Enquiry Question 2 Flashcards
What is a hazard?
A perceived natural/geophysical event that has the potential to threaten both life and property
What is a disaster?
The realisation of a hazard, when it causes significant impact on vulnerable people
When does a hazard become a disaster?
When 10 or more people are killed and/or 100 or more are affected
Social human factors?
- People without access to education
- Poor-quality housing
- The quality of communication systems
- Communities with poor health care
- The age of a population
Economic human factors?
- Level of wealth
- A lack of income opportunities
Environmental/physical human factors?
- Rapid urbanisation creates a need for more housing
- The accessibility of an area
- Areas with high population density tend to have poorer quality housing
- The existence and enforcement of building codes and regulations
Political human factors?
- The efficiency of emergency services and response teams
- The existence of public education and practiced hazard responses e.g. earthquake drills
- The level of corruption of government officials and businesses
- The existence of disaster preparedness plans
- The quality of infrastructure (such as transport and power supplies)
What factors can we use to measure vulnerability?
- Where people live
- Infrastructure
- Higher GDP - more investment
- How capable the government is to cope with specific situations
What is the hazard risk formula?
Risk (R) = Hazard (H) x Vulnerability (V) / Capacity to cope (C)
The level of risk depends on a combination of factors…
- Some directly linked to the hazard itself (e.g. magnitude, duration, time of day)
- Human factors, which determine vulnerability and the capacity to cope
What is resilience?
The ability to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure from destruction, and to restore areas after a natural hazard has occurred
Why do less developed countries tend to be more vulnerable to hazard events?
They tend to have other, more pressing problems, such as poverty and disease, which means that they’ll spend less money on disaster preparation
Why is age a significant factor in people’s resilience?
Children and the elderly are much more likely to suffer from a range of hazards
What percentage of the world’s population over the age of 60 live in less-developed regions, and how much is this expected to rise by 2050?
Around 66% of the world’s population aged over 60 live in less-developed regions. By 2050, this is expected to rise to 79%
Myanmar hazard and exposure score
Myanmar has a significantly high natural hazard component due to the potential for tsunami and earthquakes (as well as floods and storms)
Japan hazard and exposure score
Japan is subject to a range of natural hazards and is highly exposed
Myanmar vulnerability
Moderate risk though a relatively low score - there have been few natural shocks in recent years
Japan vulnerability
Vulnerability is high compared to other wealthy nations due to the ageing population, bit it is still low risk
Myanmar coping capacity
Poor coping capacity; low level of internet/mobile phone access for older people; education is poor
Japan coping capacity
Coping capacity is good; the elderly tend to be educated, have high internet connectivity, effective government and low gender inequality
Myanmar overall risk
Myanmar is ranked 7th out 190 nations, which means that disaster risk to elderly citizens is vert high
Japan overall risk
Although Japan is highly exposed to hazards, it is ranked 133rd out of 190 nations thanks to its strong coping capacity and lower levels of vulnerability
What is meant by the term ‘failure of development’?
When less developed countries, who have a less developed economy, aren’t capable of educating people on widespread hazards - this is because there are more pressing issues such as poverty and disease that the government would rather spend money on
What is the PAR model (Pressure and Release)?
The PAR models incudes the root causes of why a country/region would by considered vulnerable. These root causes can create dynamic pressures, which can lead to unsafe conditions
Despite suffering the lowest magnitude earthquake, Haiti had the highest number of casualties. Why is this?
This is due to Haiti being one of the poorest nations in the world, meaning Haiti’s government simply can’t afford to give education to ensure safety to its population
What factors make a less-developed country more vulnerable?
- Lack of education
- High birthrate, no contraception
- Poor health care, can’t save many people affected by hazards
- Poor infrastructure
- High population density
- Corrupt government, investment not spent on where it should be
Sichuan earthquake background information
- 12th May, 2008
- 2:28 PM
- Sichuan, China
- Magnitude of 7.9
How many schools fell down due to the Sichuan earthquake and how many children were killed? Examples?
