3.4 Effectiveness of diaster management strategies after an earthquake or a volcanic eruption

Question 1

Disaster management

Answer 1

Refers to how communities can adopt strategies to:
- Respond to disasters (immediately after disaster), which includes:
1. Search and rescue.
2. Timely evacuation.
3. Provision of basic social and psychosocial services.
- Recover from disasters (continue for a long time after disaster). These include:
1. Restoration and improvement of facilities and living conditions of affected communities.
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- Various stakeholders need to work together for these strategies to be successful.
- Local governments are required to assess the damage and to take immediate action such as search and rescue.
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private organisations may aid in the provision of necessities and establish relief funds.

Question 2

Strategies to respond to disasters

Answer 2

• Disaster response aims to save lives, minimise health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the immediate basic needs of those affected by the disaster.
• These measures are undertaken immediately after a disaster.
• They include:
  1. Search and rescue efforts.
  2. Timely evacuation.
  3. Provision of basic social and psychological services.

Question 3

Search and rescue efforts

Answer 3

• Important and immediate life-saving response to a disaster.
• Involve finding and saving survivors trapped in buildings or disaster zones.
• Aim to rescue the largest number of people in the shortest time with minimal risk to rescuers.
• Having skilled rescuers and specialised equipment such as heat sensors and listening devices can reduce time taken to locate and evacuate survivors.
• Without search and rescue, the survivors would othenvise die from injuries, crush syndrome, dehydration, burns or other conditions.
  Example:
• In the 2020 Aegean Sea, Turkey earthquake (Mw 70), more than 8,000 search, rescue and first aid teams were deployed and over 106 people were rescued.

Question 4

Timely evacuation

Answer 4

Involves moving people away from areas at risk of hazards as quickly as possible to safer locations to reduce loss of lives due to:
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1. Earthquakes.
- Buildings and infrastructure may collapse.
- People need to be evacuated quickly from buildings to open spaces, to avoid getting trapped under collapsed buildings.
- Powerful aftershocks can occur soon after an earthquake.
- Buildings and structures already weakened from initial shaking may collapse due to aftershocks, trapping people who are still in them.
- Basic services may be disrupted.
- People need to be evacuated to temporary shelters where food, water, medical supplies are provided.
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2. Tsunami waves.
- People need to be evacuated to higher ground and away from the coast.
Example:
- During the 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake (Mw 9.0), nearly all 3,000 students in Kamaishi city survived.
- The students were evacuated to higher grounds immediately after the earthquake struck, saving them from the tsunami caused by the earthquake.
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3. Volcanic eruptions.
- Lahars, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and tephra can cause loss of lives.
- People need to be evacuated from the danger zone around the volcano.
Example:
- In 2010, after a warning of Mount Merapi’s imminent eruption was issued by scientists, Indonesia’s authorities organised massive evacuation efforts that comprised more than 700 evacuation centres. The quick and massive evacuation efforts were credited for saving more than 10,000 lives.

Question 5

Provision of basic social services to affected communities (Water)

Answer 5

• After disasters, there may be water shortages.
• Ground shaking during earthquakes can rupture water pipes, cutting off or contaminating water supplies.
• Volcanic ash can pollute water sources such as rivers.
• Providing clean water can prevent dehydration or water-borne diseases, which may occur when affected communities drink from contaminated sources of water.
  —————
  Example:
• During the 2010 Haiti earthquake (Mw 7.0), water supply was disrupted in the capital city Port-au-Prince.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross provided water supply for 12,000 people by trucking water into Port-au-Prince daily.

Question 6

Provision of basic social services to affected communities (Food)

Answer 6

• After disasters, there may be food shortages, or people may not have access to food due to shop closures, and damages to crops.
• Available food may not be safe for consumption.
• Frozen food may turn bad due to damaged storage equipment.
• Providing food can prevent hunger and starvation.
  —————
  Example:
• After the 2017 Mount Agung eruption in Indonesia, stakeholders such as the government and international NGOs provided food for more than 75,000 evacuees.

Question 7

Provision of basic social services to affected communities (Healthcare)

Answer 7

• Healthcare services may be disrupted due to damage to hospitals.
• Many require healthcare support after disasters.
• Providing access to medicine, doctors, and hospitals can prevent the spread of diseases and save the lives of the injured.
  —————
  Example:
• After the 2018 Fuego eruption in Guatemala, World Vision, an international charity, provided 30,000 boxes of medical supplies and 1,000 hygiene kits to affected communities.

Question 8

Provision of psychosocial services to affected communities

Answer 8

• Experiencing a disaster can result in great emotional distress due to severe injuries, the loss of family members and friends, homelessness, or the loss of livelihoods.
• Many survivors will need counselling from mental health experts to come to terms with the disaster and rebuild their lives for the future.
• Providing psychological services helps survivors cope with psychological trauma, which can last for a long time after the disaster
  —————
  Example:
• After the 2018 Palu, Indonesia earthquake (Mw 7.5), volunteer groups focusing on mental heath worked with children to help them deal with the trauma of losing their families and homes.

Question 9

Strategies to recover from disasters

Answer 9

• Include restoring and improving facilities and living conditions of affected communities.
• These may be achieved by:
  1. Constructing hazard-resistant buildings and infrastructure.
  2. Retrofitting surviving buildings and infrastructure with hazard-resistant features.
  3. Allowing residents to eventually return to their original homes. This keeps communities intact even after a disaster.
  4. Providing housing assistance, which are hazard resistant and are of better quality, to those who lost their homes or were displaced.
• These strategies enable the affected communities to rebuild their lives after the disaster, as well as minimising their vulnerability and exposure to tectonic hazards.
  —————
  Example:
• The 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake (Mw 9.0) displaced about 500,000 people.
• By 2016, a majority was rehoused in settlements with enhanced tsunami-resistant features.
• In a port town, the ground level of sites for new houses was raised by ten metres and two more sea walls were built.

Question 10

Challenges in disaster management

Answer 10

1. Lack of domestic resources, including technological and financial resources.
2. Challenges in engaging relevant stakeholders to collaborate and integrate disaster management strategies into their practices.

Question 11

Lack of domestic resources

Answer 11

• The country may not have the financial and technological resources to effectively respond to and recover from the disasters.
• This may hamper the disaster response efforts, which may result in delays that can result in more lives lost.
  —————
  Example:
• During the 2010 Mw 7.0 earthquake, Haiti’s lack of resources hampered the disaster management efforts.
• There was a critical shortage of ambulances to transport the injured, and heavy machinery to remove the rubble from collapsed buildings.
• As a result, the rescue team spent many hours removing tons of rubble manually with hammers or rods to pull the trapped people under collapsed buildings.

Question 12

Challenges in engaging relevant stakeholders to collaborate and integrate disaster management strategies into their practises

Answer 12

Authorities may face difficulties due to:
1. Disagreements from other stakeholders on disaster management strategies.
2. Stakeholders underestimate or lack awareness of the disaster risks and the need for certain disaster management strategies.
3. The high cost of integrating disaster management strategies into their practices.
4. Local communities might be reluctant to purchase insurance for tectonic disaster risks due to the high costs involved.
- Private insurance companies might not be willing to offer such insurance policies because of the high financial commitment.
- Individuals might be reluctant to retrofit their buildings to ensure they are hazard-resistant due to the high-cost involved.
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Example:
- Immediately after the 2015 Nepal Mw 7.8 earthquake, the government and opposition parties created a new public body, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), to oversee rebuilding.
- However, due to **political disagreements*, it took nine months to appoint a leader for the NRA, hence hindering recovery works in the country.