Tectonic Processes & Hazards - EQ3 - 1.9 Flashcards
Define hazard mitigation
- startegies to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events
Define adaptation
- strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard events
what are some of the difficluties of responding to tectonic hazars
- The chosen ways are often related to wealth and access to technology
- Humans do have a capacity to ignore or seriously underestimate risk, even when it seems obvious to others
- Often it may seem obvious that people should move out of harms way, but in reality this may be impossible.
What are the 3 stages tinwhich tectonic events are usually managed
- Modifying the cause and event
- Modifying the vulnerability to prevent further disasters
- Modifying the loss (e.g. aid and temporary housing and services)
Who are the key players when responding to a hazard?
- Non-Governmental Organisations e.g. Red Cross and Oxfam
- Insurance companies
- Communities
- Aid donors (emergency, short-term and long-term aid)
- Governments (local and national)
- Relief agencies
- Emergency
What are the 4 ways tectonic event and cause can be modified
- land use zoning
- diverting lava flows
- GIS mapping
- resistant design & engineering defences
What are the 4 ways the vulnerability of a tectonic event can be modified
- high tech monitoring
- crisis mapping
- education
- community preparedness & adaptation
what are the 4 ways that the loss of a tectnoc hazard can be modified
- short term aid
- long term aid
- insurance
Mitigation or adaptation? high-tech monitoring
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? crisis mapping
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? education
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? community preparedness & adaptation
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation?
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? long & short term modifications to the loss
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? insurance
adaptation
Mitigation or adaptation? land-use zoning
mitigation
Mitigation or adaptation? diverting lava flows
mitigation
Mitigation or adaptation? GIS Mapping
mitigation
Mitigation or adaptation? Resistant design & engineering defences
mitigation
what is GIS mapping
- GIS can be used in all stages of the disaster management cycle.
- For example, to identify where evacuation routes should be placed or to help with rescue and recovery options.
- The information shown on a GIS map can include: population locations, areas affected by past earthquakes or volcanoes, locations of travel routes such as airports.
What is GIS Mapping useful for
- Together this can help aid agencies to identify areas that would be most affected by the hazard.
What is diverting lava flows
- includes using barriers & digging tunnels to divert the flow of lava to safer locations & avoid places that might be vulnerable or densely populated
What are the advantages of diverting lava flows
- successful in Mount Etna in 1983
What are the disadvantages of diverting lava flows
- its been generally ineffecftive as the path is hard to predict and you could divert it to another area with a community
- it requires terrain to be suitable - flat or downwards sloping
What is land use zoning
- ensuring that people are not living in high risk areas
- regulate & plan different areas so that you can leave specfic areas/ don’t build on them if theyre going to be hit by a disaster
-can look at historic records of tectonic events - seeing where was vulnerable before
where is land use zoning more common
- wealthy countries where there is more communication between locals & governments & people can actually move if needs be
pro of land use zoning
- less economic damage & less social impacts which means it can appear like the event had been avoided
what are the features of resistant design & engineering defences
- eathquake proof buildings
- automatic window shutters to prevent falling glass
- fire resistant building materials
- foundations sunk into bedrock avoiding clay
What is high-tech monitoring
- Technology plays an increasingly important role in helping communities and individuals to become less vulnerable to hazard events.
- Technological monitoring systems for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, allow scientists and others to learn more about these natural processes.
Some of these high-tech monitoring systems include:
- GIS, Early Warning Systems, Satellite-Communication Technology & Mobile Phone Technology
advantages of high-tech monitoring
- In most cases, predicting an eruption is possible
- Warnings and evacuation save lives
disadvantages of high-tech monitoring
- Costly, so not all developing world volcanoes are monitored
- May suffer from ‘cry wolf syndrome’ if predictions are not accurate
- This is where predictions (and evacuation) are wrong, so people are less lively to believe the next one.
- Does not prevent property damage
What are examples of community preparedness
- preparation days, education in schools and earthquake kits
- These are boxes of essential household supplies (water, food, battery powered radio, blankets) kept in a safe place at home to be used in the days following an earthquake
advantages of community preparedness?
- Low cost, often implemented by NGOs
- Can save lives through small actions
disadvantages of community preparedness?
- Does not prevent property damage
- Harder to implement in isolated rural area
What is short term aid
- Search and rescue followed by emergency food, water and shelter
What is long term aid
- This may take the form of reconstruction plans to rebuild an area and possibly improve resilience
pros of short term aid
Reduces death toll by saving lives and keeping people alive until longer-term help arrives
drawbacks of short term aid
- High cost
- Difficult to distribute in isolated areas
- Emergency services are limited and poorly equipped in developing countries
pros of long term aid
Reconstruction can ‘build in’ resilience through land-use planning and better construction methods
drawbacks of long term aid
- Very high costs
- Needs are quickly forgotten by the media after the initial disaster
what is insurance
- Provides financial support to those rebuilding, on an individual/community level, typically, in developed and not developing countries
pros of insurance
- In Japan government and insurance companies work together
- Allows people to recover economically by paying for reconstruction
cons of insurance
- In developing countries it’s not high priority to spend money on something that is long term
- Does not save lives
- Few people in the developed world have insurance
what is crisis mapping
- using local knowledge & technology to rescue and help aid workers
cons of crisis mapping
- difficult to rsut what people might be saying as they are desperate
pros of crisis mapping
- the data can be used for future projects / can se where the most vulnerable areas are found
- helps with overall planning for next time
what is education
- using smaller communities where the government cannot invest in resources to help with the diasaster
- they often have more specfific data on vulnerable people
- it relies on intergration in communities & is only effective if issued
