|
Earthquakes
Although earthquakes are not common in the Philippines as they
are in other countries, the few tremors that shook the
islands have left a bloody legacy behind. One such earthquake a
couple of years ago leveled a multi-story hotel building in the
city of Baguio. The incident killed numerous people and wounded
others.
Earthquakes cause poverty for the simple reason that the houses
of those who cannot afford brick and stone are easily brought down
to the ground. People are sometimes killed when they are caught
inside the house during such catastrophe.
People usually can rebuild after earthquakes because not much of
their belongings would have been carried away like in the case of a
flood. The major factor here is loss of life. Sometimes, the
breadwinner of the family is the one killed. When that happens, the
rest of the family members are sometimes stuck without a means of
living … permanently.
Volcanic Eruptions
The most frightening thing with volcanic eruptions is the lava
flow and ash fallout. When lava flows down a mountainside, not only
does it burn almost everything in its path (which usually includes
entire towns), it takes away the fertility of the soil. Farmers
suffer the most from this kind of disaster because their land is
rendered useless. Ash fallout, on the other hand, blanket entire
towns, causing massive slowdown in transportation and public
services.  The pollution in the air can bring about sickness as
well as death (for those suffering bronchial diseases).
Such catastrophe arrived when Mt. Pinatubo finally woke up from
its long slumber in 1991. More than 5 billion cubic meters of ash
and pyroclastic debris were ejected from its fiery bowels producing
eruption columns 18 kilometers wide at the base and heights
reaching up to 30 kilometers above the volcano’s vent. When
nature’s verdict came, 847 people were dead, 184 injured and
23 missing. Around 150,000 families were displaced and
infrastructure damages mounted to hundreds of millions of dollars,
but much more would be spent for rehabilitation and reconstruction
of the entire Central Luzon region.
In a volcanic eruption, the poor, and especially farmers, would
have an extremely difficult time to recover from the damage because
the main source of their livelihood, which is the land, has been
rendered useless. In addition to this, lava flow could have swept
away their homes, leaving them without a roof over their heads.
Ultimately, the loss of life brings about the worst suffering.
Factual Sources
[ Page 1 ] [ Page 2 ]
|
