The Sumatra Earthquake of December 26, 2004

A minute before 8 oclock in the morning local time, a colossal earthquake began to shake the northern part of Sumatra and the Andaman Sea to its north. Seven minutes later a stretch of the Indonesian subduction zone 1200 kilometers long had slipped by an average distance of 15 meters. The moment magnitude of the event was eventually estimated as 9.3, making it one of the largest recorded earthquakes since seismographs were invented around 1900. The shaking was felt throughout southeastern Asia and caused devastation in northern Sumatra and in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. The local intensity reached IX on the 12-point Mercalli scale in the Sumatran capital of Banda Aceh, a level that causes universal damage and widespread collapse of structures. Though the intensity of shaking did not reach the maximum on the scale, the motion lasted for several minutes—the duration of shaking is the main difference between magnitude 8 and 9 events. A large tsunami triggered by the earthquake spread outward from off the Sumatran coast. The worst part of it washed away whole cities in Indonesia, but every country on the shore of the Indian Ocean was also affected. In Indonesia, some 240,000 people died from the quake and tsunami combined. About 47,000 more people died, from Thailand to Tanzania, when the tsunami struck without warning during the next few hours. This earthquake was the first magnitude-9 event to be recorded by the Global Seismographic Network (GSN), a worldwide set of 137 top-grade instruments. The nearest GSN station, in Sri Lanka, recorded 9.2 cm of vertical motion without distortion. Compare this to 1964, when the machines of the World Wide Standardized Seismic Network were knocked off scale for hours by the March 27 Alaskan quake. The Sumatra earthquake proves that the GSN network is robust and sensitive enough to use for expanded tsunami detection and warnings if the right resources can be spent on supporting instrumentation and facilities. The GSN data includes some eye-popping facts. At every spot on Earth, the ground was raised and lowered at least a full centimeter by the seismic waves from Sumatra. The Rayleigh surface waves traveled around the planet several times before dissipating. Seismic energy was released at such long wavelengths that they were a substantial fraction of the Earths circumference. Their interference patterns formed standing waves, like the rhythmic oscillations in a large soap bubble. In effect, the Sumatra earthquake made the Earth ring with these free oscillations like a hammer rings a bell. The notes of the bell, or normal vibrational modes, are at extremely low frequencies: the two strongest modes have periods of about 35.5 and 54 minutes. These oscillations died out within a few weeks. Another mode, the so-called breathing mode, consists of the whole Earth rising and falling at once with a period of 20.5 minutes. This pulse was detectable for several months afterward. (A startling paper by Cinna Lomnitz and Sara Nilsen-Hopseth suggests that the tsunami was actually powered by these normal modes.) IRIS, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, has compiled scientific results from the Sumatra earthquake on a special page with plenty of background  information. The U.S. Geological Survey also offers a number of beginner and non-technical resources about the quake. At the time, commentators from the scientific community decried the absence of a tsunami warning system in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, 40 years after the Pacifics system began. That was a scandal. But a greater scandal was the fact that so many people, including thousands of supposedly well-educated first-world citizens who were there on vacation, just stood there and died as the clear signs of disaster arose before their eyes. That was a failure of education. A video about the 1998 New Guinea tsunami—was all it took to save the lives of a whole village in Vanuatu in 1999. Just a video! If each school in Sri Lanka, each mosque in Sumatra, each TV station in Thailand had shown such a video once in a while, what would the story have been instead that day?

