Some earthquakes produce low-pitch sounds and light effects (flashes, streamers, and balls). Water in lakes and reservoirs oscillate causing flooding (a phenomenon called seiche). Seiches were observed in Scotland and Sweden following Lisbon quake of 1755. Similarly, Alaskan tremor in 1964 produced seiches in Texas and throughout southwestern parts of United States.

Measuring magnitude of earthquakes is more a fine art than an exact science.

Charles Richter developed his eponymous logarithmic scale in 1935. It measures amplitude (the height) of seismic surface waves. Each unit represents a tenfold increase in energy released by tremor. An earthquake of magnitude 9 is, therefore, 1000 stronger than a tremor of magnitude 6. The Kobe earthquake measured 6.8 on Richter scale, San Francisco tremor of 1906 was 8.3 (as was earthquake in Mississippi Valley in 1811), and both Alaskan quake of 1964 and South Asian underwater temblor of 2004 were around 9 (9.2 in Alaska to be precise)

The Richter scale is used mainly by media. Professional seismologists use Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) which takes into account properties of area and amount of slippage (displacement). It captures total energy of tremor. The Kobe earthquake measured 7 on MMS, San Francisco tremor of 1906 was 7.6, and Alaskan quake of 1964 was 9.

Then there is still-used 12-grade Modified Mercalli Scale (adapted in 1931 by American seismologists H. O. Wood and Frank Neumann from original Mercalli scale, proposed in 1902 Italian seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli). It measures impact that an earthquake has on natural and man-made environment to gauge its magnitude. The Europeans have a similar 12-grade scale, called MSK.

Seaquakes are earthquakes that start on land and then travel into sea at speed of sound (about 1.5 kilometers per second).

Quakes occur even on moon which has no plates, volcanic activities, or ocean trenches. The five seismograph stations of Passive Seismic Experiment set up between 1969 and 1977 as part of United States Apollo Program detected up to 3,000 moonquakes every year. Mars, on other hand, seems not to have quakes at all!

Some notable earthquakes in history:

Lisbon, November 1, 1755, 09:40 AM (All Saints Day)

Property damage: 12,000 houses, fire raged for 6 days

Casualties: 60,000 dead

Felt as far as: Algiers (1100 kilometers to east)

Side effects: tsunami 20 meters high (at Cadiz) to 6 meters high (at Lisbon). Traveled to Martinique (6100 kilometers) in 10 hours and rose to 4 meters when it struck shore.

New Madrid, Missouri, USA - December 16, 1811, January 23 and February 7, 1812

Felt as far as: Louisville, Kentucky (300 kilometers away); Cincinnati, Ohio (600 km. away); Canada; Gulf Coast.

Side effects: 1874 aftershocks; The tremor affected 100,000 square kilometers. An area of 240X60 kilometers sank by 1-3 meters and was flooded as a nearby river rushed in.

San Francisco, April 18, 1906, 05:12 AM

Property damage: Fire destroyed business district of San Francisco. Cities along fault (e.g., San Jose, Salinas, and Santa Rosa) obliterated.

Casualties: 700 dead

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to north

Side effects: At least a 430 kilometers fault slippage (break).

Tokyo–Yokohama, September 1, 1923

Property damage: Fifty four percent of brick buildings and one tenth of other, reinforced, structures collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of houses crumbled or burned.

Casualties: 140,000 dead

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to north

Side effects: Twelve-meter high tsunami crashed against Atami on Sagami Gulf, destroyed 155 houses and killed 60 people.

Chile, 1960

Property damage: Pegged at millions of US dollars.

Casualties: 5700 killed and 3000 injured.

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to north

Side effects: Seismic sea waves (tsunamis) struck Hawaii, Japan, and Pacific coast of United States.

Alaska, March 27, 1964

Casualties: 131 dead

Side effects: Felt over an area of 1,300,000 square kilometers and tilted an area of more than 120,000 square kilometers. Land was thrust up by as much as 25 meters and sank by up to 2.5 meters. Numerous tsunamis affected locales as far as Crescent City, California. The fault extended for 1000 kilometers and there were tens of thousands of aftershocks.

Tang-shan, China, July 28, 1976

Property damage: Entire city razed to ground.

Casualties: 240,000 killed and half a million injured.

