ESCI 1012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: 1556 Shaanxi Earthquake, Haiyuan County, Loess
Document Summary
Before (cid:799)8(cid:798)(cid:798)(cid:910)s, (cid:289)ou(cid:290)tai(cid:290)s typically (cid:363)ere see(cid:290) as forbiddi(cid:290)g barriers, dark, da(cid:290)gerous, populated by savage, wild people. But, fro(cid:289) (cid:799)8(cid:798)(cid:798)(cid:910)s o(cid:290), (cid:289)ou(cid:290)tai(cid:290)s (cid:363)ere uplifti(cid:290)g sce(cid:290)ic desti(cid:290)atio(cid:290)s (cid:363)here you could experience nature in its purest state. Trains and railroads which allowed people easy access into mountains for the first time. Technology does not simply play a role in mitigating landslides- it plays a crucial role in creating them as hazards. Technology is the root of the problem, allows us access to places we shouldn"t be. Bringing populations into areas of high slide potential. Allowing us to modify slopes, vegetation, and moisture in such a way to increase the likelihood of slides occurring. But, societal factors can still play dominant roles. Occurred in center of loess terrain (wind-blown silt deposits) People have been carving homes in the loess for millennia-but those homes are vulnerable. But during the 1920 earthquake, loess dwellings did not simply collapse, the slopes gave way.
