terrain: Evaluation Et Stabilisation, Set of 2 Volumes." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Russia: Over 500 Tourists Isolated following Landslide in Elbrus September 1." GardaWorld. N.p., n.d. Web.

Gather the comrades and read about these Russian Volcanoes. What a force we have here. Mountains of vicious fire spewing toxic fumes of death, voluminous ashen clouds of despair blotting out all light and spreading for miles, covering all with the potential to snuff out various forms of life. Explosions of great intensity possibly sending down tons of rocks and debris in the immediate area and crushing the unfortunates who happen to be in the danger zone. The blood of the earth burns all in its path.  Any forest or settlement in the way will be incinerated. No chance for the being who is engulfed in this stream of molten rock. Thankfully their nerves would likely be destroyed very quickly for I do not think there is much hope for one caught within a magma flow.

 Russia is home to a lot of volcanoes which is something that I wasn't  aware of. I am not surprised at all considering how large the territory is. According to my sources, there are 160 volcanoes with 29 active ones on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It isn't part of the ring of fire for nothing. The other 11 volcanoes of Russia are due to hot spots and do not appear to be active. On the Kamchatka Peninsula Russia created a task force to monitor its many volcanoes due to the high activity in this region and the potential for them to not only disrupt and harm the people living on the island but effect planes using the airspace miles away from the eruption. This task force is called Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) and uses a variety of techniques to be aware of impending eruptions. One is through seismic monitoring which is said to be the most effective.  Another is the low-tech tried and true visual observation. A similar approach but a lot more sophisticated is using satellite imagery which is also important after the eruption for it allows information on the size and movement of the dangerous ash cloud to be discovered. Once a volcano is decided to be near or at eruption, warnings are sent out to various groups as soon as possible to allow for optimal preparation time.

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Works Cited

"Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team." Камчатский Научный Центр ДВО РАН. N.p., n.d. Web.

The Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) Fact Sheet. N.p., n.d. Web.

Klemetti, Erik. "Russia Nixes Kamchatka and Kuril Island Volcano Monitoring." Wired. Conde Nast, 04 June 2017. Web.

"List of Volcanoes in Russia." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 July 2017. Web.

"Posts about Kamchatka Volcanoes on Voices from Russia." Voices from Russia. N.p., 18 Oct. 2003. Web.

Williams, Amanda. "Mount Mordor of Russia: Erupting Volcano Looks like a Scene from The Lord of the Rings." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 03 Dec. 2013. Web.

These words will pertain to a fearsome force capable of devastating cities in minutes with little to no warning. Striking instantly and totally allowing no escape for the people caught in its range. No comrades, I am not referring to the awesome nuclear arsenal Russia possesses (though underground nuclear testing can set this force into action). I am talking about earthquakes, something I have already brought up in my in my first post and is directly related to tectonic plate activity. Surely many of the peoples of yore would have been terrified during a quake in part because they would have had little clues as to why or how their entire world was rocking violently and their settlements reduced to rubble. At times the earth opening up and or shifting significantly. Many would have attributed it to their deity(s) for lack of understanding and immensity of the event. Nowadays we do understand how and why earthquakes happen and have even developed systems to predict when they might occur or give us a slight warning when one does. Though we have a much better grasp on seismic activity it still is a frightening experience for the majority of people. 

Woe to the village that does not heed the lessons of the past and thinks not of preparing for a quake when they knowingly reside in a danger zone. Our text book talked about how places such as California are much more resilient to an earthquake because of the strict building codes meant to minimize damage when one occurs. A similar magnitude quake in California usually does a lot less damage than in a place where there are no such codes are put into place or they are seldom followed. This is partially why the Russian earthquake I mentioned in my first blog post was so deadly, along with the magnitude of the quake. The brunt of the quakes that are in or affect Russia are along its southern borders with other countries and along the one fault that runs through the country in the north east. The image at the top of this shows a number of quakes in this region quite well with a massive amount near Japan and along the Chinese/Mongolian border and the another cluster with the borders near the middle east and Eastern Europe. There is some quakes going on in the interior of Russia but a small amount compared to the areas I just mentioned. Interestingly some of the hot spots are not on fault lines, at least the major fault lines on all the maps that I have seen. Even the USGS interactive map does not acknowledge any fault on the southern Asian/Middle Eastern/Eastern European borders. Perhaps this is due to less known faults or just a lot of interplate activity.

