‘Short term responses are more important to help victims deal with the effects of earthquake than long term responses.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Support your answer using evidence. [8m]

I agree to a certain extent. Short term responses are important to help victims deal with the effects of earthquake. One example of short term response is countries providing search and rescue teams and providing aid money. An example of this would be the Japan earthquake in 2011, where many countries sent their search and rescue team and provide monetary funds to Japan to help on the aftermath of the earthquake. However not all rescue teams are efficient. For example, during the Haiti earthquake in 2010, their emergency relief team lacked coordination and proper supervision. This made it difficult to provide aid to the affected population.

One other short term responses that help victims to deal with the effects of earthquake are countries providing food and water supply to the affected areas in the country. This helps the people affected by the earthquake to have access to clean water and food supplies so that they will not suffer from malnutrition or lack of water. One example would be the Haiti earthquake in 2010 where many countries such as Singapore and the United States sent food and water supplies to the areas affected to help the victims. Such short term responses are crucial as the government may not be able to meet the needs of the victims and may require the aid of neighbouring countries to lessen their load. However medical supplies, food and water may not be sufficient for all and this may cause social unrest.

Long term responses such as help returning of refugees and homing of orphanages are important in helping victims in dealing with the effects of earthquake. As many houses were destroyed during the initial earthquake, neighbouring countries could aid in long term by rebuilding the building in the affected areas with earthquake resistance, for example, Japan in 1995 spent billions developing technologies to build more earthquake resistance building. This allows many victims affected by the earthquake to return back to their country and homes as soon as possible. However, long term responses are generally costly and recovery of the country usually takes a long time. For example, China took three years to rebuild the area hit by the earthquake in Sichuan 2008.

Short term responses are important as they are the first line of assistance to the affected victims of the earthquake. Long term responses are equally important as they ensure the survivors are able to integrate back to their normal life after the earthquake.