Mexico, September 19, 1985, 07:18 AM

Property damage: Most buildings in Mexico City - 400 kilometers from epicenter - damaged extensively.

Casualties: 10,000 killed.

Felt as far as: Los Angeles in south and Coos Bay, Oregon, to north

Side effects: Seismic sea waves (tsunamis) struck Hawaii, Japan, and Pacific coast of United States.

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Maybe you live in a nice house smelling of alpine meadows with a sparkling bathroom, lovely clean and polished surfaces.

What if someone were to come into your lovely shining home and mix up a cocktail of unknown chemicals for you and your family to distribute around house. Would you allow it? Of course not. You wouldn’t want potentially poisonous chemicals around your house to pose a risk of contamination to air you breath or to what your family eat & drink.

Disturbingly however, they may already be there.

You may think that ingredients in household products are safe having been tested by authorities and cleared for use because they are known to pose no threat. Sadly, nothing could be further from truth.

In reality many hazardous chemicals are added to consumer goods. Some of these are known to be hazardous, but current legislation allows for their continued use. This is because regulations work on ‘safe limits’ of exposure for individual products. The weaknesses of this approach are that they do not add up accumulated doses from multiple sources of exposure, and neither do they take into account effect on children and unborn infants, dosages allowed being based on adult tolerance levels.

Consider some of these common types of household cleaning product and what threat they may carry.

Air Fresheners

Many of these products contain formaldehyde and phenol. The former is a known carcinogen and later can cause skin irritation.

Antibacterial Cleaners

May contain triclosan, which has been connected to liver damage and is readily absorbed through skin

Carpet and upholstery shampoo

Many contain perchlorethane, which is a carcinogen which damages liver, kidneys and central nervous system. Ammonium hydroxide may also be present which is a corrosive compound, extremely irritating to eyes, skin and respiratory system.

Dishwasher detergents

Studies have shown these to be foremost cause of home poisoning incidents. Most products contain dry form of chlorine. Scientists and engineers do not handle chlorine without protective clothing. It is extremely dangerous and can very easily be lethal. Indeed, it was first agent to be used in World War One as a chemical warfare agent.

Dishwashing liquids are labelled ‘harmful if swallowed’ yet it is used to wash your dishes. Can we be certain that no residues are left on your crockery to be picked up by your food?

Furniture polish

Commonly contain nitrobenzene, which is highly toxic and easily absorbed through skin. Petroleum distillates may also be present, which are highly flammable and have been linked to skin & lung cancer.

Laundry products.

These present a veritable cocktail of chemicals, including ammonia, phosphourous, naphthalene & phenol along with numerous others. They can all cause irritation to skin, allergies and sinus problems. Any residue left in your clothes can be absorbed into your body through skin.

Oven cleaner

These are most powerful toxic products that you can introduce into your home. They contain ammonia and other chemicals which can irritate skin, and produce fumes which can attack respiratory system. Any residue left in your oven may be intensified when you next use it.

Toilet cleaner

These usually contain hydrochloric acid which is highly corrosive, eyes and skin being particularly vulnerable to attack, and known to be harmful to liver and kidneys. If mixed with other chemical products, chlorine can be produced which can be fatal in high concentrations.

The above is a brief overview of possible risks, and it must be stressed that effects noted for individual chemicals are for high levels of exposure. However, point being made by many agencies such as Greenpeace is that level of exposure in home is unknown and unmonitored.

What can you do as a householder to minimise risk to yourself and your family?

The easiest way to avoid risk is to avoid products. Governments are not going to outlaw chemicals, and manufacturers are not going to replace them unless they are forced to do so, either by regulation or by consumer pressure.

There are a growing number of manufacturers who are producing safe products based on natural ingredients that do not present same threats as more established and heavily promoted products.

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Weigh up risks and benefits to your home and its occupants and make your decision.

For general advice on this and other responsible consumer matters, visit greenconsumerguide.com.

Other information on this and other consumer related ecological matters can be found at :-

http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/resource/green/index.php

Chris Western is an affiliate of SFI, one of the largest & most successful schemes on the internet.

The full range of SFI goods and business opportunities can be found at :-

https://www.moreinfo247.com/8786479/Free

All of the home businesses being run by Chris Western can be viewed at:-