The Tragedy Of The Trans Atlantic Trade Of Africa

1.1 - Maafa Throughout history, Africa has been subjugated to multiple waves of its that clash at its innate sense of oneness. No more had one wave caused as much damage, than that of the disaster of the Trans Atlantic trade of Africans. This disaster has been unequivocally understood as one of the worst acts against humanity in recorded history. One of the many scholars that have come to study the traumas left behind by this episode in history, has been Mama Marimba Ani. Marimba Ani coined the term Maafa to encapsulate this field of interest. Maafa is the Kswahili (Swahili) word for disaster. In studying the Maafa, a focus is concentrated on the effects that the European ideal of capitalism has had directly on Africa as a continent, but also gives attention to the factors that led to this ideal just like how any analysis of history looks at the cause and effect of an event. The reason Maafa is important is that upon the rediscovery of Africa’s history prior to its oppressive influence, it also shines light on the bad seeds which were planted, and that has led to the Africa’s underdevelopment and the distortions that these seeds have caused by the growth of these weeds becoming rooted in the institutions and the psyche that world has become accustomed to today. Maafa is focuses on tracing and removing these roots in the hopes of nourishing the growth of not just Africa’s mind-state, but the overall Worldview. This is significant because it assists in the restoration ofShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Slavery on African Society Essay1149 Words   |  5 Pages Early slavery within Africa was a common practice in many societies, and was very central to the country’s economy. Beginning around the 7th century, two groups of non-African slave traders significantly altered the traditional African forms of slavery that had been practice d in the past. Native Africans were now being forced to leave the country to be used as slaves. The two major slave trades, trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic, became central to the organization of Africa and its societies untilRead MoreThe Mid-Atlantic Slave Trade Essay993 Words   |  4 PagesHow does one start and ongoing tradition of racism in this world? For many years, foolish citizens around the world thought that the provocation of a different skin-colored race was encouraged and was accepted by society. Numerous people just saw Africa as the land where labour and goods were abundant, and dark-colored people were created for nothing but slave work. There was a fine line between humane and inhumane when it came to handling African people. The trafficking of slaves was such an extensiveRead MoreChattel Slavery1359 Words   |  6 Pagesdescendants of the African slaves. Secondly, millions of Africans died on the dreadful crossing from Africa. How many Indians perished on their way here? The Trans-Atlantic trade in captive Africans and African chattel slavery lasted roughly from 1473 to the 1880s - some four centuries. Indian indentureship lasted from the 1840s until when - the end of the 19th century? Thirdly, the trade in African captives depleted the African homeland tremendously. Consequently, up to this day, in contrastRead MoreSlavery Essay1945 Words   |  8 Pageson such a scale? A tragedy of such dimensions has no parallel in any other part of the world. The African continent was bled of its human resources via all possible routes. Across the Sahara, through the Red Sea, from the Indian Ocean ports and across the Atlantic. At least ten centuries of slavery for the benefit of the Muslim countries (from the ninth to the nineteenth). Then more than four centuries (from the end of the fifteenth to the nineteenth) of a regular slave trade to build the AmericasRead MoreThe Atlantic Slave Trade And Analyse What And How Much, African Political And Economic Interests Shaped The Trade Essay2445 Words   |  10 PagesThis essay will briefly define and describe the Atlantic slave trade and analyse what, and how much, African political and economic interests shaped the trade up to 1807/8, the point when the United States and Great Britain abolished the trade; also contending that because the suppliers for the slaves i.e the Africans themselves, had as much of a significant role in the trade as the demanders (the Europeans), numerous African poli tical and economic interests as well as social structures had an almostRead MoreThe Decline Of The Atlantic Slave Trade2406 Words   |  10 PagesThe Atlantic Slave Trade took place subsequently to the breakthrough discovery of the New World, also acknowledged today as North and South America. The Trade established a global exchange or Triangular trade between the Americas, Europe and Africa. The exchange between the Old and New world occurred to satisfy the enormous European demands for African labor on the plantations and for the colonization across the newly uncovered land. Prior to the Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery had stood alive andRead MoreSub-Saharan Africa Essay2751 Words   |  12 PagesSub-Saharan Africa: The Causes of Postcolonial State Failure On the vast continent of Africa, there are fifty-three countries; of these only six are not located below the Sahara Desert. ThisRead MoreIllegal Bunkery3313 Words   |  14 PagesThe Political Economy Of Illegal Bunkering In Nigeria By Kà ²mbà ² Mason Braide (PhD) Port Harcourt, Nigeria    Demonise Diabolise: The Niger Delta has been a source of illicit international business deals (like the trans-Atlantic slave trade), as far back as the 15th century. Today a new form of syndicated criminal proclivity is threatening the very foundations of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, and by extension, the Nigerian economy, as well as putting tremendous pressure on Chief (General) OlusegunRead MoreBiography of Eugene ONeil Essay1847 Words   |  8 Pageshad regular trade routs all along the coast of North and South America. After sailing for fifty seven days, Eugene jumped ship in Buenos Aires. Here he spent time doing several different jobs considered one of the only high points in his early life(Miller p5). He applied for jobs he was unqualified to do so in a matter of weeks he was fired, and he had to go back to sea to find a living. He spent the next several months in the south Atlantic and even made a few stops in South Africa. He eventuallyRead MoreWhy We Should Fight the War on Terrorism2 959 Words   |  12 PagesStates has faced multiple terrorist acts carried out by al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda became active in 1992 with the coordinated bombings of two hotels in Aden, Yemen. Since then it has expanded greatly. It was responsible for the 1993 bombings of the World Trade Center and attacks on U.S. troops in Mogadishu. It was also responsible for the 1995 bombing of the National Guard Training Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda was directly involved in coordinating

