Papua New Guinea earthquake takes lives, disrupts infrastructure

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
While the death toll of the recent earthquake was lower, many people were reminded of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that killed an estimated 150 people in 2018. Infrastructure, including the power grid, was damaged in the Sept. 11 earthquake.

By Sophie Soloway ’23 & Hannah Raykher ’23

Editor-in-Chief | H.R. Manager

Content warning: This article discusses mass death.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck Papua New Guinea on Sunday, Sept. 11. Al-Jazeera reported that this natural disaster — which struck at a 38-mile depth according to the United States Geological Survey — sparked landslides and damaged nearby infrastructure. The quake resulted in at least seven deaths, according to reports from Fox Weather. 

This earthquake comes four years after another hit the country. In February 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed an estimated 150 people, reported Al Jazeera. This quake similarly triggered landslides and disrupted natural resource access and health care services. According to the World Health Organization, “Some 544,000 people were affected with 270,000 in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.”

James Marape, the Papua New Guinean Prime Minister, referenced the previous earthquake in a statement, according to Al-Jazeera. He stated that “he expected the damage to be less than that from a 2018 earthquake and series of aftershocks.”

According to Corrine Liu ’23, an environmental studies major, the country’s geographic location plays a role in its frequent earthquakes. They shared that, “PNG gets a lot of earthquakes because it sits on essentially an arc of faults in the Pacific Ocean, so it’s a hotspot for seismic activity.”

Liu, who has also experienced earthquakes in their home state of California, stated that their own memories of the natural disasters “showed how we are fully vulnerable to the world and that with most natural phenomena, everyday people have no control or way of best preparing.”

Papua New Guinea’s hotspot is also known as the Ring of Fire, according to Sarah Parsons ’24, a geography major. Parsons compared the country’s geology to Oregon, their home state on the west coast of the U.S., which experiences “A lot more seismic [and] volcanic activity.” 

Following the earthquake, officials have told Reuters that the depth of its epicenter has limited some of the damage that may otherwise have been possible. Beyond the seven reported deaths since Sunday, Police Commissioner David Manning told Reuters that, “The regional power grid, internet cables, roads and highways had been damaged.”

An Al Jazeera report suggested that the state’s lost infrastructure and financial constraints may pose more prominent challenges in its recovery from this earthquake, especially given its socioeconomic status, stating, “With government resources limited, much of the rescue effort has been carried out by small private companies and volunteers.”

Global COVID-19 Counter: US and UK have highest positivity rates; vaccination rate rises around globe

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

As of Oct. 26, 2021, there have been 244,342,963 total COVID-19 cases across the world, as reported by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. This has resulted in 4,960,582 COVID-19 related deaths. 6,848,740,981 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. 

The United States leads these total positive cases with a reported 45,572,94945,450,123. The U.S. also has the highest number of recorded fatalities of all reporting countries. 

Johns Hopkins reports that the United Kingdom holds the second-highest rate of positive COVID-19 testing within the previous 28-day cycle, with 1,113,163 positive tests reported. Turkey follows the United Kingdom, with 812,780 positive cases reported within the same period. Turkey has a total of 7,879,438 cases and 69,344 total fatalities. 

CNN has an ongoing tracker on their website, which ranks nations based on their number of positive COVID-19 cases. Russia currently sits at the fifth position on that list. According to The Moscow Times, Russia has recently seen a distinct increase in positive COVID-19 cases. The country reached its record number of cases on Oct. 25, with 37,930 new cases and 1,069 deaths.  

Restrictions on outings and vaccination mandates have been imposed regionally, rather than nationally, with Russian President Vladimir Putin again advising local governments to impose legislation on Oct. 25th. 

Amid these record-setting transmission rates, The New York Times reported that 5049.9 percent of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. The United Arab Emirates leads this statistic, with 98 percent of its eligible population having already received their first vaccination dose. As eligible adult vaccination rates rise, researchers across countries continue to investigate solutions for child vaccination.  

Worldwide COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

As of Tuesday, Feb. 9, at least 2.3 million people worldwide have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. Global cases are currently rising at the fastest rate yet. 

The United States has the most cases globally at over 27 million.  India (with approximately 10.8 million total cases) and Brazil (with about 9.5 million) have the second and third highest totals, respectively. However, cases continue to fluctuate across the globe.

Cases in Montenegro have spiked in the past week, and now the country has the highest daily average cases per capita with 85 cases per 100,000 citizens. The Turks and Caicos Islands and Israel fall shortly behind with 72 and 71 cases per 100,00 citizens, respectively. To combat these high statistics, Israel is currently pursuing mass vaccination distribution, leading globally with approximately 23.4 percent of the country already fully vaccinated. 

However, this high vaccination rate has not yet reached occupied Palestine. Human Rights Watch reports that Israel has dodged Geneva Convention responsibilities to distribute medical supplies, leaving the Palestinian people with few resources to combat COVID-19. There are currently over 163,000 total cases in Palestine.

On the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Mainland China, New Zealand and Australia have continued to report some of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates, each with less than one case per 100,000 citizens.  

