Tectonic Hazards (hazards) Flashcards
How many people live in tectonically active areas?
Over 500 million
Why do people live in tectonically active areas?
Inertia
Ignorance
Economic benefit
Inertia
They don’t care about the hazard. They don’t want to move, possibly due to having social & cultural ties to the area they live in
Ignorance
Lack of education causing them to be unaware of the danger
Economic benefit
Employment opportunity. The benefits of staying outweigh the possible costs
Tectonic disaster trends
LIDC’s and EDC’s likely to have the worst death tolls. High population densities/urban areas have high death tolls.
Increase in recorded events
Rising number of recorded tectonic hazard events because of a lack of accurate seismic recording/volcanic monitoring for previous decades
What is the hazard risk equation?
(HxV)➗C
H
The physical attributes of the hazard event
V
Vulnerability of the people
C
How well the people and organisations use resources and skills to deal with consequences
An event profile diagram can be used to explore the extremity of a hazard. Variables include:
Magnitude
Speed of onset
Duration
Areal extent
Spatial predictability
Frequency
Factors that make people vulnerable to the impacts of tectonic events
Vulnerability is influenced by physical, social, economic and environmental factors
Volcanic eruption
High population density
Lack of knowledge about volcano behaviour
Lack of monitoring of volcano
Earthquake
Lack of public information
Building design
Steep unstable slopes can landslide
Tsunami
Lack of knowledge of warning indicators and mitigating actions
Low lying coastal communities
Nuclear power stations/petro-chemical works can lead to Na-tech disasters
Long term environmental impact
Soil salinised
Long term economic impact
Businesses move away from
Long term social impact
People dont move back. Long term trauma
Short term environmental impact
Air full of ash
Short term economic impact
Cost of rescue and running refugee camps
Short term social impacts
Bereavement, homelessness, injury
How many stages of Parks model?
Five stages
Stage 1
Modifying the event cause
Stage 2
Hazardous event
Stage 3
Search, rescue and care
Stage 4
Relief and rehabilitation
Stage 5
Reduce vulnerability and restore normality
