Hazards, Disaster And Vulnerability Flashcards
What is a hazard?
A perceived natural event that has the potential to threaten both life and property.
What is a disaster?
The realisation of a hazard when it causes a significant impact on a vulnerable population.
When does a hazard become a disaster?
-10 or more people are killed
-100 or more people are affected
CRED
What does Degg’s model represent?
That when a hazard and a vulnerable population are combined, a disaster is caused.
What is the hazard-risk formula?
Risk= Hazard x Vulnerability / Capacity to cope
Why do governments use the hazard-risk formula?
Use it to measure risk based upon a combination of factors.
What is resilience?
The ability to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure from destruction and restore areas after a natural hazard.
What are some HUMAN SOCIAL factors affecting vulnerability?
- People without access to education
- Communities with poor healthcare
- Poor quality housing
- Age of population
What are some HUMAN ECONOMIC factors affecting vulnerability?
- Level of wealth
- Lack of income opportunities
What are some HUMAN POLITICAL factors affecting vulnerability?
- Existence and enforcement of building codes and regulations
- Efficiency of emergency services and response teams
- Existence of public education and practised hazard responses
- Level of corruption of governments officials and businesses
- Existence of disaster preparedness plans
- The quality of infrastructure
What are some HUMAN PHYSICAL factors affected vulnerability?
- Rapid urbanisation creates a need for more housing
- The accessibility of an area
- Areas with high population density tend to have poorer quality housing
What is failure of development?
Less-developed counties are generally more vulnerable to hazard events because they tend to have other, more pressing problems. This means that they focus and spend less on disaster preparation.
How does age link to resilience?
- Children and the elderly are likely to suffer much more from a range of hazards
- 66% of world’s population aged over 60 live in less-developed regions
What is the overall risk to the elderly in Myanmar and Japan?
- Myanmar is ranked 7th out of 109 nations (very high risk to population)
- Japan is ranked 133rd out of 109 (much lower risk)
Why is Myanmar’s elderly population more vulnerable to hazards?
- Low level of internet and mobile phone access for elderly people (they can’t contact emergency services or family for aid)
- Education is poor (they don’t know how to stay safe in the event of a hazardous event)
What does the PAR Pressure and Release show?
It shows the underlying causes of vulnerability. PAR model explains that the idea of vulnerability by showing how the development of a country can affect the root causes of communities vulnerability, such as limited access to structures. It then shows that when these root causes are combine with dynamic pressures, such as rapid urbanisation, unsafe conditions are created- making a population vulnerable. This vulnerability leads to disaster in the event of a hazard.
Background information of Japan 2011 earthquake (Tohoku)
9.0 magnitude
Stuck under Pacific Ocean
Water column displaced and tsunami was caused
Affected island of Honshu
Earthquake lasted 6 minutes
11th March 2011
Tsunami moved 10km in land and waves reached 10m high
What were the SOCIAL impacts of the Japan earthquake 2011?
15,800 people died
6023 injured
3282 people reported missing
Majority of victims were over 60
In one elementary school, 74 out of 108 and 10 out of 13 teachers died
100,000 children were separated from their families
90% of deaths caused by drowning 10% died of collapsing buildings or burning
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has a meltdown causing radiation to be release
333,000 had to live in temporary housing
300,000 building destroyed and another 1 million damaged.
4000 roads, 78 bridges were severely damaged.
What were the ECONOMIC impacts of Japan 2011 earthquake?
Estimated cost of earthquake was £181billion
Toyota and Honda could not continue production and supply chains were damaged
Earthquake affected regions responsible for 6-7% of country’s total production
What are the POLITICAL factors affecting vulnerability in Japan?
- Japan has strict building regulations
- 75% of buildings in Japan are built with earthquakes in mind
- Low levels of government corruption, money goes to protecting people
- Have an early warning system in place
- Residents of Tokyo received a one minute warning on their phones
What are the SOCIAL factors affecting vulnerability in Japan?
