All language subtitles for qwewwww2

Our planet is full of
incredible natural wonders.

Look at that!

Whoo!

It has immense power...

...and yet, that's rarely mentioned
in our history books.

I'm here to change that.

I'm looking at four ways
the power of the planet

has shaped our history.

The power of fire...

Oh...

...that fuelled great
technological breakthroughs.

Wind...

...that has influenced
the rise and fall of empires.

Water...

...our struggle to control it
has directed human progress.

But this week, I'm looking
inside the Earth itself.

It's an unknown world,
hot and extreme.

It's provided the raw materials
for our conquest of the planet,

but at a price.

This is the great untold story
of human history.

Hidden unseen within the Earth,

extraordinary geological forces
are at work.

Hi. Gracias.

Forces that have shaped our history.

To really understand
and appreciate them,

I've got to go deep
into the Earth itself.

This is the Naica mine
in northern Mexico -

the starting point for a journey
to one of the most

spectacular and extreme places
on or in the planet.

I'm really starting to feel it now.

I'm getting hotter and hotter,
the deeper in I go.

This heat is just a taste
of what lies ahead.

Finally, I arrive at what
they call "Base Camp".

You know, where I'm heading
is just so extreme, so oppressive

that I'm going to need all of these
people, all of these control systems

and all of this kit over here
just to get there.

It's going to be like visiting
another planet.

Beyond here is a chamber that
reveals the power of the inner Earth

to influence human affairs.

But to get there,

they've had to develop
some pretty esoteric equipment.

Get this.

It's like a chain mail of ice cubes.

It's heavy, isn't it?

The special refrigerated suit
will keep me cool.

What a palaver!

- This brings down my core temperature?
- Yes.

Oh, feels very cold suddenly.

That's very odd.

But it's not the heat alone
that's potentially lethal.

This is what? This is the oxygen?

MAN: Yes, it's fresh air.

- It's fresh air.
- Yes. You'll need it.

The heat is combined
with nearly 100% humidity.

If I breathed that combination,

moisture would begin to condense
inside my lungs.

After about ten minutes,
I'd start to suffocate.

- You're ready.
- I'm ready? I don't feel ready.

OK.

Without this suit, I could die.

It seems a lot of effort,

but inside there is one of the
geological wonders of the world.

That is unbelievable.

This is just mad!

Absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?

This is la Cueva de los Cristales -

for my money, the most spectacular
cave of crystals

discovered anywhere in the world.

You know, I've travelled
around the world

to see some of the most
amazing geology,

but this place -
this place just tops it all.

Look at it.

It really looks perfect.

You can see through them,
they're so translucent.

And there's different types.

You can see these ones
that are like roses building up

and then these columns, these pillars -

absolutely magnificent.

Until recently,
no-one knew this chamber existed.

It was uncovered when miners
broke through by chance.

You know,
these extraordinary crystals

are made up almost entirely
of a pretty ordinary mineral - gypsum -

but it's the sheer scale of them
that astounds you.

This strange world is shaped by forces

that have had a profound impact
on human civilisation.

Oh, this heat...
This heat's just too much.

It's unbearable.

But, oh, hey, the heat -
that's what it's all about.

That's the whole point.

It's this cauldron that's the reason
that these crystals are here.

It's so hot because only about
5km below the cavern...

...is an area of the Earth's crust
that is super-heated molten rock.

This heats water, which dissolves
minerals from the surrounding rock.

Phenomenal pressure forces
this mineral-rich water

up through cracks in the rock
and filled this giant cavern.

Here, the conditions were perfect

for the minerals to slowly
crystallise back out of the water.

The cave lay undisturbed
for over half a million years,

so the gypsum crystals just kept growing

until the miners broke through
and the cave was drained.

But the hot inner Earth has done
far more than create these crystals.

This incredible hot world
hidden just beneath the surface

is a driving force
for powerful geological events

that have shaped the fate
of peoples throughout history.

This is the Timna Valley
in Israel's Negev Desert.

Today it's pretty well deserted.

But over 6,000 years ago,

this place witnessed

one of the world's first great
scientific breakthroughs.

Up until this point,

humans had made all their tools
from stuffjust lying around -

stone, wood, bone,

anything, really, that they
could get their hands on.

But then, between
6,000 - 7,000 years ago,

our ancestors made an extraordinary
imaginative leap.

They realised that the rock here
contained a secret.

These green bands
are called malachite.

And it was these malachite seams

that around 6,500 years ago

were at the centre of that incredible
leap of human ingenuity.

