If the founders of these 7 biggest cities that are on a major earthquake fault line knew what lies beneath the surface, they would have probably reconsidered settling there.
Earthquakes have been part of human history forever. Our ancestors suffered through them, fearful of whatever deity they thought was angry with them. Making the earth tremble and swallow entire cities or sending enormous waves to wipe out the coastline even today seems like a divine punishment, even though we know better. Every one of these 7 biggest cities that are on a major earthquake fault line has been a victim of earthquakes in the past. Their citizens are well aware of the risks. Modern science has discovered tectonic plates and fault lines long time ago, but predicting earthquakes is still nearly impossible, leaving the people little options but to try and live their lives as if a disaster isn’t looming just around the corner.
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Since 2004, just 4 most devastating earthquakes have been responsible for more than 600,000 deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of damage. While they can’t be prevented, catastrophic consequences of these beasts can be greatly mitigated. More developed countries with known earthquake risks invest in technologies that can reduce the damage and save people’s lives. Japan is one of the greatest examples. Although Fukushima has become a rallying cry for the opponents of the nuclear energy, the power plant itself withstand one of the most devastating earthquakes in human history, a 9.0 magnitude. Only when ensuing Tsunami disabled backup generators did the situation went FUBAR. Hopefully, the same building technology will prevent great loss of lives in case a major earthquake hits any of the biggest cities that are on a major earthquake fault line.
The trouble is, just like with the biggest cities on the San Andreas Fault Line, these are major population and economic centers. Some are even capitals of their nations. Despite modern building technology, there are plenty of high buildings that are prone to collapsing in case of major shaking. All these cities feature prominent skylines that can present a major risk in case of a big earthquake. Ranked according to the population in their respective metro areas, these biggest cities on a major earthquake fault line also have the biggest potential for human casualties in case of a major earthquake.
