That word "carnage"

[vilakins]

Media Watch last night criticised the exaggeration of news reports about Christchurch, and particularly the misuse of the word "carnage" which I objected to; vindicated! Because there weren't any deaths, let alone slaughter, as Media Watch put it.

Petrol-head Greg thinks the misuse of "carnage" comes from Formula 1 where they call every crash carnage, and I'm wondering if the "car" part is to blame. The reporter who used it in Christchurch was standing near a flattened car, but I really don't think he was thinking about that when he said it. I'm wondering what the general perception of that word is. So, a poll.

[Poll #1615401]
[Edit] Since I can't change a poll, add "with horrible injuries" to the last option. I kept it too simple. :-P

Comments

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

I don't even think "A high death toll with horrible injuries" is really carnage. I'd want Massive destruction AND high death tolls (with or without massive injuries). Haiti quake? Yes. CC one? No.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah, but it's also carnage when a lot of people are massacred without property damage.

No carnage in Christchurch, no. It was stronger than the Haiti quake, but due to newer buildings being built to proper specs and most people being asleep, it was nowhere near as serious.

[samantha-vimes.livejournal.com]

That makes sense; I tell Americans from other states that they really have the wrong idea about earthquakes in California. With our building code *based* on earthquakes, and retrofittings of older designs, native Californians regard earthquakes as a minor thing except in the rarest of cases.
Nice to know our friends at the other edge of the ring of fire are likewise prepared.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

[nods] The worst damage was due to liquefaction of swampy ground after a wet winter; there were mud and sand eruptions, and lots of damage to underground pipes and foundations.

[samantha-vimes.livejournal.com]

Figures. Same thing over here; wet ground, certain kinds of sandy or soft clay soils can create issues no engineering can fully compensate for. The ground in those areas moves in waves, iirc

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's the sideways movement that causes the damage, and there was a lot of that: 20 years' plate shift in a minute or so. Also the first quake set off two more at once, so there might have been some very complex waves there.