Earthquakes are disruptive natural disasters that impact places and people all around the world, some more than others.
Just like residents in New Zealand’s south-island got shaken up by the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that caused a tsunami in 2016, the 6.1 magnitude earthquake under the ocean 1600 kilometers south of South Africa was shaken in September 2020, but luckily not impacted on land. In the case of New Zealand’s tsunami earthquake, reefs were uplifted, which changed certain parts of the coastline. Even though it doesn’t seem like there’s damage on the coast of Cape Town in South Africa, what happened under the ocean over a thousand and a half kilometers away still occurred in the ocean, and since it was nearly as big as the one that affected New Zealand, it caused damage and alterations under the water too.
Marine Life After an Earthquake – Do Marine Species Survive?
Underwater earthquakes are responsible for tsunamis, and even though it doesn’t reach land, it damages populations of life under the ocean. Earthquakes disrupt the ocean floor with the movement caused by quakes, which is most destructive during the occurrence of the earthquake.
As one can imagine, sea mammals, fish, and especially corals and sea plants have nowhere to go when a quake occurs. Depending on the severity of it, the ocean floor and land ashore get lifted or dropped even lower than its meant to be. It causes havoc for anything that lives on or above it. It disrupts ecosystems. While there is plenty of destruction in the moment and the adaptions marine life have to make thereafter is challenging, the destruction doesn’t last in the long run. Even though humans suffer more from the effects of earthquakes, marine life doesn’t always survive it either.
When earthquakes occur, one of the significant losses is the corals and marine habitats that can’t be restored.
