HAZARDS Flashcards
what is a MHZ?
multiple hazard zone
- where a country or region suffers two or more hazard types
what is an example of an MHZ?
the Philippines
what hazards does the Philippines face?
- volcanic eruptions
- tropical storms
- earthquakes
what is an archipelago?
a group of islands
e.g. the Philippines
What does the mercalli scale measure?
- the intensity of damage caused by an earthquake
Where is the Philippines located?
It is an island arc in South East Asia, located 5-10 degrees north of the equator
what plate margin does the Philippines lie on?
Destructive plate margin between the Eurasian and Philippine plate
Why is the Philippines a MHZ?
- it lies on a cyclone belt
- intense monsoon climate
- vulnerable to tsunamis, earthquakes and typhoons
Why is the Philippines vulnerable to tsunamis?
it has a high population density along its coastline
When did Mt Nyiragongo erupt?
17th January 2002
Where is Mt Nyiragongo?
the Democratic Republic of Congo
Why did people live near Mt Nyiragongo, and how many?
- fertile farmland
- 500,000 people
what were the responses to the eruption of Mt Nyiragongo?
- $15million worth of aid
- 400,000 people evacuated
- camps for displaced people
What has been done to reduce the impact of future eruptions of Mt Nyiragongo?
- educated location residents on volcanic eruptions
- built a volcanic observatory for data gathering
What were the impacts of Mt Nyiragongo’s eruption on Goma?
- 20% of homes destroyed
- 3m of lava coverage
- 100 deaths
Why were people caught unaware of the eruption of Mt Nyiragongo?
The radio had said that there was no risk, so people were told to stay where they were
What are some impacts of the Mt Nyiragongo eruption?
- frequent toxic gas emissions
- 147 deaths
- poisoned water source
- long-term respiratory problems
- unemployment
- buildings destroyed
What plate boundary does Montserrat lie on?
- a destructive plate boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates
When did the worst eruption in Montserrat occur?
25th June 1997
what were the short-term effects of the eruptions in Montserrat?
- pyroclastic flows
- lahars
- ash and tephra fall
- earthquakes
- release of volcanic gases
How many fatalities were there after the eruption in Montserrat?
19
How is the volcano in Montserrat monitored?
- tiltmeters
- GPS satellite location
- seismographs
- COSPEC is used to measure gases
- frequent rock samples
- measuring the pH of rainwater
what were the long-term effects of the eruptions in Montserrat?
- population shrunk
- no economic stability
- temporary housing
- heavily dependant on UK aid
- collapse of tourist and rice industries
- 2/3 of the island became an exclusion zone, forcing residents to the North
What plate boundary is Eyjafjallajökull on?
divergent plate boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates
what were the impacts on Iceland?
- rapid increase in tourism to 1.7 million each year
what were the secondary impacts of Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption?
- mudflows
- flooding
- extra train + ferry services
- schools closed
- 800 people evacuated
- 95,000 flights cancelled worldwide
- £62million paid out in travel insurance
- the Kenyan economy lost $3.8million a day
What were the warning signs that Eyjafjallajökull would erupt?
- earthquakes between 1992-98
- detected moving magma
- satellite images had shown the volcano changing shape
what were the primary impacts of Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption?
- lava erupted from 12 vents
- ash soured 11,000ft into the air
- 5.5cm of ash fell on farmland
what were some long term responses to Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption?
- rebuilding of damaged roads + bridges
- volcanic activity monitored
- text message warning system
- ash and debris was dug up from river beds to reduce flooding risks
what were some short term responses to Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption?
- 800 people evacuated
- air space closed
- rescue teams sent out
- livestock kept inside
when did Eyjafjallajökull erupt?
- 2010
20th March
what were the impacts of the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption?
- hundreds of flights cancelled
- sky went black as the sun was blocked
- ash covered the soil
how was Eyjafjallajökull monitored?
- 80 seismometers
- 120 GPS antennae
How was the N1 protected?
(Iceland’s ring road)
- nearby embankments were breached so water flooded the roads instead of expensive bridges
what are the characteristics of basic lava volcanoes?
- wide shallow base
- runny lava
- frequent, gentle eruptions
- less fatalities
what are the characteristics of acid lava volcanoes?
- thick, viscous lava
- tall narrow base
- infrequent, explosive eruptions
- more fatalities
what is a hotspot volcano?
a volcano in an intra-plate location.
e.g. Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific plate
What is a convergent plate boundary?
- plates are moving together
- the denser oceanic plate moves below the lighter continental crust, creating a subduction zone
What can a convergent plate boundary create?
- earthquakes
- volcanoes
- fold mountains
What is a Divergent plate boundary?
The plates are moving apart, creating a gap that is filled with magma to form a volcano.
What is a conservative plate boundary?
Plates slide past each other in the same or opposite direction.
The 2 plates meet at a fault, where pressure builds until the 2 played jerk past each other creating an earthquake
What is a basic lava shield volcano?
Gently sloping cone with a large basw
What is an acid lava dome volcano?
Very steep volcano with lava so thick that it could form a plug or spire when forced out of the volcano
What is a caldera volcano?
A volcano with a large crater called a Caldera, there are violent eruptions causing the top of the cone to break off.
What is an ash and cinder cone volcano?
A volcano with layers of ash and cinder that build up to form a symmetrical cone with a large crater.
What is a composite cone volcano?
Volcano made from alternating layers of lava and ash. There eruptions start violently, then become less violent. The lava escapes from the side forming conelets
What is tephra?
Volcanic bombs which are emitted from a volcano during an eruption
What are examples of volcano monitoring equipment?
- ultrasound
- chemical sensors
- seismometers
- tiltmeter
- satellite images
What is ultrasound used for when monitoring volcanoes?
Monitoring the low frequency waves within magma as the gas and molten rock moves upwards
How are chemical sensors used when measuring volcanoes?
They measure increased sulphur levels
What is pyroclastic flow?
A mass of hot ash, lava fragments and gases ejected explosively from a volcano, and flowing at great speed
How are seismometers used when monitoring volcanoes?
They detect mini earthquakes that happen before an eruption