Tectonic Hazards Flashcards
What is the distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes
They appear much more often on tectonic plates however they can appear randomly every now and then
What is a destructive plate margin
This is where a continental plate and an oceanic plate meet and thence the oceanic plate is much more dense it subducts beneath the continental plate and therefore causes disturbances such as eqs tsunamis and volcanoes
What is a constructive plate margin
Two plates of the same density begin to push against one another nd therefore pushes directly upwards creating mountains and volcanoes
What is a conservative plate margin
This is where two plates rub against each other because they are going in different directions or the same direction but at different speeds. These cause only earthquakes
What are the main features of an earthquake
The ground will shake and split as well as landslides and tsunamis and the ways to measure them is using the Richter scale.
The earthquake in Haiti
In January 2010 there was an earthquake due to a conservative plate boundary and there were 230000 deaths aswell as 180000 homes destroyed. Some secondary effects were that 1.5 million people were left homeless and there was 11.5 billion pounds in damage. There were also cholera outbreaks and snakes managed to get inside houses. Immediate responses were to have search and rescue teams with sniffer dogs and longer term responses were to give 200000 people food and money and 100 million pounds for reconstruction
Earthquake in Christchurch
In 2011 there was an earthquake which killed 181 people and 2000 were injured and 50% of the cities buildings were destroyed. Minor secondary effects were school closure and cars were stuck in roads however 15 billion would need to be spent to repair. Some immediate responses were to send in international aid and charities helped aswell as 300 Australian police being flown in. Some long term responses were to provide temporary housing and to restore water and sewage networks fast
Why do earthquakes cause more loss of life in LICs than HICs
Because in the poorer countries they simply do not have the appropriate technology to deal and predict if the earthquake is going to hit
Why do people still choose to live in areas at risk from tectonic hazards
If it is a volcano then the soil around will be very fertile aswell as bringing in tourists from all over the world to look around the volcano
How do monitoring planning and prediction reduce the effects of natural hazards
With the monitoring they will be able to PREDICT when the hazard will occur and then they will be able to PLAN an evacuation or something along those lines for when it does occur