Agency problems and reputation in services - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Agency problems and reputation in services. Answer: Commercial auto insurance The insurance product or service in this paper is the auto repair garage insurance. The chosen product or service in this regard is the commercial auto insurance. As the subject is insurance, no specific product can be taken in this context. It would be better to take a service of the insurance policies (Schneider, 2012). In this case the commercial auto insurance has been selected. There are many benefits of the commercial auto insurance. This insurance service is for the benefit of the business customers. If the repair of the auto services is required, the owner of the vehicle will get the protection in real time. There will be no issues about who is driving the vehicle. If there are any cases of lawsuit because of harsh driving by the drivers, this insurance policy will fix all the charges like the car damages, fees of the lawyer and all the medical expenses. The insurance limits are higher so there will be no problem about returning the monetary amount for the damages (Desyllas Sako, 2013). If the employees of the company get into any accident, this insurance policy will save the employees as well. It is because the employees are the main pillars of the organizations. The insurance will cover all the internal stakeholders of the organization and thus, employees will receive accidental benefits from the insurance. This insurance policy protects the business employees from all the lawsuits. This commercial auto insurance helps the business equipments like catering equipments to the hydraulic fits. This insurance coverage will allow the company to replace these tools and equipments. Thus, the insurance will provide holistic coverage for the company. The commercial auto insurance will help to protect the interests of the requirements of the business. The commercial auto insurance will help the employees to get many advantages (Desyllas Sako, 2013). One of the key advantages to be gained by them is the financial assurance of their accidents and any unwarranted incidents. Many other benefits are also offered as well by the commercial auto insurance. This includes providing medical benefits and assistance to the employees and their families. The commercial auto insurance will offer the coverage to the concerned business owner and the employees. The business can stay with compliance with all the local and state laws. The commercial auto insurance can be very beneficial in the case of providing the protection for the entire business. This kind of insurance helps the business to get protection from the severe lawsuits. The business can be saved from being bankrupt. The liability coverage can be given to the vehicles if commercial auto insurance is done. The business will not be liable to be suffering losses. The business owners can opt for working with their independent insurance agents for better service. Losses in commercial auto insurance The losses that can be portrayed on the commercial auto insurance are:- The market conditions are very soft in most of the no-auto lines. The meaning of this is the fact the competition is very much. The investment returns have been very slow indeed. This would require more growth in the coming years (Baker Swedloff, 2012). The direct premiums will increase in this year. So the sauto rates will go higher in many cases indeed. The costs are increasing so it is becoming very problematic to carry through the commercial auto insurance (Baker Swedloff, 2012). The loss ratios are very high. This is why the auto insurance premiums will continue to rise. The two companies that provide the best services in the commercial auto insurance are Aviva Canada Group of Companies and Umbrella Warranty Ltd (Umbrellawarranty.ca, 2018). These two companies play an essential role in promoting the commercial auto insurance. This is a beneficial insurance service for many organizations indeed. This is really an important service in the limelight of auto repair garage insurance services. References Baker, T., Swedloff, R. (2012). Regulation by Liability Insurance: From Auto to Lawyers Professional Liability.UCLA L. Rev.,60, 1412. Desyllas, P., Sako, M. (2013). Profiting from business model innovation: Evidence from Pay-As-You-Drive auto insurance.Research Policy,42(1), 101-116. Schneider, H. S. (2012). Agency problems and reputation in expert services: Evidence from auto repair.The Journal of Industrial Economics,60(3), 406-433. Umbrellawarranty.ca. (2018).Vehicle Mechanical Breakdown Coverage | Umbrella Warranty.Umbrella Warranty. Retrieved 25 January 2018, from https://umbrellawarranty.ca/

Studying Foreign Language in High School free essay sample

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting the need of learning a foreign language at high school. Many have realized the increasing importance of the acquisition of a foreign language, in other words an increasingly valued skill. In United States of America, an increase of 200 percent in the number of schools offering Chinese language in their programs has been observed. (Asia Society 2008) In this paper, I will be covering on how learning a foreign language benefits academic progress in other subjects and enhance career opportunities. On the other hand, I will explain the inadequate level of proficiency in learning a foreign language in high school. 2. Advantages of learning a foreign language 2. 1 Benefits in academic progress in other subjects Learning a foreign language is a powerful experience, a study of 13,200 high school students revealed that the students who studied a foreign language received better grades in the English section a test compared to those who did not. We will write a custom essay sample on Studying Foreign Language in High School or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Dumas 1999) Similarly, Thomas C. Cooper a professor in foreign language education revealed that in a study of 23 metropolitan high schools, students who took a foreign language in high school received significantly higher marks in the Scholastic Assessment Test. (Cooper 1987) Last but not the least, mastering another language can improve the knowledge of English structure and vocabulary. (Curtain Dahlburg, 2004) 2. 2 Foreign language enhances career opportunities Through a survey done with 581 alumni of The American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona, respondents said they gained a competitive advantage with knowledge of foreign language. It is identified that foreign language is a critical factor in employment and enhances their career paths. Furthermore, possessing proficiency in another language provided personal fulfillment, mental discipline and cultural enlightenment. (Grosse 2004) Similarly, studying a foreign language enhances the capabilities of students in understanding English grammar and their overall communication and problem-solving skills. Apart from intellectual benefits, knowledge of foreign language facilitates travel, enhances career opportunities and promotes cross-cultural understanding. (National Research Council 2007) 3. Inadequacy of proficiency from learning a foreign language in high school Studies have shown that with over 300 hours of contact time over 2 years is woefully insufficient for high school students to acquire usable levels of proficiency in a foreign language. This requires the schools to improve the methods in which foreign language is taught, for instance, a greater use of immersion programs. (Committee for Economic Development 2006) 4. Conclusion This paper has covered the advantages and disadvantages of learning a foreign language in high school. Therefore, the key aspects in learning a foreign language are the academic improvements in other subjects and the boost in career opportunities. However, in consideration of the time a student spent engaging with a foreign language, it is significantly inadequate to procure usable levels of proficiency. In conclusion, learning a foreign language at high school does benefit a student, but the proficiency of the language boils down to the commitment a student puts in the process of learning the language.