TECTONICS Flashcards
Haiti context 2010
Between the Caribbean and North American plates
● Over a major fault line
● 7.0 mag (lasted over 1 min)
● Epicentre was 15 miles from nation’s capital, Port Au Prince
● Very shallow focus, 13km deep
Haiti vulnerability
Haiti was very vulnerable to this earthquake
● Close to nation’s capital with population of around 2 million
● Main source of income is remittances
● Haiti was spending 80% of its national budget on loan repayments by 1900
● 98% of Haiti deforested, meaning the land is less stable as the roots from trees are no longer there to bind it
● By the time all of the loans were paid off, Haiti was left destitute and trapped in a spiral of debt
● Unemployed (Unemployment rate = 75%) and People on $2 a day cannot afford quake-proof housing
● Capital is built upon many unstable soils and seismic waves amplified within the soil ○ Caused intense shaking and liquefaction
● Had a vulnerable population (2009 stats)
○ Nearly 40% of the population are u14
○ Life expectancy = 52
○ GDP was only $1,300
○ 80% of the population lived below the poverty line and
○ 25 doctors per 100,000 people
Haiti Capacity to Cope
Haiti did not have the resources to prepare
Building quality was poor and therefore easily collapsed
● At least 500,000 people in the slum of Cité de Soleil in Port-au-Prince live in abject poverty, these people were the worst affected
● Haiti was already reliant on international aid before the earthquake
Haiti Response
Short-term
● Aid effort from within Haiti was virtually non-existent
● Foreign aid was slowed due to lack of transport infrastructure
● Satellite imagery in London was used to guide relief efforts
● Many countries responded to the appeals for aid → Much confusion over who was in charge
Long-term
● USA took charge in trying to coordinate aid distribution
● The EU gave $330 million and the World Bank waived the countries debt repayments for 5 years
● Senegalese offered land to any Haitians who wanted it
● Dominican Republic offered support and accepted some refugees
● No. people in relief camps post quake = 1.6 million, no transitional housing had been built. Most of the camps had no electricity, running water, or sewage disposal, tents falling apart
● Between 23 major charities, $1.1 billion had been collected for Haiti for relief efforts, but 2% percent of the money had been released
● After 1 yr, 1 million people were still displaced
Haiti social impacts
● Looting and sporadic violence occurred
● Approx 315, 000 died
○ ¼ of gov officials died = no one coordinated
● Over 1 mil made homeless
● 3 mil in total affected
● The government of Haïti also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged
● 1 in 5 jobs were lost as a result of the earthquake
Haiti Economic impacts
● The clothing industry, which accounts for two-thirds of Haïti’s exports, reported structural damage at manufacturing facilities
● Port was destroyed ∴ imports/exports ↓
2008 Sichuan earthquake Context
Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate - pressure released along Longmenshan fault line (runs below Sichuan)
● 7.9 - tremors lasted 120 seconds
● Epicentre = 80km NW of Chengdu (provincial capital)
● Focal depth = 19km
Haiti environmental impacts
Sea levels in local areas changed, meaning some parts of the land were sinking below the sea level
● Animal habitats destroyed
Sichuan Vulnerability
Earthquake’s damage concentrated in rural and small towns (less densely populated) ● China is wealthier - growing economy ∴ had funds to pay for rescue & aid efforts ● Strong central gov able to respond quickly and effectively to disaster ● Population statistics
○ Approx 20% of the population are u14
○ Life expectancy = About 74
○ GDP was only $4.6 trillion
○ 13% of the population lived below the poverty line and
○ 93% were literate
○ Approx 2.5 million licensed doctors
Sichuan capacity to cope
Lack of preparedness
● Corruption of gov and law enforcement meant some unsafe building practices still exist
● Non governmental buildings not necessarily earthquake proof
● No fixed evac sports and no reg earthquake drills
● Resources to respond quickly
● Stronger buildings than Haiti ∴ safer buildings and better infrastructure
Sichuan response
Short-term
● Troops parachuted into Wenchuan to assess the situation, & hiked on foot, as landslides had made roads inaccessible
● Production of tents ↑ → Over 3 million needed to house people who had been made homeless
● > £100 million donated to Red Cross in the fortnight after
● Running camps, ensuring food, medicine & doctors were available, tents w/ blankets & mattresses and volunteers
● 20 helicopters assigned to rescue and relief efforts in Wenchuan, which was cut off by landslide
● Army troops helped to free trapped survivors
● Teams from Japan, Russia and South Korea joined the rescue effort
Long-term
● 1 million temp homes to house those that had lost theirs (expected to be built in next three years)
● Banks wrote of debt owed by survivors who didn’t have any insurance ● Chinese gov pledged $10 million rebuilding fund → towards collapsed structures and the 1 million temp homes
● China requested help from Japan, Russia and Korea
● Red Cross donated food and medicine
● After 2 yrs
○ 99% of about 200 000 farmhouses destroyed had been rebuilt
○ 97% of planned approx 30 000 reconstruction projects in the region had started
○ Over 200 transport projects underway
Sichuan social impacts
Schools
● School buildings meant to meet tougher regulations than normal buildings ○ Protecting the children
● Money spent on governmental buildings but some building codes ignored for schools as would cost more money (corruption)
● 5000 children died
● Approx 70, 000 people killed, approx 375, 000 injured
● Over 18, 000 listed missing
● 100 schools collapsed
● Communications (telephones) cut of
Sichuan economic
● Cargo train (13 petrol tanks) derailed in Hui Country & set alight
● Around 400 dams were damaged
● Oil prices dropped (speculation China demand would ↓ )
● Cost $191 million
● In Shifang, chemical plants collapsed, killing hundreds (& releasing toxic ammonia)
Sichuan environmental impacts
Landslides
● 6 pandas escaped at Wolong Nature reserve - 2 injured, 1 dead
● Rivers blocked by landslides, 34 quake lakes formed.
