Case Studies Flashcards
Eyjafjallajökull eruption 2010- in Iceland on a constructive boundary where North American and Eurasian plates move apart (2.5cm/year).
Basaltic magma rose through gaps, low viscosity lava, should be non violent and frequent at a shield volcano, was a phreatic eruption due to ice cap adding water to volcano, causing it to be explosive
PE: poor visibility, local cattle fairness suffered, ash contaminated water supplies (high conc. of fluoride), unable to fly northern and Western European flights and trans-Atlantic due to ash.
SE: airlines and related businesses lost £130 million a day, schools and businesses suffered as people stuck, 10 million flights cancelled, 50000 farmers in Kenya unable to export to Eur, 30000 tonnes of co2 a day
STR: cut out part of highway to stop glacier floods, wore goggles, last min mud flow defences, police and rescue evacuated 500 farmers, people encouraged to go to social centres, European Red Cross set up 1500 beds for cancelled flights,
LTR: more high tech equipment for prediction, new text message warning system, rivers made deeper, flood defences improved, new roads & bridges, increased scientific tests
Nepal earthquake 2015- 7.9 magnitude epicentre near Kathmandu (capital), 157th for wealth so housing likely poor & unable to afford technology and equipment to predict and reduce damage , on a destructive plate (collision) between Indo-Australian & Eurasian plate so more seismic activity, mountains mean landslides and avalanches likely, may have fatalist attitudes, hard to access due to mountains and being landlocked
PE: 8000 deaths, 14500 injured, 2.8 million homeless, buildings collapsed, ancient monuments eg Dharahara tower demolished, communication links and roads badly damaged, 50% of shops destroyed
SE: 18 climbers and Sherpas killed from avalanches and rockfalls at base of Himalayas
STR: govt aid from us, uk, Pakistan, Germany & India initially, aid agencies eg oxfam & un already located there due to poverty, people dug with bare hands for buried, water & water purification tablets, only 1 international airport, medical aid, MSF set up inflatable medical centre in rural places, uk payed £2 million for helis and gave 2 helis, at night people slept in streets afraid of aftershocks (up to 6.9), British public gave £41 million, disaster emergency committee appeal helped 31000 in first 2 weeks
LTR: oxfam gave waterproof shelters & helped protect livestock, trained people for jobs including to build earthquake proof houses, installed water pumps, vegetable farming project
Typhoon Haiyan 2013- 4th most intense tropical cyclone ever observed, caused by sea temperatures above 27 degrees and rotating winds over the ocean’s surface, also due to global warming
PE: killed 7500, affected 9 million, loss of forests, 175000 acres of farmland affected, 4000 tonnes of corn destroyed
SE: cost $2.9 billion, widespread flooding, 1.9 million homeless, 6 million displaced
STR: 4 million given food assistance, 500000 households received basic emergency shelter materials, social support for children by World Vision, save the children reached 900000 (400000 children)
LTR: 420000 children received educational materials, 900 trained to build more durable & sustainable boats by federal agricultural organisation
Hurricane Sandy 2012- low wind shear and warm waters which were far hotter than usual at time of year, had a diameter of 1100 miles, turned left due to cold air to north and jet stream to west, hit New York and New Jersey
PE: 71 deaths (49 ny, 10 nj), nearly 2 million without power, 1 million forced to evacuate
SE: 40000 re housed, flooding in nj with storm surge up to 7 metered high, cost $63 billion (5th most expensive of all time)
STR: Red Cross distributed 7.5 million meals, 7 million relief items, deployed 17000 helpers ( mostly volunteers), senate passed $50 billion relief bill, 26 non profit health centres received cash grants providing help to over 700000 low income and uninsured
LTR: hurricane sandy task force meeting in ny assessing relief phase for future events, educated ny citizens on how to prepare and respond in future
Alberta wildfire 2016- wildfire began in May, declared to be under control in July, fully extinguished august 2017, suspected to be caused by humans about 15km away from for McMurray
PE: 2400 homes & buildings destroyed, spread across 590000 hectares, 88000 forced out homes, 500 species lost habitat, several million tonnes of co2
SE: cost C$9.9 billion (costliest disaster ever for Canada), 1/3 of worker’s income oil sands industry unable to work there, $1 billion in oil revenues lost, anxiety over fears of another similar event due to climate change, toxins reached USA
STR: govt declared state of emergency triggering military aid, helicopters dispatched to affected areas, South Africa sent 301 firefighters, 4 water bombers from Quebec, Alberta govt provided $1250 per adult for living expenses for the evacuees, Red Cross provided 2800 medical kits, 10900 plane and bus tickets, 37000 clean up kits
LTR: Canadian prime minister promised long term aid for those affected, benefit concert “fire aid” which contributed to future planning and adaptation
Multi hazardous Philippines- at risk to tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes and landslides, has 1 of 50 fastest growing agglomerations so a lot at risk, destructive plate
Had 498 hazards from 1900-2011, 237 from 1990-2009 (29% of south East Asian disasters), so hard to deal with so many eg mitigation adaptation, resilience and management,could try target root causes of disasters, bring stakeholders together for coordinated response
Caracas as a local setting in a hazardous area- Venezuelan capital, high crime rate, gdp over dependent on one product (oil-25%),
Govt funds research bodies such as Venezuelan foundation for seismological research to identify espresso in need of refurbishment or structural reinforcements, “no build” zones in 2012 but not effective as illegal building took place, use multi storey building for shelter as it’s stronger, build parallel to slop so material flows off easily
