Dr. Susan Bartels and Dr. Michael Rooyen wrote a review about the health risks earthquakes pose. They basically were saying that when earthquakes hit, they usually hit in urban areas with poor structure resulting in the needed healthcare to be overcrowded or not fit for earthquake affects on people.
When earthquakes hit, they usually expose millions of people to them because most of the cities with the highest number of people living in them around the world were built on fault lines. For example, place such as Shanghai, New York, & Los Angeles. The aftermath of earthquakes comes in three different sections. First, there is the initial death poll as soon as it hits. Next, you have the second mortality rate. This stems from lacerations, fractures, and hematomas that catch up with the victim a few hours later. Then, the last peak comes anywhere from days to weeks later evolving from organ failure or them having to stop taking medicines they are using for chronic diseases previously acquired. After an earthquake in California, the amount of heart attacks rose by 35 percent the following week. After an earthquake in China hit, the rate of arrhythmias sharply increased. Also, after one in Japan, blood pressure increased for two weeks. Overcrowding in shelters and other places with minimum space after an earthquake spread diseases just by having to have skin touching.
I, personally, never really thought about these things occurring because of an earthquake but it all makes sense after reading that article. I don’t think many other people actually realize the full effect of an earthquake. Yes, we all realize the big picture that it kills people, but not about it increasing risk of diseases.
This reminds me of what happened in Japan when the tsunami hit after the earthquake. People were exposed to all sorts of contaminants such as sewage and decomposing bodies. The same occurred in Haiti. More services should be avaliable as soon as something like this occurs.
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