Chinese Language Table

Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ‘22

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

 The Chinese Language Table has moved to a remote space this year. In past years, the group met over a shared meal featuring a traditional Chinese dish, but this year, event organizers have adapted to ensure that students still have an engaging space to practice the Chinese language. Students gather weekly to practice their speaking abilities with peers and TAs as well as discuss current events related to their studies.  

Jamie Day ’22, a double major in biology and East Asian studies at Mount Holyoke, talked about what she most appreciates about the event. “I enjoy talking about Chinese culture and … implementing my newly learned vocabulary from that [day’s] Chinese lecture,” she said. “I get the rare opportunity to speak with native speakers and see other peers my age struggle with me to [perfect] a very tonal-heavy language.”

In fact, some participants prefer the move to a remote setting. Day has participated in the Chinese Language Table since her sophomore year but has noticed that some aspects are better on a virtual platform. “Being virtual has made it easier for me personally. Before MHC went remote, [the] Chinese [Language Table] was during dinner time, and I was unable to make it at most times. The [dining] hall would be loud and made it hard to have one-on-one conversations,” she commented. 

Remote participation allows some students to have more individualized practice, as well. Day said, “Now, during our [Zoom] gatherings, the students [are] divided up into chat rooms and paired up with a professor or a TA. This [is] an improvement in terms of the learning environment.”

Day described her new routine with the table, saying, “As a third-year Chinese student, I will usually come in with a Chinese newspaper article that I need help reading through for an assignment. When in my private chat room, I can get some quality tutoring and get all my questions answered effectively!”

Day reflected that what she loves most about the Chinese Language Table is “the chance to keep in touch with my previous Chinese teachers that I don’t have classes with anymore, or meeting other professors in the Chinese department that I will likely take courses with in the future!” 

The Chinese Language Table meets every Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST and is open to students of all language levels. Contact Professor Alice Kao at akao@mtholyoke.edu to participate.

Leader in Iranian Nuclear Science Killed

Pictured above: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor

Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed in an attack in his vehicle on Friday, Nov. 27. After a reported gun attack in northern Iran, hospital workers unsuccessfully attempted to revive the prominent figure. 

Fakhrizadeh was the head of Iran’s Research and Innovation Organization and was widely regarded as a national hero for his work with the country’s nuclear program, both before and after the Iranian government officially ended it. According to Senior Fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Karim Sadjadpour, “Fakhrizadeh likely knew more about Iran’s nuclear program than any living human. Losing his leadership, knowledge and institutional memory is undoubtedly a blow to the Islamic Republic.” Protests quickly emerged in Iran, reflecting the significance of the loss for the country. 

Officials have not yet pinpointed the individual responsible for the attack. However, on Saturday, Nov. 28, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused Israeli leadership of being responsible for the scientist’s death. According to The New York Times, three unnamed American officials have made similar statements. 

Having had a critical role in the nation’s development of nuclear technology, Fakhrizadeh has long been a person of interest to the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, as well as to U.S. intelligence agencies. The U.S. and Israel are allies and have historically vehemently opposed Iran’s nuclear program, as Israel specifically views Iran as its largest regional threat. Although Fakhrizadeh denied that the purpose of Iran’s nuclear program was related to building nuclear arms, documents stolen by Israel in early 2018 suggested otherwise. 

When Israeli agents stole approximately 50,000 pages and 163 discs of information on Jan. 31, 2018, they concluded that the Iran nuclear program was ongoing and dedicated to developing nuclear weapons. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released this information days before U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal with Iran. 

As of Friday, Nov. 27, Netanyahu’s administration has not officially responded to Rouhani’s claims that Israel played a role in the murder of Fakhrizadeh.  

The assassination might provoke further conflict in the region. Rouhani has pledged to retaliate against those responsible for the murder. Fakhrizadeh’s assassination was also compared to the U.S.’ January airstrike on Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian operations leader. This previous attack is largely considered to have increased tensions between Iran and the U.S. since Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. As the U.S. presidency enters a transitional period, this attack may impact President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to alter relations with Iran. 

Carrie Lewis ’23, a Mount Holyoke student interested in international relations, noted that “because of the United State’s military support for Israel and their previous attack on [the] Iranian leader [Soleimani], this might block progress between the relationship between Iran and the United States, especially under Biden.” 

Biden has long stated that his administration plans to return to the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran that Trump undid. Given the salient relationship between the U.S. and Israel and both nations’ suspected roles in assassinating high-profile officials, this recent attack is expected to make a nuclear deal with Iran significantly harder to achieve for the president-elect. As protests mourning Fakhrizadeh’s death continue in Iran and more Iranian officials place blame on the U.S.-Israel alliance, concerns regarding the future of these regional relationships mount. 

Helen Roane ’23, an international relations major, said, “I think it’s really interesting how Israel really put itself in the middle of an international conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. Because it seems like they are counting on the United States support, which is not guaranteed with a Biden presidency that is looking perhaps for a more diplomatic resolution to such issues. Either way, it remains an impactful action that clearly says that the government of Israel is not afraid of taking actions to stand for what they think protects their national interest.