Warning: Relieving Stress CAN Hurt - The Cost of Stress Relief

The recent unfortunate disaster in China's Sichuan Province awakens us to the power of Mother Nature. Most living things, especially humans, are "Earth's surface-centered". There is usually a disregard to happenings beneath the Earth's surface and a general disinterest (when was the last time you heard from NASA) in occurrences outside of the Earth's surface (outerspace). That is until something, such as yesterday's destructive earthquake or the impressive 1833 Leonids meteor shower, reminds us that there is more to the Universe than the surface of the Earth.

Earthquakes are characterized by tremors in the Earth's crust. Seismology, the study of earthquakes, attributes naturally occurring earthquakes to movements of tectonic plates, located in the lithosphere, that "float" on the athenosphere (thick liquid layer above the upper mantle). The boundary where these plates meet are called faults which are categorized into three categories based on "sense of slip": normal faults, thrust faults and strike slip faults (see picture to the right courtesy of USGS). The plates creating these faults are pushed together very tightly which causes them to lock due to friction. As pressure mounts, the force of the friction is surmounted causing fast and abrupt slippage between the plates. This quick displacement of the Earth's crust releases energy in the form of seismic waves that are responsible for the physical manifestation (vibrations) of earthquakes. Basically, earthquakes are the Earth's way of venting and releasing pent up stress. Despite greater understanding about earthquakes, they are still unpredictable. Although some areas (major fault lines such as the San Andreas Fault, New Madrid Fault or Great Sumatran Fault) are more susceptible to earthquakes than others, the exact timing of when an earthquake will occur still remains a mystery.

Thomas Homer-Dixon, in The Upside of Down, makes a very interesting analogy between earthquakes and social breakdown. He insightfully states that "population, energy, environmental, climate, and economic stresses affecting our world are just like tectonic stresses: deep, invisible, yet immensely powerful; they're building slowly; and they can release their force suddenly without warning." Much like earthquakes, social stresses can be released quietly or catastrophically. When societies' institutions and systems (political/economic) become "rigid" and "lock up" (read articles concerning Complexity), pressure escalates until something finally gives (example: the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe). Social breakdown is also similar to earthquakes in that "stress triggering": stress release in one area can "dramatically" and "often unexpectedly" increase stress in other areas leading to a devastating domino effect (example: the 1997 East Asia financial crisis that was triggered by Thailand's currency devaluation which culminated in a default of Russian sovereign debt which led to the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management). The characteristic that makes both earthquakes and social collapses dangerous is the unpredictability. Although "foreshocks", minor tremors that precede an earthquake, do sometimes occur, they do not happen consistently enough to predict quakes. Earthquakes, geological and social, can change our lives and our way of thinking because it shatters the very foundation we build our homes and lives upon, respectively. Terra firma and one's society are both suppose to be stable entities, so when its strength fails, one can not help but be terrified.

Here are some notable facts about earthquakes (full list can be found at USGS):

1. The hypocenter of an earthquake is the location beneath the earth's surface where the rupture of the fault begins. The epicenter of an earthquake is the location directly above the hypocenter on the surface of the earth.
2. Mountains and Volcanoes are created by tectonic plate movements.
3. Each year there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world.
4. The world's deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in central China. It struck a region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. These dwellings collapsed during the earthquake, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1976 another deadly earthquake struck in Tangshan, China, where more than 250,000 people were killed.
5. You can track the latest Earthquakes with a 5.0+ magnitude here.
6. According to the American Red Cross, the best thing to do during an earthquake is: Drop, cover and hold under a sturdy piece of furniture (table or desk).
   

Seemingly Useless Commentary:

So what are the major "faults" (some pun intended) of our society today? The energy crisis and the scarcity of natural resources (oil and precious metals) are definitely one of the major faults where pressure is building (price of crude oil hit $127 today). The battle between capitalism and the environment is definitely another major fault. Heavy industries are causing irreparable damages to the world's water (water crisis article), forests, air and land. Changes in the global ecosystem will increase the rate of species extinction and these shifts in the environment will cause climate to change dramatically. Economic faults such as the widening wealth gap and the subprime mortgage debacle are also creating pockets of dense pressure. Much like Monday's earthquake in China, the mounting pressure of any one of these faults may be released at any moment and unfortunately it is almost a certainty that there will be casualties.

As always, feel free to comment with your own ideas and opinions concerning earthquakes and/or social breakdowns. With all these pressure points, is a collapse inevitable?

Recommended Readings: The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon

Useful Websites:
USGS Earthquake Website