1.2 - Tectonic hazards & disaster Flashcards
What is a natural hazard?
A perceived nautral/geophysical event that has the potential to threaten both life and property
What is a natural disaster?
The realisation of a hazard, when it causes significant impact on a vulnerable population
What is a natural disaster?
The realisation of a hazard, when it causes significant impact on a vulnerable population
What is Degg’s model?
Venn diagram stating that a disaster is the intersection of a hazardous geophysical event, and a vulnerable population
Why is vulnerability important?
Vulnerability is directly linked to resilience, and a region’s capacity to cope with tectonic hazards
-More vulnerable populations are susceptible to worse impacts from tectonic hazards.
What is risk?
The probability of a hazard occurring that leads to the loss of lives and/or livelihood
What is resilience?
The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb and recover from the effects of a hazard
What is the resilience of a community determined by?
The degree to which the community has the necessary resources and is capable of organising itself both prior to and in times of need
What is the hazard-risk equation?
risk = hazard x exposure x (vulnerability/manageability)
What is the basis for the Pressure and Release model?
A disaster is the intersection of processes:
generating vulnerability on one side
and the natural hazard event on the other
What 3 factors are involved in the progression of vulnerability from the PAR model?
root causes- limited access to; power, resources
dynamic pressures- lack of training, appropriate skills, deforestation
unsafe conditions- vulnerable society, fragile environment,
What are some examples of root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions?
Root causes - limited access to resources, structures
Dynamic pressures - lack of training, local investment, rapid urbanisation, deforestation
Unsafe conditions - fragile physical environment, vulnerable society
What are the social impacts of tectonic hazards?
death/injury
destruction of homes
displacement, people made homeless
What are the economic impacts of tectonic hazards?
buildings/infrastructure damage
economic losses
growth of economy prevented
Why are the impacts of tectonic hazards often greater in less developed countries?
Less developed countries = poorly built infrastructure, poor healthcare, lack of resources to properly protect property, overpopulation, poverty
This creates a vulnerable society with a lack of ability to be resilient to tectonic hazards
What are the 4 different scales to measure earthquakes?
Richter
Moment Magnitude scale
Mercalli
Volcanic Explosivity Index
How does the Richter scale measure earthquakes?
Scale = 0-9
Measurement of height (amplitude) of waves produced by an earthquake. It is an absolute scale.
How does the Mercalli Scale measure earthquakes?
Scale = I-XII
Measures the experienced impacts of an earthquake. It is a relative scale
How does the Moment Magnitude Scale measure earthquakes?
Scale = 0-9
Measurement based on ‘seismic moment’ of the earthquake.
What scale is used to measure volcanic eruptions?
Volcanic Explosivity Index
How does the VEI measure volcanic eruptions?
Scale = 0-8
Relative measure of the explosiveness of a volcanic eruption (includes qualititive observations)
What is a tectonic hazard profile?
A technique used to understand physical characteristics of different types of hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis)
-used to analyse same hazards in contrasting locations
What 6 characteristics are compared in a tectonic hazard profile?
▪ Frequency – How often it happens
▪ Magnitude – How extensive an area the event could affect
▪ Duration – How long the event lasts
▪ Speed of onset – How much warning time before event occurs
▪ Fatalities - Number of deaths caused
▪ Economic Loss - Value of assets damaged, lack of industry or economic productivity,
insurance policies.
▪ Spatial Predictability - The predictability of where would be affected.
What are the 3 difficulties with hazard profiling?
degree of reliability when comparing different event types
don’t take into account vulnerability/ resilience of affected communities
don’t take into account duration of hazard
What inequalities can affect vulnerability and resilience?
Inequalities in access to:
education
housing
healthcare
income opportunities
What is inequality?
Unfair situation or distribution of assets and resources
Why do less developed countries find themselves limited by the impacts of tectonic disasters?
Infrastructure is damaged, and livelihoods and savings are destroyed. Death or migration of productive labour force means economy takes a huge hit.
Tectonic disasters worsen development, and make it difficult for recovery to happen in LICs/NEEs
Why do more developed countries sometimes actually benefit from tectonic disasters?
Tectonic disasters create a favourable environment for advocacy for disaster-risk reduction measures. Decision makers are also more willing to allocate resources in the wake of a disaster. Reconstruction and rehabilitation create opportunities for integrating disaster-risk measures.
What is governance?
The process by which a country/region is run
What geographical factors influence vulnerability/resilience?
population density
isolation/accessibility
degree of urbanisation
What is economic governance?
Decision-making processes that affect a country’s economic activities and its relationship with other economies.
