hazards case studies

Question 1

volcanic hazards
soufriere hills, montserrat
about

Answer 1

1997
destructive plate margin, north american plate forced under the carribean plate
june - sept 1997 series of large eruptions
largest: 4-5 mil m3 released over 20 min period
pyroclastic flows covered several square kms
large ash cloud

Question 2

volcanic hazards
soufriere hills, montserrat
impacts
economic

Answer 2

£1 bil lost in value of peoples homes and investments
20 villages and 2 thirds of homes on the island were destroyed by pyroclastic flows
tourists stayed away and businesses destroyed
tourism increasing as people come to see the volcano
schools, hospitals, airport and port destroyed

Question 3

volcanic hazards
soufriere hills, montserrat
impacts
social

Answer 3

19 people died, 7 injured
hundreds lost homes
fires destroyed many buildings
population declined, 8000 of 12000 inhabitants left and many havent returned

Question 4

volcanic hazards
soufriere hills, montserrat
impacts
environmental

Answer 4

large areas covered with volcanic material, capital city plymouth buried under 12m of mud and ash
vegetation and farmland destroyed
volcanic ash improved soil fertility

Question 5

volcanic hazards
soufriere hills, montserrat
responses

Answer 5

people evacuated to safe areas in the north
shelters built to house evacuees
temporary infrastructure built
uk provided £17 mil of emergency aid
search and rescue
risk map and exclusion zone, south of the island is stil off limits whilst the volcano is still intermittently active
uk provided £41mil of long term aid
montserrat volcano observatory set up to try and predict future eruptions

Question 6

seismic hazards
kashmir earthquake
about

Answer 6

8th oct, 2005
north pakistan 
destrucutive plate margin, indian forced under eurasian 
7.6 on moment magnitude scale
damage to an area of 30,000 km2
1000 aftershocks

Question 7

seismic hazards
kashmir earthquake
impacts
social

Answer 7

80,000 died and hundreds of thousands injured
3 mil people homeless
water and electricity pipes and lines broken cutting off all supplies
landslides buried buildings and people, blocked roads and destroyed telephone lines
diarrhoea and other diseases spread due to little clean water

Question 8

seismic hazards
kashmir earthquake
impacts
economic

Answer 8

cost around $5bil
whole villages and thousands of buildings destroyed or severely damaged
total cost of rebuilding $3.5bil

Question 9

seismic hazards
kashmir earthquake
impacts
environmental

Answer 9

landslides and rockfalls affecting habitats
landslide in jhelum valley was over 1km wide and over 2km long, debris created a dam at the bottom of the valley that blocked two rivers where they joined

Question 10

seismic hazards
kashmir earthquake
responses

Answer 10

international aid and equipment e.g. helicopters and rescue dogs were brought in as well as teams of people from other countries
however poor roads meant help didnt reach many areas for days/weeks, people had to be rescued without any equipment or help from emergency services
tents, blankets and medical supplies distributed within a month but not to all areas affected
pakistani government set up the earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction authority and the federal relief commission to coordinate activities with other internationsl agencies and ngos
40,000 people relocated to a new town from the destroyed town of balakot
gov money was given to people whose homes were destroyed so they could rebuild them themselves
training provided to help rebuild more buildings as earthquake resistant

Question 11

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
about

Answer 11

south east usa 29th aug 2005
formed over the bahamas on the 23rd aug
strengthened as it passed over the gulf of mexico
category 3
storm surge 8.5m mississippi

Question 12

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
impacts
social

Answer 12

1836 killed
300,000 houses destroyed, hundreds of thousands left homeless and 3 mil without electricity
one of the main routes out new orleans was blocked because part of the 1-10 bridge collapsed
water supplies polluted with sewage and chemicals, 5 people died from using contaminated water
18 schools destroyed and 74 badly damaged, disrupting education

Question 13

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
impacts
economic

Answer 13

230,000 jobs lost
industry disrupted, 30 oil platforms in the gulf of mexico were damaged/destroyed disrupting oil industry
ports damaged affecting shipping industry
5300km2 of forest destroyed in mississippi causing $5bil lost income from logging
total cost of damage around $300bil

Question 14

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
impacts
environmental

Answer 14

coastal habitats such as sea turtle breeding beaches were damaged
some coastal conservation areas were destroyed e.g. breton national wildlife refuge
flooding damaged oil refineries causing massive oil spills
flooding of salt marshes led to habitat loss

Question 15

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
preparation

Answer 15

usa has a sophisticated monitoring system to predict if and where a hurricane will hit, august 26th national hurricane centre issued a hurricane warning for louisiana, mississippi and alabama
us coast guard positioned helicopters and boats around the area most likely to be affected
FEMA organised teams and supplies, e.g. mortuary teams with refrigerated trucks
some areas ordered mandatory evacuation, 80% of new orleans residents were evacuated before the hurricane reached land

Question 16

storm hazards
hurricane katrina
responses

Answer 16

emergency shelters set up for those that hadnt evacuated, e.g. louisiana superdome
coastguard, police and fire service rescued 50,000+ people after the hurricane hit
search and rescue teams
medical teams
charities donated over $4bil to provide aid to victims

Question 17

storm hazards
cyclone nargis
about

Answer 17

myanmar
2nd way 2008
formed in the bay of bengal
least developed country in the world
category 4
storm surge of 5m

Question 18

storm hazards
cyclone nargis
impacts
social

Answer 18

140,000 people killed
450,000 houses destroyed 2.5 mil left without shelter
4000 schools and 75% of health facilities destroyed
43% freshwater ponds damaged by saltwater, 70% of people had no access to clean water
diseases from poor sanitary conditions