Damage from a 5.9 quake in  Severo Kuril’sk

According to an article I read more than 20% of Russa is at risk of a 7.0 magnitude quake, 5% of which has the potential of experiencing 8.0-9.0 magnitudes. Another says that 50% of the country is at risk of experiencing some kind of quake. Considering how large Russia is this is a significant amount of territory. This is actually contrary to what I was expecting after last weeks study due to a lack of fault lines within Russia. Apparently, Russia has put into place stricter building guidelines to withstand the shaking of a quake. This a common thing for modern countries to do and it has been shown to be successful. 

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Sources

Eisenberg, J. M., and V. I. Smirnov. Development of Earthquake Protection Structural Systems Based on Response Control (2012): n. pag. 15 WCEE. Web.

Gonzales, Daria, and Rbth. "Earthquakes: Concerns in Russia's Seismically Active Regions." Russia Beyond. N.p., 30 May 2013. Web.

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodgett. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. N.p.: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. Print.

Latest Earthquakes. USGS, n.d. Web.

Mutsvara, Shepherd. “5.9M Earthquake Shakes Russian Town · Guardian Liberty Voice.”Guardian Liberty Voice, 14 Oct. 2015, guardianlv.com/2015/10/5-9m-earthquake-shakes-russian-town/.

"Seismicity of Russia and the Former Soviet Union." U.S. Geological Survey. N.p., 2002. Web.

My classmates, my comrades! This post deals with a force that is ever present on this terrestrial sphere we call our home. Yet another reminder that as capable as our species is we are currently still at the whim of natural processes. I am referring to tectonic plates and their movements. If you have been a good comrade this week you would have surely read our textbooks chapter and hopefully gained an understanding of what these plates are along with how they operate. Their movements are responsible for phenomena such as earthquakes, the formation of volcanos, formations of mountains, development of deep sea trenches, and the shifting of entire continents.

NO

NO

No, this subterranean activity is definitely not due to entities such as the molemen or reptilians with their underground bases. The movement of plates has been going on for millions of years and can be proven in a number of ways. An interesting thing to contemplate is how its movements will affect us humans years down the line if we even last that long. 

YES

Thankfully for Russia, it resides almost entirely on the massive plate known as the Eurasian plate.This is fortunate because it is not largely divided by another plate meaning the chance of massive seismic activity is lower, unlike the Californian cities of San Francisco which finds it self right on top of a plate boundary. The only exception is in the far north east of the country an unknown plate boundary is said to exist. From what I can tell the only plate boundaries that Russia comes in direct contact with is the one I mentioned above. It is near a sea boundary by Japan which is a convergent border. All the other boundaries of the Eurasian plate are many miles away from Russia. It is interesting to learn that there is such a thing as an unknown boundaries. I tried to find more information on this but couldn't turn up anything good. Maybe as we delve further into our book this will become clear. My guess would be that maybe there is multiple types of movements being detected or not much movement at all.



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Sources

"Alien Reptilians." Reptilians Alien Race, Species, and Shapeshifters Pictures and Videos|Alien-UFO-Research|. N.p., n.d. Web.

Keller, Edward A., Duane E. DeVecchio, and Robert H. Blodgett. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. N.p.: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. Print.

"Maps Related to Plate Tectonics." Earthguide Online Classroom - Maps Related to Plate Tectonics. Scripps Institution of Oceanography., 2011. Web.

"Mole Men." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Plate Tectonics." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Aug. 2017. Web