- Thousands (at least 7000) of schools fell down, killing 5335 children
- Juyuan Middle School in Dujiangyan City collapsed, killing 900 pupils
How many people initially died in the Sichuan earthquake, and what did this number increase to after two months?
Initially 8700 died, this rose to 69,000 after two months
How many people went missing during the Sichuan earthquake?
18,000 after the first two months
How many people were injured as a result of the Sichuan earthquake?
374,000
How many people were made homeless as a result of the Sichuan earthquake?
Between 5 million and 11 million
How many buildings collapsed as a result of the Sichuan earthquake and why did they collapse?
5 million, poor infrastructure of mud-brick
What was the overall cost of restoring the infrastructure damage caused by the Sichuan earthquake?
$75 million
How much money did the government of China pledge for a rebuilding fund?
$10 million
How much were the direct economic losses of the Sichuan earthquake?
CNY 845.1 billion
How many soldiers and relief workers were sent to affected areas after the Sichuan earthquake?
130,000
How many helicopters were assigned to rescue and relief efforts after the Sichuan earthquake?
20
How many small, temporary houses were built to house the homeless after the Sichuan earthquake?
1 million
What caused the Sichuan earthquake?
The Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate and pressure from the collision was sent up the Longmenshan fault line (that runs through Sichuan)
How much money was donated by the Red Cross in the fortnight after the earthquake?
Over £100 million
How many resources did the Chinese Red Cross distribute to those affected following the Sichuan earthquake?
- More than 150,000 tents
- More than 125,000 quilts
- More than 245,000 pieces of clothing
When did the Tohoku earthquake happen and at what magnitude?
11th March 2011, Japan, 9.0-9.1 magnitude
How many people died as a result of the Tohoku earthquake? How many of these deaths were a result of drowning?
15,883, 90% of these were victims of drowning
How much economic damage did the Tohoku earthquake cause?
$360 billion
What percentage of Haitians are below the poverty line?
80%
What percentage of Haitians are illiterate?
53%
What is the building quality like in Haiti?
Poor, cannot withstand disasters
Haiti’s government is corrupt. True or false?
True
How much aid was donated to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake?
$13 billion
How many Haitians still live in temporary housing, as of 2015?
80,000
What major industry in China amplified the shaking of the Sichuan earthquake?
Fracking
How much money did the Chinese government set aside for a reconstruction plan, after the Sichuan earthquake?
$150 billion (over the next 3 years after the earthquake)
Out of the 3 case studies we’ve looked at for natural disasters, which country was most prepared (education): Japan, China or Haiti?
- Japan, due to well-developed disaster plans (emergency kits, evacuation routes, early warning systems)
- Other 2 countries have very corrupt governments
How many troops were mobilised within the first 24 hours following the Tohoku earthquake?
110,000
How large is the exclusion zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant?
20km
Spearman’s Rank equation
R = 6∑𝑑² / (n³-n)
What is Spearman’s Rank?
A statistical test that examines the degree of which two data sets are correlated, in this case whether the greater magnitude results in a greater loss of life
What sort of result does the Spearman’s Rank equation give you?
The calculation gives a numerical value on the degree of the correlation between 1 and -1
What is the Richter scale?
Used to measure amplitude, 0-9 scale, absolute scale
What is the Mercalli scale?
Measures the experienced impacts (relative scale), I-XII scale
What is the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS)?
Describes earthquakes in terms of energy released, used by UGS to estimate magnitudes for all large earhquakes
What is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)?
A relative measure of explosiveness of a volcanic eruption
What measurements are taken when using the VEI?
Volume of products (ejecta), height of the eruption cloud and qualitative observations
What percentage of those who died in the Japanese 2011 tsunami were aged 65 or over?
56%
What is a tectonic hazard profile?
- A technique used to try to understand the physical characteristics of different types of hazards, for example earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes
- Hazard profiles can also be used to analyse and assess the same hazards which take place in contrasting locations or at different times
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