Physcial Geography Tectonics Flashcards
Vulnerability
Ability to anticipate, cope with and resist and recover from natural hazard
Resilience
ability to protect lives,livelihood and infrastructure from destruction and to restore areas after natural hazard
Natural Hazard ➡️ Natural Disaster. Economic and Social Conditions
lack of education may be less aware of the risk and ways to protect themselves
poor quality of housing less able to withstand hazards like earthquakes
communities with poor health less likely to recover and cope with the hazard and suffer more disease
Natural Hazard ➡️ Natural Disaster. Physical and environmental conditions
areas with high population density tend to have poor quality of housing
rapid urbanisation, typically people from rural to cities means more houses need to be built fast which tends to be in poor conditions
accessibility of an area affects how quickly rescuers and aid can arrive
Governance (local and national) and political conditions
enforcement of building codes and regulations determine the quality of the structures
quality of existing infrastructure (transport links and power supply) affects the countries recover speed
existence of disasters preparedness plans influences how quickly a country can cope and recover from natural hazard
communications systems affects ability to inform people of a hazard in advance and coordinate rescuer efforts.
social impacts of hazards - volcanic eruptions
Monsterat
7000 moved to other countries
loss of life - dozen
two thirds of all houses, 3/4 of infrastructure were destroyed
unemployment rose as island tourist industry collapsed
top heavy population pyramid was created, younger people saw no future and left the island
farmland destroyed or left as it was too close to the volcano - affected agriculture severly
how do you measure volcano eruptions
VEI -volcanic explosivity index
what does the vei to assign a number to the scale of the volcano
amount and height of the volcanic ejected material (tephra and ash fall)
how long eruption last for
qualitative descriptive terms (gentle, explosive)
what equipment can be used when PREDICTING eruptions
GPS and satelite based radar
what signs are there of a potential eruptions?
small earthquakes - as magma rises to the surface it breaks rock, causing small earthquakes which scientist can detect on sesimograms
changes to the surface of the volcano - magma buildsp pressure as it pushes upwards
changes to tilt of the volcano as magma moves inside the volcano it changes the slope angle or tilt
NOT ALL VOLCANOES ARE MONIOTRED AND CORRECT
primary effects of earthquakes
ground shaking - buildings, roads, bridges destroyed, killing or injuring people
crustual fracturing - energy released causes earth to crack resulting in holes in ground
secomdary effects of earthquakes
liquefaction - surface rocks to lose strength and become liquid, cuases buildings and roads to tilt or slip - makes recue efforts harder
landslides - ground shaking places stress on slopes so they fail - causes major damage
tsunami - underwater earthquakes generate tsunami - causes major damage
Haiti - What type of country is it and where is it located
Developing country
located on the fault between north american and carribean plate
Haiti - How did physcial factors affect the earthquake
shallow focus (13KM) increased amount of ground shaking
liquefaction on looser soil caused many builidng foundations to sink
epicentre was only 24km from the Port-Au-Prince (captial and most dense populated city home to 2 million people
Haiti - social, economic, political factors
poor country - limited resources were being spent on diseases rather than earthquake protection
high level of corruption at national and local led to lack of resources and commitment to improve infrastructure
lack of building control and regulation - Port-Au-Prince was poorly built, slum housing. Building could not sustain ground shaking
Dense urban enviromenmt made rescue efforts hard
Many Haitians living in poverty - resources not their to cope and prepare
Haiti - Impacts
Only one airport, several ports and a few main roads. When destroyed, aid supplies were prevented from arriving - slowing down rescue efforts leading to more deaths
more than 1/4 of government officials were killed - key governmenmt buildings destroyed - making less able to organise recovery efforts and organise relief efforts
outbreak of Chloera (fatal infection cuased by poor sanitation) in 2010 and 2016. Lack of medical supplies and trained workers cuased disease to spread and kill 9000 and 720000 affected
Haiti - Recovery
2015 - Five years later Haiti still recovering,
USA $13 Billion of aid had been donated. However onlu 10% controlled by Haitian government and Haitian organisations. Most with international organisations
Due to government officials being killed international organisation needed to provide emergency services
Concerns about corruption and mismanagement lead to organisation unwilling to channel money to Haitian government directly. Instead they chose to manage projects themselves, bringing own staff from overseas.
This hampared Haiti to become self sufficient
Haiti - Progress Recovery
Progress has been slow, 80,000 Haitians living in temp houses or camps as of 2015, Chloera was a problem
New houses, schools, roads, buildings have been built
Goverment getting stronger and able to cope with hazards like the 2013 where they warned people of a storm and go to the high ground which saved lives.
Gov also took lead role in organsing aid after the storm 2013
What does the PAR model do
looks at underlying cuases of disaster
what sides does the par model look at
processess that create vulnerability as root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions
other side is the hazard
Progression of vulnerbaility in hazard in HAITI
extensive corruption in government -> lack of effective education systems, disaster preparedness and management systems. Macro forces, rapid urbanisation
unsafe conditions
illegal housing in unsafe houses such as hillsides
poor infrastructure
before earthquake, 39% had access to safe water and 24% sanitation
