case studies Flashcards
When was the boxing day Tsunami and where did it occur ( specific location )
26th December 2004
- North Indonesia off the western coast of norther Sumatra, was where the epicentre was.
- countries such as India, Kenya, Thailand, Indonesia were all effected
- On the indo-australian and Eurasian plate margin
- Indian ocean
What causes a Tsunami
- An earthquake caused by plate margin slips creating high energy and pressure.
- When released it creates a huge colloum of water from the sea bed displacement
- The water gets pushed above sea level and is pushed back down via gravity creating 2 waves going east and west.
- Speed increases in open water but as the water gets shallower the speed decreases but the hight increases.
- doesn’t break when hitting land
What were the specific causes of the boxing day tsunami
how far into the crust did it occur
- destructive plate margin
- indo-australian plate subducted (oceanic) under the Eurasian plate.
- Rebounding of Eurasian plate caused a further displacement of water
- An additional plate fracture along the margin caused a number of the other ways
- occurred 30km into the crust
what are the impacts of the boxing day tsunami
- 290,000 people over 12 countries died
- 111,700 dies in Indonesia alone
- More than 100 schools and 1500 villages in Sumatra wrecked
- Tourist and fishing industries destroyed ( 60% of fishing in Sri Lanka was destroyed)
- Water contaminated by sewers
Coral reefs being lifted out the water by sea bed displacement (raised by 1.5m in some areas)
What was the Turkey-syria earthquakes
and what caused it
There was a 7.8 earthquake just north of the syrian boarder in south turkey tha effected over 100 km followed by a 7.5 earthquake just north of the first
it was caused by the North wards moving Arabian plate grinding against the Antonian plate creating pressure which was then released causing the rocks to deform
What are the impacts of the Turkey-syria earthquake
- caused an estimated $34.2 billion in direct physical damages in turkey the equivalent of 4% of the country’s 2021 GDP
- As many as 20,000 people died
- The earthquakes have damaged the sewage and water pipe network in 10 provinces in the southeast of the country.
-5 million survivors living in makeshift camps
Responses to the Turkey-syria earthquake
- The World Food Programme (WFP) initiated its emergency response in the country’s southeast to meet the needs of the affected population
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent health supplies to reach 400,000 people impacted by the earthquake. Along with food assistance to 1.7 million
What were the responses of the boxing day tsunami
- more than $7 billion in aid that was committed by governments, national
governments, NGOs - 40,000 homes were built.
Applying the pressure model (vulnerability and disaster) to Haiti what are the
root causes and dynamic pressures
- Root causes = GDP per capita $1200
- poor unfractured (70% of buildings in pourt-au-prince collapsed)
- 33% access to water
- poor governance and political system - dynamic pressures =
- lack of government funding for hazard awareness
-lack of trained professionals e.g. builders, healthcare
- rapid population change
Applying the pressure model (vulnerability and disaster) to Haiti what are the : unsafe conditions and hazards
- Unsafe conditions = -25% of people live in extreme poverty
- 80% of pout-au-prince housing is unplanned/ slums
- No
evacuation/emergency plan
- Have an issue with aids and HIV
Hazards :
-7 on the Richter scale earthquake hit
- Direct path of hurricanes
- conservative fault
- Island
- French speaking
What physical factors make the Philippines a multiple hazard zone
- Lies on a destructive plate boundary on the pacific ring of fire
- high storm intensity (4-5 on the scale) highest in August
- 18/37 volcanoes are active (MT Pinatubo 1991)
- la Nina makes an increase in flooding
- 100% risk of earthquakes
- land and mudslides occur due to hydrological and tectonic hazards (south Leyte mudslide 2006)
What are the human factors making the Philippines a multiple hazard zone
- Manila is a megacity with a population of over 10 million
- Dense rapidly growing city’s lots of rural-urban migration
- deforestation (more info)
- Gdp $4400
- Lack of education
what are the causes of the Haiti 2010 earthquake
- on a fault line the North American plate slides under the Caribbean plate
- many after shocks
- main event measured 7.0
- epicentre was 10 miles south west of Port-au-Prince the capital
- shallow focus at 10-15m
what are the impacts of Haiti 2010
- 310,000 people died
- over 1 million left homeless
- many shanty towns collapsed and buildings due to lack of safety regulations
- over 300,000 buildings collapsed
- port was destroyed
- Roads littered with cracks + fault lines
what are the short and long term responses to Haiti 2010
short-term responses - many countries responded to appeals for aid
- delays in aid distribution lead to looting, violence and more deaths
long term responses - Eu gave $330 million and the world bank waived the countries debt for 5 years
- one year after 1 million still left displaced
- 98% of rubble remained after uncleared
- 23 major charities raised $1.1 billion but only 2% was collected