Major implications for equity, poverty and people’s quality of life
What is adminstrative governance?
The system of policy implementation.
Disaster risk reduction = building regulations, landuse planning etc
What is political governance?
The process of decision making to create policies, including national disaster reduction and planning
What does the disaster risk and age index highlight
highlights;
-ageing populations
-acceleration of risk in a world increasingly exposed to a range of hazard types
-> highlights how age is important factor in understanding vulnerability & coping capacity
Compare Myanmar & Japan in terms of:
-hazard & expsoure score
-vulnerability
-coping capacity
-overall risk
Myanmar
-hazard & ES - high natural hazard component -> earhquakes, tsunami
-vulnerability - moderate risk, low score
-coping capacity- poor - low internet, phone access for elderly, poor education
-overall risk - 7th/190 disaster risk = ^ for elderly
Japan
-hazard & ES - range of natural hazards, ^ exposed
-vulnerability - high -> ageing pop, low risk
-coping capacity - good, educated elderly, internet
-overall risk - 133/190 - lower vulnerability, strong coping capacity
Name 4 non-economic aspects of development which are significant in determining how impactful tectonic hazards are
-access to education -> educated ppl understand/ aware of hazard risks of living where they do & what to do if there is a hazard
-access to healthcare -> better ppls health -> better they are at withstanding health & food risks resulting from hazard
-housing -> poor housing can’t withstand earthquake -> injury, death
-governance -> poor governance - corrupt, weak -> lack of preparation for hazards -> ^ risk, and poor infrastructure in first place
What is the World Risk Index
it assesses risk of disaster
-calculated on a country-by-country basis
Give an example of a hazard with high risk according to a tectonic hazard profile
-high magnitude but low frequency -> unexpected so country wont be prepared
-rapid onset events with low spatial predictability -> could occur in numerous places without warning
-widespread areal extent -> affects large numbers of ppl in wide range of locations
Why may developing countries be more impacted by hazards because of their government
-govs in developing countries may not prioritise investing money in hazard mitigation
-want to focus their resources on development, economic growth
-> lack of hazard management -> ^ vulnerability
What is the Risk Poverty Nexus
-shows link between poverty and impacts of a hazard
-
Name the 4 types of inequalities low income ppl suffer from which affects their resilience to a hazard
▪ Asset inequality – Relates to housing and security of tenure and also agricultural
productivity.
▪ Political inequality – Where certain groups of people, usually the wealthy and elite, hold
quite a lot of power and political influence.
▪ Social status inequality – Often directly linked to space and has a bearing on other
dimensions of inequality, including the ability of individuals and groups to secure regular
income and access services.
▪ Entitlement inequality – Refers to unequal access to public services and welfare
systems as well as inequalities in the application of rule of law.
Name 4 factors that can contribute to a populations vulnerability
▪ Unstable political governance and/or corruption - a lack of political cohesion
impacts preparation for hazard -> can impact response and recovery efforts after the event.
▪ Population density - ^ population density ^ people affected by a
hazard.
▪ Geography isolation and accessibility - remote, rural areas often have poor transport links which can negatively effect rescue efforts.
▪ Level of urbanisation - urban areas more affected by hazards:
- densely populated
- have larger amounts of
infrastructure -> more economic damage.
Name 4 ways governments have a role in the extent to which a country is impacted by tectonic hazards
▪ Meeting basic needs - When food supply, water supply and health needs are met, the
population is generally less vulnerable to secondary hazards such as diseases.
▪ Planning - Land-use planning can reduce risk by preventing people living in areas of high risk. Secondary hazards may be made worse by deforestation.
▪ Preparedness - Education and community preparation programmes raise awareness and teach people how to prepare, evacuate and act when a disaster strikes.
▪ Corruption - If government politicians accept bribes and do unethical things, then vulnerability would increase as money would be invested in crucial areas like emergency
services.
If the earthquake in Bam, southern Iran in January 2003 only had a magnitude of 6.6 why were 26,000 ppl killed
-timing of event -> 5.26am - most ppl asleep
-poor infrastructure -> ancient buildings, poor quality seismic building code not effectively enforced -> easily damaged
-> 3 main hospitals were destroyed in the earthquake
What are aseismic buildings
buildings designed to withstand/ minimise destruction during earthquake
What is a hazard mitigation cycle
the sequence of governance of a natural hazard: monitoring & prediction, mitigation, prepardness
What is Park’s Model
model describing the decline and recovery pf a country over time, following a natural disaster
What is a volcanic island arc
series of volcanoes that are formed consecutively as a tectonic plate moves across a magma plume