Like the gypsum
inside the crystal cave,

these bands of malachite

formed when hot fluids
rose from deep inside the planet

and leaked into these rocks.

But unlike gypsum,

when malachite is heated up...

...it does something special.

It releases a metal.

Copper.

You know, in its day,

this copper axe head would have been
the pinnacle of technology.

For a start, it's weighty.

If you hit something or someone
with this, it would leave a dent.

For another thing,
it's hard enough to take an edge.

And if it gets blunt,
you just sharpen it up.

You can still see evidence of
the ancient smelting pits at Timna.

But the copperworkers left behind
a more striking memorial to their work.

A network of hundreds of tunnels,
all carved by hand.

This was the first large-scale mining
anywhere on the planet.

Those early copper miners

would have squeezed through
these narrow shafts on all fours,

smashing their way through the rock

and hauling their pails of
copper-laced ore back to the surface.

You know, the copper revolution

changed our relationship
with the planet

in a really profound way.

For the first time,

we were transforming
what the Earth offered us

and in the process creating
entirely new resources.

And copper was just
the start of things to come.

About 5,000 years ago,
tin was added to copper

to form a new, more durable
metal alloy - bronze.

By 3,000 years ago,
refinements to the smelting process

meant iron could be
smelted out of rock.

Metal tools became the foundation
for human civilisation.

So it's clear we owe a huge debt to
those first copper miners at Timna.

But we also owe a debt
to the deep Earth.

The key to Timna's role
in early history is its location.

The Earth's crust is divided
into huge pieces called plates.

Where they meet are cracks
known as fault lines.

Timna is next to the Dead Sea fault

which separates Africa from Arabia.

But this fault also connects Timna
to the deep, hot interior of the Earth.

It's this hot interior

that is ultimately the source

of all the metals that have so
radically changed our history.

Fault lines allow them
to rise to the surface...

...just as they did
at the crystal cave in Mexico.

But fault lines began
affecting human history

even before the discovery of metals.

In fact, we've been strangely drawn
to these boundary zones

ever since the dawn of civilisation.

And you can see why

in the barren wilderness
of the Lut Desert in Iran.

The landscape is covered in hundreds
of holes arranged in rows.

These holes in the desert

can help explain our ancient
attraction to fault lines.

But that involves me going down one -

something the locals
seem a little bemused by.

Hi.

So this is it?

That's tiny!

I don't think I'll really fit.

How deep is it?

God! Apparently it's 50 metres.

That's over 150 feet.

OK, I guess we do it, huh?

So we go down?

And if this deep, dark hole
wasn't scary enough,

the method for going down
is unconventional at best.

So we take this, like a pulley?

And this goes over the top, I guess.

So do I go on this?

You can't buy those, I bet you!

I've never gone on a rope with a metal
tripod pulled by a tractor before.

So...

Well, I think we should just do this
before I change my mind.

OK. What could possibly go wrong now?

Blooming heck. It really is deep.

Oh, this isn't natural.

I'm getting lowered down into
the bowels of the Earth here.

I wasn't sure if I was claustrophobic

but now I realise I think I am.

It's so far up!

Look at that.

Oh, dear. I don't want to
do this too many times.

For over 2,000 years,

local people have been
digging shafts like this - by hand.

And I get the sense
I'm about to find out why.

All right, here we go.

Hey hey!

Ooh! Oof!

I misjudged it.

Look at this!

This is the answer.

The essential ingredient of
every civilisation on Earth.

Cold, fresh drinking water.

This is what made this remote corner
of the Lut Desert

one of the few places in the region
that could sustain towns and cities.

And I'll tell you...

...after a trip like that,
this is so nice to have.

Right. I'm off to explore a bit.

I want to find where
the water's coming from.

This tunnel leading off the shaft
is called a qanat.

It's one of many in this region,

hacked out of solid rock

to capture ground water that's
stored deep below the desert.

I feel as if I'm in
an underground rain shower.

I've travelled about, I don't know,
a couple of hundred metres now

and it seems to be
getting smaller and smaller.

It's a bit narrow here.

Well, this is it.

This is the source of all this water.

It's just pouring in from here.

Underground water exists
beneath most deserts.

But it's usually so far down,

there's no practical way
of getting at it.

The difference is,
here there's a fault line.

The fault is full of thick clay

produced by the grinding
of the surrounding rocks

as they rub along the fault line.

This forms a clay dam
which water can't penetrate.

Water flowing down
from the mountains

pools against the dam,

creating an underground reservoir

through which a qanat
is dug to channel the water.

