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Tectonic hazards and processes > 2 Tectonic hazards and disasters > Flashcards

2 Tectonic hazards and disasters Flashcards

1
Q

What is the definition of disaster according to the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction?

A

‘A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.’

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2
Q

What is the alternative interpretation of disaster provided by some large insurers?

A

Economic losses of over $1.5 million

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3
Q

According to Degg’s Model, when may disaster occur?

A

Disaster may only occur when a vulnerable population is exposed to a hazard.

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4
Q

Why is the relationship between risk, hazards and people complex?

A

1 Unpredictability - many hazards are not predictable; people may be caught out by either the timing or magnitude of an event.
2 Lack of alternatives - people may stay in a hazardous area due to a lack of options.
3 Dynamic hazards - the threat from hazards is not a constant one, and it may increase or decrease over time. Human influence may also change the location or increase the frequency or magnitude of hazardous events.
4 Cost-benefit - the benefits of a hazardous location may outweigh the risks.
5 ‘Russian roulette reaction’ - the acceptance of risks as something that will happen whatever you do, that is, one of fatalism.

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5
Q

Why does the balance between absorption and adjustment, vary?

A

The balance between absorption and adjustment will vary according to the type of hazard, as well as the attitudes of decision makers.

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6
Q

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), what is resilience about?

A

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the resilience of a community in respect to potential hazard events is determined by the degree to which the community has the necessary resources and is capable of organising itself both prior to and during times of need.

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7
Q

What two important trends does the Disaster Risk and Age Index highlight?

A

1 Ageing populations

2 The acceleration of risk in a world that is increasingly exposed to a range of hazard types.

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8
Q

Why is age a significant factor in people’s resilience?

A

Children and the elderly are likely to suffer much more from a range of hazards, including those of a tectonic origin. Around 66 per cent of the world’s population aged over 60 live in less-developed regions. By 2050, this is expected to rise to 79 per cent.

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9
Q

Around what percentage of the world’s population live in less-developed regions?

A

66 per cent

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10
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23
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24
Q

How many people were killed in the Japan tsunami of 2011?

A

15,000

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25
Q

How many people were either injured or missing in the Japan tsunami of 2011?

A

9500

26
Q

What percentage of those who died in the Japan tsunami of 2011 were aged over 65 and over?

A

56 per cent

27
Q

What percentage of people in the area affected by the Japan tsunami of 2011 were aged over 65 and over?

A

23 per cent

28
Q

What is a disaster the intersection of?

A

1 Processes generating vulnerability on one side, and

2 the natural hazard event on the other.

29
Q

What are some of the physical and social unsafe conditions produced as a result of dynamic pressures?

A

Physically unsafe conditions include dangerous locations and buildings with low resilience to the hazard (that is, unprotected). Socially unsafe conditions include risks to local economies as well as inadequacies in disaster-preparation measures.

30
Q

Explain why the impacts of earthquakes (and linked secondary effects) are generally much greater than those presented by volcanoes.

A

The concentration of volcanoes in relatively narrow belts means not only that a relatively small proportion of the land area of the world is close to a volcano but also that a relatively small proportion of the human population has direct exposure to volcanic activity.

31
Q

What are the economic impacts of tectonic hazards roughly proportional to?

A

The land area exposed

32
Q

What are the economic impacts of tectonic hazards?

A

1 Level of development (region or country)
2 Insured impacts versus non-insured losses
3 Total numbers of people affected and the speed of economic recovery following the event (a measure of resilience)
4 The degree of urbanisation and, linked to this, land values and the country or region’s degree of interdependence
5 Absolute versus relative impacts on a country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

33
Q

What is the Richter Scale used to compare?

A

A measurement of the height (amplitude) of the waves produced by an earthquake. The Ritcher Scale is an absolute scale; wherever an earthquake is recorded, it will measure the same on the Ritcher Scale.

34
Q

Why is the Ritcher Scale an absolute scale?

