Caracas Flashcards
Where is Caracas?
Capital of Venezuela, primarily situated in the base and on the flanks of a large valley
What plate boundary is Caracas sat on?
Situated on the boundary of the Caribbean and South American plates with faults running through the city and under the main airport
What happened in 1999?
Tropical storms led to heavy rain which triggered mudflow/landslides which killed over 10,000
What happened in 1997?
A large major earthquake of a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale which killed over 300 people
What makes up a large amount of the basins floor?
Alluvial fans which are prone ro liquefaction during earthquakes
What is the slope angle of the basin?
80 degrees Celsius
Where is the safest and most valuable land in Caracas?
The Valley flood (less chance of landslides)
Who live on The Valley base?
The wealthy (with well built expertly designed (westernised) buildings, many earthquake resistant technologies such as using triangular steel reinforcements or shock absorbing foundations
What are The Valley floor buildings like?
Widely spread out to enable easy evacuation and to prevent damage to one structure also impacting upon others
What view do the residents of the barrios have?
Fatalistic
What does the division of the city show?
The impact of hazards on its social/economic characteristics
What’s wrong with Caracas water supply?
No consideration of hazards or impacts, all 3 supply lines cross major faults which could be lost in a disaster
Which other piece of infrastructure crosses a fault?
Road access between valley and airport, nearby sea port, large bridge, this shows lack of consideration for hazards which are at risk from landslides and quakes
What is the Venezuelan economy based on?
Oil, 50% of GDP generated by oil sales with the rest services (as it is an urban area with shops, banks and national organisations)
What’s the problem with being service focused?
Services often plan its own response than following an organised city wide plan
What would be the economic impact of a natural event?
Economy badly hit as recent rapid growth means there are more people than the city can comfortably accommodate and employ. Any league event would likely lead to a huge death toll and current political instability could enable uncontrolled rioting/protests
What’s the problem being in barrios?
Low economic status, dangerous, lack of opportunities/education
What and why does the government prefer to use the management method of risk zoning?
Financial restrictions, designated certain high risk areas of the steep valley sides as ‘no build zones’. However the effectiveness of this is limited by weak governance and the fact that most of the barrios (shanty towns) are constructed illegally
Why are all residents even in illegal housing advised ro ordinate their buildings parallel ro any debris flow?
To minimise the amount of material hitting the building and maximise its chance of surging the hazard
How is lack of education be tackled in the barrios?
Awareness of how to build safer, includes ensuring there is spacing between housing and a focus on reducing the currently very high population density in these areas of 25000/km squared
Why does Caracas employ western builders?
To ensure their apartment/office blocks on The Valley floor are built to strict western building codes, employing designers often who have worked in California
What is the government doing?
Funds research bodies such as the Venezuelan foundation for seismological research which conducts research and experiments ro assess the risk of different parts of the city. This has led to better knowledge of areas likely to be impacted by earthquake induced landslides and subsequently the implementation of new designs for new construction and reinforcement for old dwellings according to Hernandez (2007)
