eq-2 Flashcards
What is the difference between a hazard and a disaster?
a disaster is when more than 10 people die and over 100 are affected whereas a hazard has the potential to threat life and poverty.
why do people live in areas of tectonic activity?
- its cheaper
*lack of alternatives
*cost vs benefit of moving
*more fertile soil near volcanoes
what is the relationship between vulnerability and disaster?
vulnerability is how bad they will be in reaction to the hazard. as seen in degg’s model disaster vulnerability consists of unprotected buildings, lack of training etc.
what is vulnerability?
the ability to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover form a natural hazard. also takes into account the location of settlements.
what is resilience?
The ability to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure from destruction and to restore areas after a natural hazard has occurred.
what is a hazard event?
a natural hazard (earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami, etc)
what is the pressure and release model?
it is a model that shows when two opposing forces interact a disaster occurs
it is said to represents ‘nutcracker’ with increasing pressure on people rising from either side
what is physical vulnerability?
when people live in a hazard prone area that offers little protection
what is economic vulnerability?
when people risk losing their jobs or assets and money
what is social vulnerability?
when a household or community is unable to support the disadvantaged people for example political isolation
what is knowledge vulnerability?
when people lack education and there are no warning or evacuation systems
what is environmental vulnerability?
where the area that people are living in has increased in hazard risk because of the population pressure, forcing people to live in dangerous areas
what are human factors affecting vulnerability?
- Level of income
- GDP/km^2
- Cities with 1mil inhabitants
- Doctors per 10,000 people
- Informal housing
why do some hazards become disasters?
they become disasters if they strike a vulnerable population that can’t cope using its own resources
Risk (R) = Hazard (H) * Vulnerability (V) / Capacity to Cope (C)
what is the Mercalli scale?
measures the intensity of an earthquake, not the magnitude
1-12 instrumental-catastrophic
based on what people fell + damage observation
based off impacts, not magnitude
good-cheap
bad-as subjective and people have to be there to judge, has an upper limit
what is the moment magnitude scale?
It uses energy released by all shockwaves in the area of rupture and movement
It can go on forever
Largest was 9.5 in China
Good-uses geological evidence, more accurate than the richer scale as it uses more values, recorded on a seismometer so not subjective
Bad-doesn’t show damage impact, people don’t understand logarithmic scale, uses expensive equipment
what is the VEI scale?
stands for volcanic explosivity index
1-8 effusive to mega-colossal
measured by eruption cloud height, volume of products erupted and more subjective qualitative observations eg: effusive, explosive etc.
it is logarithmic
the higher the number the less frequent
what is governance?
It is an important aspect of a country’s resistance, it refers to the process by which a country or region is run.
Good governance would be when a country’s economy is stable/growing and quality of life is high etc.
what are the roles of governance?
meeting basic needs
planning
environmental management
preparedness
corruption
openness
what are examples of positive governance from the Tohoku earthquake?
-strict building regulations
-disaster plans
-early warning systems
-education/emergency drills
what are examples of negative governance from the Tohoku earthquake?
-3962 people missing
-nuclear power plant not safer from water
-63% of deaths were 60+ due to old policies
what is the Swiss cheese model?
-the layers of cheese represent the safety systems
-the holes in the cheese represent the weakness the lines of defence.
what is a mega disaster?
it is a large-scale disaster that because of its scale poses serious problems for effective management to minimise the impact
what is hilp?
it means High Impact Low Probability
what is a multiple hazard zone?
an area that is exposed to multiple hazards which makes them risky places to live and this is often made worse if a counties population is vulnerable or suffers repeated events
where are multiple hazard zones located?
-east Asia is massively vulnerable to tsunamis volcanoes earthquakes and tropical storms
-Central America New Zealand and the USA are all also multiple hazard zones
what does the park disaster response model show?
it shows how the quality of life is affected by a tectonic event and the ability of a country to recover as it may recover to a better equal or lower standard
what are the phases of the park disaster response curve?
relief - the immediate response focused on saving lives
rehabilitation - could last several months as efforts are made to restore structures and temporary measures are in place
reconstruction - permanent changes are introduced to restore quality of life and economic stability
what are the hazard management cycle sections?
-preparedness
-response
-recovery
-mitigation
what is disaster modification?
-modify the event - this is before the hazard (long term) and helps during the hazard(short term) it involves tech and planning systems and rules
-modify vulnerability - before the hazard strikes and gets people;e out of the way of the hazard and it involves prediction, warning and evacuation
-modify loss - described as picking up the pieces after the disaster has occurred it reduces the short and long-term losses by acting to aid recovery and reconstruction