Gravity does the rest.

So originally the water would've been
banked up against this fault line,

unable to penetrate through
the clay-rich barrier.

But what the locals did was to cut
a qanat across the fault line,

breaching the barrier
and releasing the water.

It was a simple but brilliant
piece of engineering.

OK.

Qanats were an ingenious early
example of a mains water supply.

The shaft is simply a way

to get access to the tunnel carrying
the water, so it can be repaired.

Today, the qanats still carry water
from underneath the Lut Desert

into the nearby city of Bam,

as well as irrigating the date orchards
for which this area is famous.

Oh! Oh, it's so good to see blue sky.

Oh!

Yeah, thank you.

But this place isn't a one-off.

In fact, if you look back
at the ancient world,

you see a strong link
between fault lines,

water and the growth
of some of the first cities.

More than 2,000 years ago,
Petra in Jordan

was the most important trade hub
in the Middle East.

It was built along a branch
of the Dead Sea fault

and was entirely dependent
on natural springs

which rose along the fault
and fed its irrigation system.

Nearby is Jericho, said to be
the oldest city in the world.

It was first settled 10,000 years ago

because deep ground water
rose along fault lines

to create fertile pastures
in the desert.

More unusual is the ancient
Roman city of Hierapolis.

It was built next to these
terraces of white rock.

Here, it wasn't just water
that was important -

minerals carried in the water were
thought to have revitalising powers.

So Hierapolis became
an important healing centre

in the Roman Empire.

Whether it was minerals,
metals or water,

ancient civilisations were
repeatedly drawn to the resources

that fault lines brought up
from the deep Earth.

It's a connection which lead 11 of
the 13 most important civilisations

of the ancient world

unknowingly to build their cities
close to a plate boundary.

As the earliest civilisations developed,

so the relationship between
fault lines and human history

became more sophisticated.

They even played a role

in the establishment of the most
advanced early civilisation of all.

4,000 years ago, in the Bronze Age,

the island of Crete
was home to the Minoans.

Their showpiece
was the palace of Knossos.

You can see by the sheer scale
and sophistication of Knossos

that the Minoans weren't
just another early civilisation.

This, in a way, was the beginning
of modern society.

Certainly, this was a place

that you and I would have felt
reasonably at home.

There was running water,
a sewage system

and large stores of food and wine.

It all allowed the Minoans
to create a new kind of society.

For me, all this is a moment
in history

that is much under appreciated.

What the Minoans represent
is a great pivotal point

when life switched from being dictated
by the grim realities of survival

into something
that we could actually enjoy.

What the Minoans invented
was the day off.

And the Minoans took their
pioneering responsibilities

in this area very seriously.

Now, this may look like a car park,

but, really, this is where
the paraphernalia

of the Minoan leisure society
really took off

because this is one of world's
first sports stadiums.

In its day, 500 spectators
would cram in here

to watch boxing, wrestling,

and the Minoans' most peculiar sport,
bull-leaping.

The basic idea was that you wait
for a massive bull to run at you,

then at the crucial moment,

you grab hold of the horns
and flip yourself over the top.

How do you practise that?

No-one knows why the Minoans
leapt over bulls,

but this bizarre sport
was a forerunner to bull-fighting.

But the real legacy of the Minoans
was how they made their wealth.

This was the Bronze Age.

To make bronze, you need two metals -
copper and tin.

The problem was finding them.

For the Minoans, copper was
relatively near at hand in Cyprus,

thanks to the fault line beneath it.

Tin was trickier.

Inside the Earth's crust,
only two parts per million are tin,

so it's much rarer.

The hunts for tin led to distant lands

that were at the edge
of the then-known world.

One such place was so full of tin

that it was called
the Cassiterides - "the tin islands".

Today...

...we know it as Britain.

But the centres
of Bronze-Age civilisation

were in the Mediterranean, 3,000km away.

Tin was also found
in other far-flung locations

like Spain, Central Europe
and even Iran...

...which meant tin had to be traded,

and for this,
Crete was perfectly positioned.

The Minoans exploited their position

at the crossroads of
many different trading routes...

...to become the world's first
maritime superpower.

It may not seem like it today,

but in Bronze Age times, this island
was at the centre of the known world,

with the mineral-rich heartlands

of Europe, the Middle East
and North Africa all around.

For the Minoans, it wasn't so much
about owning the raw materials

as knowing what to do with them,
how to put them together.

They built an empire because they'd
worked out how to exploit the geology

that their neighbours had
on their doorsteps.