- High speed trains were stopped to protect passengers
- Emergency drills are regularly practised in schools and businesses
- Most homes are equipped with earthquake emergency kits
- Good healthcare system
What are the ECONOMIC and ENVIRONMENTAL factors affecting vulnerability in Japan?
economic:
-Japan has a high GDP per capita of $40,000USD
environmental:
-Country has a very mountainous spine and only a narrow coastal strip, very high population density in some areas
-Island located on Pacific Ring of Fire (argue this makes them less vulnerable and more prepared)
What was the response and recovery for the Japan 2011 earthquake?
- Operation USA began immediately working on material aid to focus on shelters and medical supplies
- Child-focused disaster preparedness activities and drills
- Community kitchens established
- $1.1 million USD of GAP clothing donated to Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate.
Background information of Sichuan earthquake 2008
7.9 magnitude 12th May 2008 Shallow-focus earthquake C vs C convergent plate boundary Indo-Australian plate collided with Eurasian plate
What were the SOCIAL impacts of Sichuan earthquake 2008?
Thousands of schools collapsed
5335 children were killed
In Juyuan Middle school, 900 pupils were killed
69,227 people were killed
Between 5million and 11million people left homeless
1/4 deaths caused by landslides
Power and water supplies were cut leaving people without it for 22 hours
7,900,000 building damaged
What were the ECONOMIC impacts of Sichuan earthquake 2008?
- Total cost to economy was between $86-150 billion
- Loss to industries like mining are thought to have lost $28.9 million
What was the response and recovery of the Sichuan 2008 earthquake?
130,000 soldiers sent to affected areas
20 helicopters were assigned to rescue and relief efforts
1million small temporary houses built for homeless
Land was flattened in order to put up tents
Over £100million donated by The Red Cross in fortnight after earthquake
What were the factors affecting China’s vulnerability?
Government corruption meant that building regulations weren’t being upheld
Poor infrastructure
Large population density- area hit had a population of 43 million
Area had major fracking industries causing earthquakes to be amplified
Region affected was one of the poorest in China with annual per capita being below $500
Geology of land- has soft rocks which meant landslide easily occurred
Background information on Haiti 2010 earthquake
Tuesday 12th January
7.0 magnitude
What were the SOCIAL impacts of Haiti 2010 earthquake?
- 3 million people affected
- 220,000 dead
- Cholera epidemic
- 300,000 injured
- 1.3million people made homeless
What were the ECONOMIC impacts of Haiti 2010 earthquake?
- Main clothing industry was damaged
- Airports and ports were damaged, affecting trade and tourism
- Businesses were destroyed, caused loss of jobs and taxes
What was the response and recovery to the Haiti 2010 earthquake?
By 2015 80,000 Haitians were still living in temporary housing
$13 billion of aid donated
Money controlled by NGO projects instead of government, because of concerns of government corruption
New buildings, roads and schools have been built
Health statistic have improved
Government is becoming more resilient in protecting citizens from natural disasters
In 2015 earthquake was approaching and government warned residents and told them to get to high ground, this saved a lot of lives
What are the factors affecting vulnerability in Haiti?
- 80% of Haiti’s population live below the poverty line
- 53% of population are illiterate, lack of education, especially about natural disasters
- No warning system in place
- No earthquake drills
- Extremely poor infrastructure, little to no building regulations
- Therefore, building easily collapsed
What PHYSICAL factors determine an earthquake’s impact?
- Magnitude
- Depth
- Distance from epicentre
- Geology (soft rock amplify shaking)
What HUMAN factors determine an earthquake’s impact?
- Level of development
- Population
- Level of preparation
- Effectiveness of emergency response
- Impact of secondary hazards
What was the main reason for damage in the Loma Prieta 1989 earthquake?
The geology was made up mostly of soft, sandy soil which amplified the seismic waves. It also liquified which caused the Cyprus freeway to collapse.