A

Wherever an earthquake is recorded, it will measure the same on the Ritcher Scale

35
Q

What does the Mercalli Scale (modified) measure?

A

Measures the experienced impacts of an earthquake. It is a relative scale because people experience different amounts of shaking in different places. It is based on a series of key responses, such as people awakening, the movement of furniture and damage to structures.

36
Q

Why is the Mercalli Scale (modified) a relative scale?

A

People experience different amounts of shaking in different places

37
Q

What does the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) measure?

A

A modern measure used by seismologists to describe earthquakes in terms of energy released. The magnitude is based on the ‘seismic moment’ of the earthquake, which is calculated from: the amount of slip on the fault, the area affected and an Earth-rigidity factor. The USGS uses MMS to estimate magnitudes for all large earthquakes.

38
Q

What does the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) measure?

A

A relative measure of the explosiveness of a volcanic eruption, which is calculated from the volume of products (ejecta), the height of the eruption cloud and qualitative observations. Like the Richter Scale and MMS, the VEI is logarithmic: an increase of one index indicates an eruption that is ten times as powerful.

39
Q

Why are hazard managers also considering the magnitude-frequency relationship as a tool to help understand risk?

A

These probability-based estimates help engineers to plan and design key infrastructure in hazard-prone areas.

40
Q

What is a hazard profile?

A

A hazard profile compares the physical processes that all hazards share and helps decision makers to identify and rank the hazards that should be given the most attention and resources.

41
Q

What is one of the difficulties with hazard profiling?

A

The degree of reliability when comparing different event types

42
Q

Why is vulnerability greater for people in developing and recently emerging countries?

A

In developing and recently emerging countries people tend to have less power over their socio-political and physical environments than the more wealthy.

43
Q

How can development be related to vulnerability and disaster risk?

A

1 An economic component dealing with the creation of wealth and the improvement of the quality of life which is equitably distributed.
2 A social dimension in terms of health, education, housing and employment opportunities.
3 An environmental strand which has a duty of care for resource usage and distribution, now and in the future.
4 A political component including values such as human rights, political freedom and democracy.

44
Q

How many people died from cholera in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010?

A

9000

45
Q

How many people were affected in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010?

A

700,000

46
Q

What do other scientists believe that the outbreak of Haiti earthquake in 2010 may have been triggered by?

A

Above-average temperatures and precipitation in 2010, coupled with destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure

47
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50
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51
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52
Q

What are the different dimensions of inequality?

A

1 Asset inequality
2 Inequality of entitlements
3 Political inequality
4 Social status inequality

53
Q

According to the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (2013), how can urban segregation generate new patterns of disaster risk?

A

Low-income households are often forced to occupy hazard-exposed areas where there are low land values. Such places have poor infrastructure and social protection; they are also likely to have high levels of environmental degradation.

54
Q

What other factors are a weak political organisation and political corruption linked to at both a local and national scale?

A
  • Population density
  • Geographic isolation and accessbility
  • Degree of urbanisation
55
Q

What is governance?

A

Governance encompasses a number of formal and informal arrangements and procedures, which can change over time.

56
Q

What does modern thinking about governance suggest?

A

That there is no longer a single higher or sovereign authority

57
Q

What are the three types of governance?

A

Economic governance
Political governance
Administrative governance

58
Q

What is economic governance?

A

Economic governance includes the decision-making processes that affect a country’s economic activities and its relationships with other economies. This has major implications for equity, poverty and people’s quality of life.

59
Q

What is political governance?

A

Political governance is the process of decision making to create policies, including national disaster reduction and planning. The nature of this process and the way it brings together the state, non-state and private-sector players/stakeholders determine the quality of the policy outcomes.

60
Q

What is administrative governance?

A

Administrative governance is the system of policy implementation and requires good governance at central and local levels. In the case of disaster risk reduction, it requires functioning enforcement of building codes, land use planning, environmental risk and human vulnerability monitoring and safety standards.

Tectonic hazards and processes (4 decks)

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