“Discuss the view that the impact of earthquake hazards depends primarily on human factors (40)”.

I agree to some extent about the statement above and that human factors can affect the impact of an earthquake hazard. A hazard is an object or process that has the potential to cause harm. Ground shaking, ground displacement and flooding are some of the hazards that are produced during an earthquake. In relation to the question above the type and severity of the impact can be affected by physical factors (such as the magnitude and frequency of the quake) as well as human factors (population density and education). I will be discussing the question using the following case studies, Sichuan, Indonesia and L’Aquila.
On the 12th May 2008 an earthquake occurred at 2:28pm in Sichuan because the pressure resulting from the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian was sent along the Longmenshan fault line that runs through Sichuan. The earthquake lasted 120 seconds and reached 7.9 on the Richter scale, one of the deadliest to strike China in recent years and its effects were felt as far away as Taiwan, Thailand and Bangladesh. Although the area has a long history of tectonic activity, it seems it was not prepared for an event of this magnitude. With a population consisting of 87.26m people the death toll stood at nearly 70 thousand along with 374,000 people injured and 5m left homeless. Making this Chinas worst earthquake since 1976 when 240,000 people were killed in Tangshan. Even after the quake there have been more than 12,600 aftershocks has high as 5.4 in Qingchuan which killed a further 8 more people and injured 927 leaving over 400,000 homes destroyed. The impacts faced by this particular quake were due to the lack of prediction and preparation from the Chinese government. Although this area is prone to earthquakes, Sichuan is a region that has been largely