● Risk of flooding when dams collapsed
2010 Iceland volcano vulnerability
- Small pop (320,000) - low population density
- 3.6 doctors per 100 people
- Approx $12.5 billion GDP
- 4th on HDI
- People who live near water were more vulnerable to flooding
- 99% literacy rate
2010 Indian Ocean Tsunami Context
14 countries surrounding the Indian Ocean affected
● Economic losses and deaths in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia among
others make this disaster one of the largest ever in terms of areal extent
● 9.0 magnitude
● 900 mile fault line
2010 Indian Ocean Tsunami Vulnerability
Inequality
● High state of vulnerability for surrounding nations due to lack of preparedness and education
Governance
● Preparedness and technology to cope with disaster was weak Geographical factors
● Very destructive fault line
● Warnings were inadequate
2010 Indian Ocean Tsunami Impacts
Social
● 250, 000 deaths
● Outbreak of cholera
● Lack of food supply
Economic
● $9.4 bn damage
● Fishing industry devastated in Sri Lanka
● Tourism collapsed
Environment
● Smaller islands completely destroyed
● Pollution and debris hazard
2010 Iceland volcano Capacity to cope
Prepared for the eruption because the first eruption occurred on 20th of March, so were prepared for larger eruptions
● High tech equipment for prediction
○ Warning systems (texts sent to residents with a 30 min warning)
● Professional response teams
2010 Iceland Response
Short-term
● Evacuation around volcano
● European Red Cross societies mobilised volunteers, staff and other resources
● Red Cross provided food for population living in vicinity of the glacier, as well as
counselling and psychosocial support
● 700 people were evacuated from the disaster zone
● People had to flee their homes in the middle of the night
● Immediate closure of airspace = death toll 0
Long-term
● EU developed an integrated structure for air traffic management
2010 Iceland Social
Sporting events were cancelled due to cancelled flights
● Flooding by melting glacier displaced people (Jökulhlaup)
● Respiratory diseases/problems
● Homes damaged
2010 Iceland Economic impacts
Airfreight = 25% of trade by value in UK
● No fly zone cost airlines approx £130 mil/day
○ Flights cancelled due to lack of visibility and microscopic particles of volcano rocks can clog up engines
● Car manufacturing
○ Nissan in Japan had to stop manufacturing of certain car models as sensor
shipped from Ireland could not get there ● Perishable goods
○ Large quantities of flowers and vegetables from Kenya left to rot
■ Kenya’s flower council = Approx $1.5 million a day lost shipments to
europe
○ WB estimated approx $65 mil lost by African countries due to shutdown of
transport of perishable goods
2010 Iceland Environmental Impacts
Gas released killed crop yields
● Affected part of Iceland’s coastal sand plain
● Local water supplies contaminated w/ fluoride as it was contained in the ash
● Ash from the volcano deposited dissolved into the North Atlantic, triggering a plankton bloom, driving an increased biological productivity
2011 Tohoku Context
Magnitude 9.0 earthquake
● Category VI (highest) on the Tsunami intensity scale
● March 2011
● Epicentre approx 70 km East of the Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku
● Focus was at an underwater depth of approx 32 km
● Japan located at the point of 3 tectonic plates (The Eurasian, Pacific and Philippine
plates)
● Had a significant nuclear impact
● Land subsided by 1-2 metres meaning sea walls were lowered
○ Tsunami ∴ easily passed over them