Tectonics

Question 1

what is the definition of a natural hazard?

Answer 1

a natural event that threatens or actually causes injury and death, as well as damage or destruction to property

Question 2

what is the definition of a natural disaster?

Answer 2

when hazards have a significant impact on vulnerable populations, a hazard officially becomes a disaster when 100+ people are killed/ 100+ people are affected

Question 3

what is vulnerability?

Answer 3

the ability of a community to cope with the impacts of a hazard e.g. quality of warning systems, emergency responses (& other factors) determine ability

Question 4

what is risk?

Answer 4

the exposure of people to a hazardous event, probability of a hazard leading to loss of life/ livelihoods

Question 5

what is the hazard risk equation?

Answer 5

risk = (hazard x exposure x vulnerability) / ability to cope

Question 6

what is resilience?

Answer 6

ability of a community/country exposed to hazards to resist, absorb & recover from impacts of a hazard

Question 7

what are the three main factors of the PAR model and what are their sub-categories?

Answer 7

1. root causes (limited access to, ideologies)
2. dynamic pressures (lack of, macro-forces)
3. unsafe conditions

Question 8

what factors influence the economic impacts of a tectonic event?

Answer 8

1. level of development, per capita GDP
2. total number of people affected
3. speed of recovery from hazardous event
4. degree of urbanisation
5. amount of uninsured losses

Question 9

what does the richter scale measure?

Answer 9

the amplitude of the waves produced by an earthquake , an absolute scale - it will measure the same on the richter scale wherever an earthquake is recorded

Question 10

what does the modified mercalli scale measure?

Answer 10

the experienced impacts of an earthquake, a relative scale because people experience different amounts of shaking in different places, based on a series of key responses e.g. people awakening, movement of furniture, damage to structures

Question 11

what does the MMS scale measure?

Answer 11

describes earthquakes in terms of energy released, magnitude is based on ‘seismic moment’ of earthquake (calculated by amount of slip on fault, area affected & Earth-rigidity factor)

Question 12

what does the VEI measure?

Answer 12

relative measure of explosiveness of a volcanic eruption, calculated from volume of products released, height of eruption cloud, qualitative observations, logarithmic: increase of 1 index indicates a 10x more powerful eruption

Question 13

what is a hazard profile?

Answer 13

a factor determining the social and economic impacts of an event, can be compared with profiles of other events

Question 14

what criteria are used to build a hazard profile?

Answer 14

magnitude, speed of onset, duration, areal extent, spatial predictability, frequency

Question 15

what non-economic aspects of development are also significant in affecting vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 15

access to education , access to healthcare, housing and governance

Question 16

how do non-economic aspects affect vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 16

education: means people can be made more aware of hazard risks of living where they do and what to do in a hazard event
healthcare: the better the people’s health, the better they are at withstanding health and food risks resulting from hazard
housing: poorly built housing is usually unable to withstand earthquake shockwaves, leading to serious injury/death
governance: quality of governance can be critical

Question 17

what is governance?

Answer 17

the way a country, city community, company etc is run by the people in control. good governance embodies recognition and practise of a range of principles e.g. transparency, rule of law, equity, consensus & participation

Question 18

what three concepts are governance based on?

Answer 18

authority, decision making and accountability

Question 19

what is poor governance and how does it increase vulnerability?

Answer 19

corruption, weak political organisation:

1. failing to properly invest in infrastructure that might mitigate impacts of tectonic hazard e.g. failing to invest in warning systems, ‘hazard-proofing’ buildings etc
2. being ill-prepared to deal with emergency situation immediately following a hazard

Question 20

what geographical factors can increase hazard vulnerability?

Answer 20

1. population density
2. urbanisation
3. isolation and inaccessibility
4. community spirit

Question 21

what factors in the 2003 Iran and 2015 Nepal earthquakes resulted in them becoming disasters?

Answer 21

1. poorly constructed & vulnerable housing/other buildings
2. poor emergency response - lack of equipment & specialised rescue & medical training (Bam, Iran: destruction of 3 main hospitals, Nepal: inaccessibility of stricken areas - remote mountainside locations with road rendered impassable by huge landslides)