hazardous earth - case study: earthquake japan and haiti Flashcards
location and date of earthquake japan
north east japan, south east asia: pacific and eurasian plate on 11 march 2011
characteristics of japan earthquake
- magnitude 9.0!!
- triggered a tsunami (pacific plate subducted under the eurasian plate causing upwards thrust)
- waves up to 10m high and 10km inland (waves between 3.5-2.7m hit hawaii and cali later)
primary impacts of japan earthquake
- 667 and 1479 deaths caused by collapsing buildings
- 1000 buildings severely damaged from collapsion and liquefaction in Tokyo
–> loss of workplaces = loss of jobs and source of income
–> liquefaction means evacuation is limited as there’s nowhere to walk (road is liquid) - roads and railways damaged
–> aid can’t get in easily - electric power, water, sewage system were disrupted
–> contaminated drinking water
secondary effects of japan earthquake (mostly from tsunami)
- nuclear meltdown since cooling system was damaged by waves
- more than 17000 deaths from drowning (8500 were above 65)
- 1500 were injured/missing
- 127,000 buildings collapsed and 1.2 milli were damaged
–> loss of workplaces = loss of jobs and source of income
–> loss of tourist attractions = loss of income for govn and workers - 2000 roads destroyed
–> aid can’t get in easily - fukushima dam burst
–> added to the flooding from the tsunami - damage to nuclear plant station and everything else was + $300Bn
–> huge economic impact
short term response to japan earthquake
- after earthquake hit, warnings went out about tsunami so people could get to higher ground
–> HIC - aus, china, india, new z, south k, and USA sent search-rescue teams
- rescue operations were hindered due to road damages/ bad weather affecting communication
- 130, 000 were displaced to shelters with limited resources
- 140, 000 evacuated from a 20km radius around power plant
–> meltdown could’ve released radioactive material = radioactive poisoning
long term responses to japan earthquake
- rebuilding agency in 2012
- school students and workers do an annual national disaster prevention day: drilled in what to do in the event of natural disasters
- strict building codes for buildings to move with the quake
- 10s of 1000s prefabricated homes were set up
- early 2015: nearly all debris had been removed and sea defences were being built
long term planning for japan earthquake
- emergency services trained and ready to respond
- ppl need to practise protection and response operations
location and date of haiti earthquake
caribbean island of haiti on 12 january 2010
characteristics of haiti earthquake
- magnitude of 7.0
- contraction and deformation along a fault near the conservative plate boundary between NAmerican and Caribbean plate
primary impacts of the haiti earthquake
- 316, 000 deaths and 300,000 injured
- 1.5 milli made homeless due to 180,000 homes destroyed
–> increase spread of disease as the camps were unsanitary - ALL 8 hospitals collapsed
–> absolutely no proper aid, increasing spread of disease - 5000 collapsed/damaged schools and ALL 3 unis collapsed
–> already low literacy rate and would take a while to rebuild all - 4000 inmates escaped: collapsed prison
–> shows infrastructure was not good even for the most sturdiest buildings - port (Port-au-prince) and airport control tower collapsed
–> hindered emergency efforts and aid - electricity, water, sanitation + communication were badly disrupted
secondary impact of haiti earthquake
- cholera spread through the squatter camps
- camps provided little protection during hurricane season
- factories closed and tourism stopped due to high hurricane risk which created income loss
- government and police force collapsed so looting increased
- cholera epidemic started 10 months after earthquake, killing 8000 ppl and infecting 6% of all Haitians by 2013
short term response to haiti earthquake
Haiti is a LIC so it was unprepared and couldn’t respond well enough
- first few days no one was in charge
- rescue-search teams were flown in to help those underneath the rubble
- USA and Dominican rep. gave food, water, medical aid, and shelters
- USA divers cleared the ports so ships could unload aid
- the DEC raised +£100 milli to provide shelter, medication, water, sanitation and purification tablets
long term responses to the haiti earthquake
- govn moved 250, 000 people from port-au-prince to less damaged cities: many chose to stay away or emigrate
- 3/4 of the buildings were repaired with some using earthquake resistant techniques (old tyres, straw bales, bamboo with lighter roofs of leaves)
- 200,000 ppl were paid or received food for public work
- money including 300Eu milli from the EU, $100 milli from US and £20 milli from UK was pledged to Haiti
- BUT the world bank cancelled Haiti’s debt repayment for 5 years and less than half of US’ $4.5Bn had reached Haiti
- by 2015, 500,000 people were still homeless without water, sewage or electricity