By the time of the Minoans,

fault lines had been a crucial factor

in the success of
many early civilisations.

But the Earth extracted a price
for these riches.

It was a price paid in full
by the Minoans.

At the heart of the story
was a small archipelago

100km north of Crete.

Today that island chain
is known as Santorini,

famous for its pretty white houses
and rugged coastline.

But at the time of the Minoans
this was a busy port,

the key to their trading empire.

If Crete was the heart
of the Minoan culture,

then this place was its backbone,

a centre of industry that helped fuel
what was at the time

the most advanced civilisation
on the planet.

But Santorini held a deadly secret.

Unknown to the Minoans,

it sat above one of the Earth's
major plate boundaries.

Santorini formed when the African plate

started sliding below
the European plate.

As the African plate melted
inside the deep Earth,

molten rock rose back to the surface

to create what is actually a volcano.

Around 3,500 years ago,

this volcano did
what volcanoes tend to do -

it blew up.

Unluckily for the Minoans,

it was the biggest eruption
of the last 10,000 years.

Today you can still trace
why the eruption was so devastating

in the cliffs around Santorini.

This cliff is made entirely of ash
and rock spat out by the volcano.

It's got distinct layers to it,

each of which are from
different stages of the eruption.

In other words, this rock face
is a timeline of events.

Climbing this cliff
helps understand the disaster

that was unlike anything
anyone had ever seen before.

This level here was
the start of the eruption.

I'm kind of standing on
the Minoan land surface.

And in the next five hours,

the eruptions threw out
an enormous mushroom cloud of debris.

It just rained down ash
after ash after ash.

This stuff is just like a silica glass.

It gets into your lungs
and it just lacerates your lungs.

You just choke on it.

This innocent-looking gravel

was from the second
and most lethal stage of the eruption.

Sea water invaded the volcano,
and that mix of water with molten lava

produced a series of
incredibly violent eruptions

that punched a jet of
superheated gas and debris

high into the atmosphere.

As these clouds of hot gas and lava
fell back to Earth,

they engulfed the outer edges
of the island.

Ay!

But, incredibly,
the worst was still to come.

Once the volcano had spewed out
everything that was in its guts,

the weight of it collapsed
into the void below,

producing the most enormous blast.

And in the death throes
of that final blast,

there was one last
catastrophic flourish.

The centre of the volcano
crashed into the sea.

That sudden collapse
created a gigantic tsunami...

...which quickly spread out
across the Aegean towards Crete.

For a civilisation
whose strength was in their navy,

the tsunami would have been devastating.

It's thought that as the tsunami
swept through the Aegean,

it engulfed the Minoan harbours,

and any boats in them would have been
smashed into matchsticks.

So perhaps it's not that surprising
that not a single boat

from the vast Minoan fleet

has ever been found.

This was a catastrophe from which
the Minoans would never recover.

A long chalk-and-ash cloud
and a giant tsunami

meant that this maritime power
was on its knees.

With the fleet gone,
their population decimated

and their most strategic trading post
obliterated,

the Minoans went downhill fast.

Within a century or so of the eruption,

this once-great civilisation
was finished.

The eruption of Santorini

was an extreme event.

But ancient history is littered with

tales of cities destroyed
along plate boundaries.

And it's not just volcanoes
that do the damage.

Fault lines are also home to
another deadly force of nature.

Earthquakes.

Over the past 10,000 years,

many cities first established
to take advantage of fault lines

have been flattened.

Hierapolis, with its famous health spa,

was destroyed by a giant earthquake
in AD 60.

Jericho, the oldest city in the world,

has been hit over 15 times
by large earthquakes.

Some believe it was this

that famously brought its walls
"tumbling down".

Likewise, Petra was abandoned

after an earthquake demolished
its irrigation system in AD 360.

And it continues to this day.

In 2003, the city of Bam,
famous for its qanats,

was devastated by
a massive earthquake

which killed over 30,000 people.

It makes you realise that, in effect,
much of human history

has centred on a bargain
between us and the inner Earth.

Plate boundaries provide access

to resources from
deep inside the planet.

But live near one,
and every now and then you take a hit.

But even the most advanced
of our ancestors

had no way of explaining
this strange coincidence.

In fact, it's only in the last 50 years
that scientists have finally understood

the bargain that was inadvertently
struck all those years ago.

You can see the theory in action
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

This is Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island.

It's one of the most
active volcanoes on the planet

because it's fed by a chamber
of magma deep inside the Earth

called a hot spot.

