tectonics case studies

Question 1

japan earthquake in Tōhoku

Answer 1

2011
9.0 magnitude
friction at a convergent subduction plate boundary released an earthquake which created a tsunami with waves of 10m height
- Social Costs = Loss of Life and Injury: Over 15,000 people were confirmed dead. The event displaced over 400,000 people from their homes. Psychological Trauma: The disaster left many survivors with lasting emotional scars. PTSD and other mental health challenges became widespread.
- Environmental Costs = Tsunami Damage: The tsunami itself led to severe destruction of coastlines.
Radiation from Fukushima: Fukushima nuclear disaster, The failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant led to a series of explosions and radiation leaks, affecting both land and sea. The radiation contamination spread to nearby areas. Some regions remain uninhabitable due to the radioactive contamination.
- Economic Costs = The total cost of repairs and rebuilding efforts was estimated at over $300 billion, making it one of the most expensive natural disasters in history. The cost of decommissioning the Fukushima plant, compensating residents, and addressing the long-term consequences has been astronomical. Japan’s energy sector was also heavily impacted, with increased reliance on imported fossil fuels to replace nuclear power GDP shrank in the immediate aftermath, and while recovery efforts began, the process of rebuilding was slow, and it took years for the economy to fully recover. Japan also faced a significant increase in government debt due to the extensive rebuilding and compensation efforts.

Question 2

sichuan earthquake

Answer 2

2008
7.9 magnitude
- Social Costs:
Loss of Life and Injury: The earthquake caused immense human suffering. Over 87,000 people were confirmed dead, and thousands more were injured, with many sustaining permanent disabilities. The event also left nearly 4.8 million people homeless.
Displacement: More than 15 million people were displaced by the earthquake

Question 3

haiti eathquake

Answer 3

2010
7.0 magnitude
one of the biggest death tolls in the world - estimated 300,000
poor governance and weak institutions
unplanned settlements made up for 86% of the capital port-au-prince 1/3/ of port-au prince completely destroyed, buildings ‘pancaked’
70% of all buildings collapsed, 60% of infrastructure destroyed

Question 4

indian ocean earthquake an tsunami

Answer 4

2004 boxing day
9.3
mega-disaster, affected 14 countries
one of the highest death tolls ever
12m wave tsunami
no early warning system for tsunamis due to low development and in-frequent tsunamics - but they have now created a warning system for the indian ocean. this new system has high-tech monitoring, educating coastal communities, warnings get broadcasted on tv, radio, phones 20 mins prior to the tsunami (in thailand)

Question 5

pinatubo eruption

Answer 5

1991
vei 6
850 dead
$700 million damaged
1.2 million diplaced
main cause was due to pyroclastic depositists, 40km ash collum was thrown up by the eurption

Question 6

iceland eruption

Answer 6

2010
vei 4
eprution happened under an ice sheet which created flooding
carefully monitored and everyone was evacuated leading to 0 deaths
no-fly zone accross europe, costing airlines around £130million daily
2nd half of april = the ash blocked out sunlight
kenya = impacted as farmers couldn’t export materials out to europe, cost kenya a loss of 1.3million daily

Question 7

nevado del ruiz

Answer 7

1985
vei 3
largest lahar in geographical history
priest and mayor told them not to evacuate as a storm obscured the summit area so they could not see the lahar/pyroclastic flow, lahar happened at night when people were sleeping
23000 dead, 3/4 of towns people
blame for eruption was given to governments as they failed to evacuate people after being given many warnings from other countries

Question 8

monserrat

Answer 8

1995-1997
vei 3
dormant volcano eurpted after 300 years for 3 years consecutively
small island population where all evacuted, 11,000 but 19 people refused to leave and where killed as a result
many areas where destroyed due to lahars and pyroastic flows
many people scared to return/had no where to return to, so population fell to 5,000 people after 1997, this created a skills shortage
50% of the population left unemployed