earthquakes
A Massive Earthquake and the Women Take Charge
The massive earthquake that rocked southern Mexico shortly before midnight two weeks ago damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings and killed scores of people in the Zapotec city of Juchitán de Zaragoza. The magnitude 8.1 or 8.2 quake was located about 150 miles southeast of the city in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the coast […]
Strange Circumstances in the Kalahari
The San living in their traditional settlements in the Kalahari Desert were shaken last week by a diamond mine being closed and, two days later, by an earthquake. A variety of news sources covered both events. The Botswana Daily News on April 2 reported on a presentation about the mine to the Ghanzi District Council, […]
Earthquakes Destroy the Dzongu, but Lepchas Abandon Mun
The earthquake that devastated the Dzongu Lepcha Reserve in Sikkim on September 18th continues to produce its aftershocks—both in the local mountains and in the attitudes of the Lepcha people. A news story last week in The Hindu, a major daily in India, reported that another minor aftershock had just hit the same region. The […]
Possible Causes of Earthquake Destruction in Sikkim
Over the past week, several news stories from India have focused on the consequences, and possible causes, of the earthquake that devastated the Dzongu Lepcha Reserve and nearby mountain valleys of Sikkim on September 18th. One story described the damage to the historic Tholung monastery, remotely situated a long hike from the nearest road, up […]
Earthquake Destruction in Lepcha Communities
Sangcho Lepcha, a resident of the village of Bey in northern Sikkim, was preparing momos, a type of Nepalese dumpling, when he felt the earth quaking. “I heard something that sounded like an explosion. The house started shaking and I rushed to get my child who was sleeping in the next room. By the time […]