The hot spot has effectively
punched a hole in the Pacific plate -

the piece of the Earth's crust
on which Hawaii sits.

But remove the ocean around Hawaii
and something strange is revealed -

a chain of mountains
stretching along the sea bed

for over 5,000km.

This line of extinct volcanoes
is explained

when you realise that the Pacific plate
is continually on the move.

As the plate drifts over
this stationary hot spot,

a volcano forms,

but after about a million years,

the moving plate pulls the volcano
away from the hot spot.

Meanwhile, another eruption begins,
forming a new island.

Today, Kilauea is still growing,
but it hasn't got long to go.

In a few thousand years,
it will drift away from the hot spot

and eventually disappear
beneath the waves.

The Hawaiian islands chain
is a beautiful demonstration

of a big idea

that explains why plate boundaries

bring us extraordinary benefits and
terrible hazards in equal measure.

It's called plate tectonics.

The key is that all the plates
which divide the Earth's surface

are continually on the move.

Where they collide,
they crumple the land

to form great mountain ranges,
like the Himalayas.

Where they pull apart,

oceans form in the gap.

The friction of this continual movement

means that plate boundaries
become melting zones

where minerals are concentrated

and are able to rise
towards the surface.

But the flip side
is that huge amounts of energy

are concentrated
along the plate boundaries.

When one plate slides
underneath another, volcanoes form.

When two plates lock together
and then suddenly break free,

the jolt causes devastating earthquakes.

So we now know that plate boundaries
are so rich in resources

for exactly the reasons
they're so dangerous.

Yet the strange thing
is this groundbreaking discovery

has made little difference
to where we live.

If you look at the plate boundaries,

it's clear that many cities
are located close by.

In fact, 10 of the 20
largest cities in the world

are next to dangerous fault lines.

So why are we still building
next to these danger zones?

In the rugged hills
of central California

is part of the answer.

And to see it,
I'm heading into the skies.

At least, I hope I am.

This is the dinkiest helicopter
I've ever been in.

It'll be nice when it's finished.

I'm going to see

perhaps the most famous
geological feature on the planet.

And this is the best way to find it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is it.
This looks fantastic.

It's this beautiful funnel
cut right through these hills here.

That's amazing.

This line of hills
with a trench cut through the middle

is the San Andreas Fault.

This fault is a boundary between
the North American Plate to the east

and the Pacific Plate to the west.

For 25 million years,
they've been grinding past each other

to create the largest
earthquake fault in North America.

The San Andreas Fault starts up there
in northern California,

then slices down through
700 miles through here

down to the border with Mexico.

As it goes, it cuts through
cities and towns

and passes across a path
of roads, bridges,

aqueducts and fibreoptic cables.

If ever there was a fault line

that cut through the very fabric
of a modern society, then it's this one.

But a good reason why
over 20 million people

carry on living
so close to this danger zone

is that this plate boundary
has made California rich.

It began with the Californian gold rush.

These nuggets of gold might have been
found in streams,

but the gold originally rose
in hot mineral-rich fluids

forced up between the plates.

In fact, almost everything
that makes California wealthy

is at least partly related
to the San Andreas Fault.

Take, for example, the scenery.

It was the colliding plates

that forced up mountains
along the Californian coast.

And this dramatic landscape attracts
thousands of tourists every year,

who spend an estimated $2 billion
on sightseeing alone.

Then there's the wine.

That's partly down
to the San Andreas too.

California is mostly desert

but when moist air rolls in off
the ocean and hits the mountains,

it rises to form rain that irrigates
this otherwise arid landscape.

It's a microclimate that has made this

one of the most productive
farming regions in America.

But the ultimate gift
of the San Andreas is this.

Oil.

Black gold.

This is an oil seep,

which is when oil leaks to the surface,
just like a natural spring.

Except this is black and gooey.

Look at that.

150 years ago, when the first people
were looking for oil,

even the most witless prospector

realised that places like this
were a good place to drill.

And drill they did.

Over the years, around 200,000 wells
have been sunk here.

Most people probably think of Texas
as America's oil state

but California was and still is one
of the world's biggest oil producers,

drawing more than 700,000 barrels
of crude oil

out of the ground every day.

The oil formed millions of years ago,
deep inside the Earth.

But it was the San Andreas Fault
which split the rock

and brought it close enough
to the surface to be exploited.

So it seems that the San Andreas Fault

has brought California
some serious economic benefits.

Its shaping of the land
has created the conditions for oil,

for agriculture, for wine
and even for tourism.

But how much is that really worth?

