1b - Japan, Pakistan and NZ tectonic hazards

Question 1

When did the earthquake in Japan happen?

Answer 1

• March 11th 2011

Question 2

Where did the earthquake in Japan happen?

Answer 2

• North East Japan (a developed country)

Question 3

What Mw was the Japan earthquake?

Answer 3

• 9Mw (strongest ever in Japan)

- triggered tsunamis

Question 4

How was the Japan earthquake predicted?

Answer 4

• JMA and local gov monitored seismic activity

Question 5

How did Japan prepare for the earthquake?

Answer 5

• strict building laws to prevent major damage
• buildings reinforced with steel frames to prevent collapse
• high rise buildings with deep foundations with shock absorbers
• early warning system to alert of tsunami
• high-speed bullet trains brake automatically
• education of disasters (disaster prevention day)
• machines stop working automatically

Question 6

What were the primary impacts on North East Japan?

Answer 6

• 667-1479 deaths
• thousands of buildings damaged
• shifted earth’s axis by 10cm
• 800 aftershocks of 4.5Mw
• severe liquefaction (many buildings tilted and sank to the ground)
• heavy damage to transport infrastructure

Question 7

What were the secondary impacts on North East Japan?

Answer 7

• tsunami which caused 17,000 deaths which were caused by earthquake having a shallow focus on 130km offshore
• over 23,000 = homeless
• over 127,000 buildings collapsed and over 1.2m damaged
• road and rail networks damaged
• tsunami cut off power supplied to Fukushima nuclear power plant = meltdown of nuclear generators = fires
• $300bn economic damage

Question 8

What was the short term relief of North East Japan’s earthquake?

Answer 8

• Search teams from India, China, UK, USA, NZ, SK
• Japanese soldiers mobilised
• transport and comms restored a couple of weeks later
• NGOs provided food
• 10,000s of temp houses built in 2 weeks (fast!)
• power supplies restored in weeks
• BUT rescue attempts were hampered by disrupted roads and bad weather

Question 9

What was the long term planning for North East Japan’s earthquake?

Answer 9

• advance warning systems and 1,000 seismometers located in Japan
• not a single building collapsed in Tokyo due to design
• huge seawall at the coast (but tsunami was too big)
• smartphones have warning systems
• nobody on bullet trains died due to automatic braking systems

Question 10

When did the earthquake in Pakistan happen?

Answer 10

October 8th 2005

Question 11

Where did the earthquake in Pakistan happen?

Answer 11

Kashmir (a developing country)

Question 12

What Mw was the Pakistan earthquake?

Answer 12

• 7.6 Mw
• caused landslides, rockfalls and destructions
• unpredicted

Question 13

How was the Pakistan earthquake predicted?

Answer 13

• not much so the earthquakes could strike without warning

Question 14

How did Pakistan prepare for the earthquake?

Answer 14

• no access to building materials/ technologies
• many buildings used wood and cement = easily destroyed
• poor communication
• no education on what to do in poor settlements
• very few roads so hard to plan evacuations

Question 15

What were the primary impacts on Kashmir?

Answer 15

• 100,000 deaths and 138,000 injured (mostly due to school buildings)
• 3.5m displaced = homeless
• 90% of livestock killed
• water pipelines and electricity lines were broken, cutting off the supply

Question 16

What were the secondary impacts on Kashmir?

Answer 16

• occurred in a remote, steep mountainous region of Pakistan
• landslides buried buildings and people = blocked access roads and cut off the telephone
• torrential rain = slope stress and instability
• broken sewage pipes = contaminated water supplies = diseases
• harsh winter = blocked road access and people died of hypothermia

Question 17

What was the short term relief of Kashmir’s earthquake?

Answer 17

• Pakistani army was initially slow to respond to the disaster
• help from India refused due to political tensions
• US Marine and Army helicopters from Afghanistan deployed - $5.4bn of aid
• help didn’t reach many areas for days or weeks so many people rescued just by hand
• tents blankets and medical supplies distributed (took a month to reach all areas)
• UN gave 2.4 blankets, 1.2 quilts and 170,000 plastic sheets and 200,000 tarpaulins

Question 18

What was the long term planning for Kashmir’s earthquake?

Answer 18

• gov encouraged work force to emigrate = economic focus was not on aseismic construction
• high agricultural dependency = affected areas suffer more
• fault lines in the Himalayas were poorly monitored = unpredicted
• no building laws=vulnerable but Dhaji Dewari worked
• modern concrete construction not of sufficient quality but traditional

Question 19

What were the problems with Dhaji Dewari buildings?

Answer 19

• loss of skilled labourers and caused deforestation

- thus it was limited

Question 20

Why were Dhaji Dewari buildings successful?

Answer 20

• familiar materials
• familiar techniques
• familiar influences

Question 21

Why were Dhaji Dewari buildings successful due to familiar materials?

Answer 21

• stone in mud mortar

- timber framework (forested country)

Question 22

Why were Dhaji Dewari buildings successful due to familiar techniques?

Answer 22

• easily accepted

- successful in local history

Question 23

Why were Dhaji Dewari buildings successful due to familiar influences?

Answer 23

• Islamic teachings on responsibility, seeking and use of advice puts moral pressure on builders to avoid shortcuts
• female home owners supervise constitution
• print radio/media/ exhibitions and safety walks and school debates being awareness

Question 24

When did the earthquake in New Zealand happen?

Answer 24

• Feb 22nd 2011

Question 25

Where did the earthquake in New Zealand happen?

Answer 25

• Christchurch (developed country)

Question 26

What Mw was the New Zealand earthquake?

Answer 26

• 6.3 Mw

- 185 people killed along a previously unknown fault line

Question 27

What were the primary impacts on Christchurch?

Answer 27

• 7.1 Mw earthquake in 2010 and 6.3 in 2011
• 185 killed (mainly from CTV building collapse)
• $40bn economic losses (3rd most expensive)
• over 3,000 people injured
• 100,000 buildings damaged (including cathedral)
• over 100,000 buildings need to be demolished
• shallow focus earthquake - 10km deep and the epicentre was 20km from the city

Question 28

What were the secondary impacts on Christchurch?

Answer 28

• significant liquefaction = infrastructure loss - older building and transport systems
• impact of transport infrastructure
• 400,000 tonnes of silt produced
• CTV building caught fire due to ruptured pipelines
• schools had to amalgamate
• loss of tourism and finance problems for locals
• economists suggest that it will take over 50 yrs for the economy to recover
• looting for alcohol/drugs

Question 29

What was the short term relief of Christchurch’s earthquake?

Answer 29

• international rescue teams within 12 hours
• aid money = Australia gave $5m
• gov. declared a state of national emergency = stayed in force until 30th April 2011
• domestic help available = Farmy Army was made of 800 farmers who brought farm machines and muscles to clean up the city
• chemical toilets provided for 30,000 residents
• power restored within 2.5 days
• missing person centre = volunteer and welfare centre for 3,000 people

Question 30

What was the long term planning for Christchurch’s earthquake?

Answer 30

• gov has a significant seismic focus on newer buildings (they have 14k small earthquakes/ yr)
• good geopolitical relations with other gov
• colour coding practise of engineers
• cardboard cathedral = kept due to seismic design
• NGOs helped with long term recovery effects (e.g. save the children)
• Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority

Question 31

What was the colour coding practise of engineers in Christchurch?

Answer 31

• divided into 4 zones to aid future mitigation

- Green, Orange, Red and White depending on the level of damage and usability

Question 32

What was the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority?

Answer 32

• NZ - created to rebuild and organise the region

- had the power to change planning laws and regulation