Question 19

storm hazards
cyclone nargis
impacts
economic

Answer 19

6000km2 of agricultural land damaged
crops and farm animals lost and 40% of food stores destroyed
millions of people lost their livelihoods
total cost of damage around $4 bil

Question 20

storm hazards
cyclone nargis
impacts
environmental

Answer 20

380km2 of mangrove forests destroyed

flooding caused erosion and salinisation of land

Question 21

storm hazards
cyclone nargis
responses

Answer 21

only warned 48 hours before it hit and didnt say how severe it would be
no emergency preperation or evacuation plans
after the cyclone the government refused to accept any foreign aid, 9th may they decided to accept foreign aid of food and tents
ruled by the military at the time who seized some aid and turned some away, aid workers were not allowed in till the 19th of may. the delay greatly increased the number of deaths

Question 22

wildfires
australia
about

Answer 22

feb 2009
victoria, south east australia
fires followed 10 years of drought, temps of 40 degrees plus and strong winds
lack of management meant there was a large amount of dry oil rich material to fuel the fire. several of the fires were caused by faulty power lines

Question 23

wildfires
australia
impacts

Answer 23

173 killed, 400 injured 
stress and depression
2000 houses in 78 communities destroyed
60 businesses destroyed
$4 bil aus
4300km2 land was burned including forests and national parks, millions of animals, birds and reptiles were killed including some rare species

Question 24

wildfires
australia
responses

Answer 24

australian borough of meteorology predicted how the fire would spread and said resident could either evacuate or stay and defend their homes, evacuation reduced the number of deaths but many people were put at risk by choosing to stay in their houses
more than 20,000 firefighters and volunteers helped put out the fires
aus $400 bil donated to help rebuild, however making houses fireproof increased costs so not everyone could afford to finish building
long term: fire shelters in vulnerable areas, improving warning systems and improving the emergency evacuation strategy

Question 25

multihazardous environment
the philippines
volcanos

Answer 25

destructive plate boundary, philippine plant subducted beneath the eurasian plate
e.g. mt pinatubo 1991, 700 people died, 200,000 left homeless, buildings collapsed, crops destroyed and agricultural land ruined by ash

Question 26

multihazardous environment
the philippines
seismic hazards

Answer 26

earthquakes occur along the plate boundary and fault lines where the plate has cracked under pressure
e.g. earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in luzon island in 1990 killing over 1500 people
earthquake’s in surrounding oceans cause tsunamis, e.g. 1976, earthquake magnitude 7.9 caused tsunami that hit the coastline around the moro gulf, thousands killed and several cities devastated

Question 27

multihazardous environment
the philippines
tropical storms

Answer 27

around 1o tropical storms per year
develop in the pacific ocean and move westwards over the islands e.g. typhoon xangsane swept across manila around surrounding densely populated area in 2006. high winds and torrential rain destroyed homes and caused flooding, landslides and the loss of power and water. around 200 died and total cost was $130mil

Question 28

multihazardous environment
the philippines
human qualities and reponses

Answer 28

communities often understand the risks of hazards having experienced them before
in many cases people prepare for themselves, widening rivers near settlements to prevent flooding and by stockpiling food. in this way, individuals and communities increase their own resistance
in the past funding was only available after the disaster which meant focus was on response rather than prevention or preparation
2009 onwards, policy changed
-prevent building in high risk areas
-adapting new and existing structures to cope with earthquakes
-building embankments to reduce flood risk
-increasing public awareness of hazards and how to respond
-monitoring hazards and developing early warning systems

Question 29

hazardous setting
central italy
about

Answer 29

fault lines run north-south close to the apennine mountain range and east-west across the centre of italy
the fault lines are near the destructive plate margin between the eurasian and african plates
earthquakes are common:
- three earthquakes up to magnitude 6.4 hit the area around assisi in 1997
- 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck l’aquila in april 2009
- series of earthquakes hit the area around amatrice from aug-oct 2016
the l’aquila earthquake was caused by movement along the north-south faultline. it killed around 300 people , made 70,000 homeless and cost italy around $15 bil

Question 30

hazardous setting
central italy
the character of the area

Answer 30

before 2009 l’aquila itself hadn’t suffered a major earthquake for 300 years
the risks were known and some steps to mitigate were taken e.g. building regulations however much of the city was very old and some new buildings didnt comply with regulations so they were severely damaged/destryoed by the earthquake
the character of l’aquila reflects the impacts of the 2009 earthquake and risk of future earthquakes

Question 31

hazardous setting
central italy
the character of the area
social

Answer 31

many historic buildings in the centre of the city were destroyed and people were rehoused in newly built earthquake resistant homes in suburban areas or new towns outside the city. many younger people left the area to look for jobs elsewhere. all these changes altered the social and architectural character of the city
attendance at social and religious activities declined
people are reluctant to use shops, bars and restaurants rebuilt in the town centre and many have shut down
some residents suffer with mental health issues as a result of the earthquake and fear of more earthquakes happening.
others have developed coping strategies and increased their resilience to future hazards

Question 32

hazardous setting
central italy
the character of the area
economic

Answer 32

university buildings were badly damaged, making them unusable. the number of students enrolling decreased which caused a major economic loss for the city
italian gov plans to reconstruct the area to be economically stronger than before the disaster e.g. making the city more attractive to students. if successful this would make l’aquila a busier more affluent place

Question 33

hazardous setting
central italy
the character of the area
political

Answer 33

officials and scientists have been blamed for not giving the public adequate warning about the earthquake risk, this has led to tension between residents and officials
the government has also been blamed for not rebuilding l’aquila quickly enough or involving residents in the decisions about how it would be rebuilt. this added to the residents feelings of discontent and lack of support