The money men have done the sums.

They reckon this state earns
around $100 billion every year

because of the San Andreas Fault.

California's geology
is a licence to print money.

Earthquake geologists like me

know that California
gets struck by a big seismic shake

every 100 to 150 years.

And those major quakes
are hugely destructive.

That doesn't seem to dampen the spirits

of the number-crunchers
that are in these skyscrapers.

It's worked out
that in a city like LA,

a major earthquake will cause
up to $250 billion worth of damage.

Now, that is a huge sum.

But averaged out over a century,
you're still in profit.

You've got $100 billion a year
coming in,

versus a one-off hit of $250 billion.

That's a gain of 40 to 1.

Any economist will tell you
that's a pretty decent return.

10,000 years

after our ancestors first settled
along plate boundaries,

the benefits of living along
a fault line are as potent as ever.

The point is that
in pure economic terms,

we're still financially better off
living along a fault line than not,

even when it's one of
the most active in the world.

But the problem
that I have with that equation

is that life's not just about money.

Istanbul, the only city in the world
to straddle Asia and Europe.

This location at the crossroads
of two continents

has made it a trading hub for centuries.

That's why I find it so exciting.

It's a vibrant, bustling,
cosmopolitan place.

But Istanbul's location
also brings with it great danger.

Nearby lies the North Anatolian Fault,

one of the most seismically active
plate boundaries on the planet.

Scientists reckon a major earthquake
is due here any time.

There's little doubt
that in the very near future,

Istanbul will be struck
by a big earthquake.

It's a strange feeling

that this city that I love
could be destroyed in my lifetime.

But it doesn't have to be.

Here, they're starting
to rewrite the terms

of our ancient bargain with fault lines.

The aim is to enjoy the benefits
of living along this plate boundary

without having to pay a price
in human life.

Below the waters of the Bosphorus,

the channel that separates
Europe from Asia,

is a clue to the solution.

You know, this is such an eerie feeling.

I'm 35m below the level
of the Bosphorus

and I'm walking parallel

to one of the most active
earthquake zones in the world.

So not the kind of place you expect
to find a major engineering project,

and yet that's exactly where

the Turkish authorities decided
to build an underground train line.

This tunnel, which will
one day link Asia to Europe,

is the deepest tunnel
of its kind on Earth

and yet it runs alongside

one of the most dangerous
earthquake faults in the world.

These engineers are supremely confident
they've got the risks covered.

Through some technical wizardry,

the whole tunnel's designed
to absorb the vibrations

of even the largest of earthquakes.

What these guys
are doing, effectively,

is confronting
the earthquake threat head-on.

This technology won't
allow us to stop earthquakes,

but it shows

that if we really want to protect
against their consequences, we can.

Unfortunately, in Istanbul,
this tunnel is only half the story.

You know, high-tech underground
train tunnels are all very well,

but the reality is that most people
who'll die in the next earthquake

will die because the buildings
that they live and work in collapse.

And in that sense,
Istanbul is completely unprepared.

It's reckoned that when
the next earthquake comes,

it might bring down
a quarter of the city.

And the thing is,
it doesn't have to be like that,

because we have the technical
know-how to keep buildings standing.

The irony is Istanbul
already has a building

that has survived earthquakes
for centuries.

This magnificent building
is the Hagia Sophia.

It's got to be my favourite place
in the city.

For the tourists that come here,

this is a fitting symbol
of Istanbul's reputation

as a crossroads
of different civilisations.

In its 1, 500-year history,
it's been a church and a mosque

and now a museum.

The Hagia Sophia has stood through
more than a dozen earthquakes,

without the benefit
of modern technology.

It was built on such
a massive, monumental scale

that even the biggest earthquakes
never managed to knock it down.

You know, it's no accident
that when the earthquake does strike,

the two things that'll probably survive

are one of the oldest buildings
in the city and one of the newest.

And that's because
they're both structures

that we've decided
are worthy of looking after.

Today, we have the technology
to protect every building -

whether it's flats,
factories or offices...

...if we choose to.

For 10,000 years,

we've lived with the benefits
and the dangers of fault lines.

You know, it's clear that people

are going to continue
to live along fault lines -

probably for the next 10,000 years.

But now we have two clear options -

stick with the old regime
and take our chances

or embrace the new
and take some kind of control.

For the very first time
in human history, that choice is ours.

Next time, wind.

For thousands of years,

the wind has shaped the destiny
of people across the planet.

It's made fortunes and brought ruin.

Even today, we're still at its mercy.