Tectonics - Case Studies Flashcards
Christchurch, New Zealand 22nd Feb 2011
GOOD FOR
o Hazard in a developed country
o Good governance and high resilience
o Liquefaction
o Convergent (oceanic-continental) and conservative = oblique reverse fault – movement in 2 directions
KEY FACTS
-Occurred in Canterbury region on South Island of NZ
-Epicentre 6 miles SE of Christchurch
-On the ring of fire
-Significant liquefaction: 400,000 tonnes of silt produced
-Pacific plate sub ducted under the Australian plate
-6.3 magnitude on Richter scale, 8 on Mercalli
-5km in depth
- GDP per capita $36,000
IMPACTS
-185 deaths
- 1500-2000 injured
-$40 billion in damage costs
-50% of city centres buildings damaged
-Businesses collapsed employment fell by 6%
-Reduced air quality, 32 days was below government “safe standards”
-Liquefaction contaminated water ways – affecting aquatic species and reduced capacity of rivers increased erosion and narrow beds
RESPONSES
-Innovated tech, resilient economy and good governance
-GeoNet set up – help quake proof people’s homes
-Military called in as additional personnel for search and rescue
-Recovery assistance centre established for phone calls for NGOs such as the Red Cross, Housing New Zealand
Haiti 12th Jan 2010
GOOD FOR o Developing country disaster o Poor governance and resilience o Amplification of shaking Conservative plate boundary (Caribbean and American plate) KEY FACTS Magnitude 7 -Occurred in Port au Prince -Aftershocks which hit magnitudes of 5.9 and 5.5 = aftershocks for days after -Due to unconsolidated sediments Port au Prince was built on, shaking was amplified -Shallow focus of 13km -GDP per capita $1,253 IMPACTS80% of schools closed - 3.5 million people affected -220,000+ deaths -Hit by cholera outbreak post disaster -$14bn in damage -30,000 commercial buildings collapsed -19 million cubic meters of rubble and debris in Port au Prince RESPONSES -From 2010-12 international donors raised $6.43 billion for the reconstruction in Haiti -UNICEF collected $575 million from various agencies towards supporting Haiti -989 business grants given out I
Nepal 25th April 2015
o Disaster in a developing country
o Poor governance and resilience
o High vulnerability
o Convergent (continental-continental)
KEY FACTS
-Southern Asia, NE of India, NW Thailand
-7.8 Magnitude on Moment Magnitude scale
-Epicentre less than 50 miles NW of Kathmandu – capital of Nepal
-11km shallow depth
IMPACTS
-Killed nearly 9,000, injured 22,000
- 1 million children left with no school to attend
-956 hospitals and clinics damaged
-3.7 million received humanitarian aid
-$6.6 billion est. cost for reconstruction
-triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest – 21 killed
RESPONSES
-Bangladesh dispatched an aircraft with 10 tonnes of relief materials e.g.: food, water
- Oxfam sent team with sanitation and water purification equipment
-UK donated $31 million
-330 humanitarian agencies implementing 2,200 humanitarian activities
Eyjafjallajokull 20th March 2010
GOOD FOR
o Developed country
o Global economic impacts
o Divergent
KEY FACTS
-4 on VEI
-North American – Eurasian plate boundary located by the Atlantic Ocean on the Mid Atlantic Ridge
-25% ice caps melted and mixed with magma to make 250 million cubic metres of ash/tephra
-ejected massive ash cloud
-ash plume 4-6km high
-volcanic ash and tephra
-jokulhaups caused flooding and damaged infrastructure
- £3.3 billion in economic losses
IMPACTS
- 800 people had to be evacuated
-tourists stranded – 10 million passengers disrupted cost airlines $200 million a day total
-95,000 flights cancelled
-$3 billion in economic losses
- air travel postponed
- disruption to global supply chains – global market closed to EU e.g. Nissan in Japan – stopped production of 2000 cars
-1.5x10^8kg of CO2 released every day from eruptions
- prevention of air travel stopped an estimated 1.7 million tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere
RESPONSES
Main government response – local airport closures
- evacuation of local residents and workers
- aid given to anyone physically affected by eruption
Indian Ocean Tsunami 26th December 2004
GOOD FOR
o Affected a large area of Indian ocean (developing/emerging countries)
o Lack of warning systems contributed to disaster
KEY FACTS
-Magnitude of 9 - 9.3
- Epicentre NE of Indonesia’s Sumatra island
- thrust of ocean floor heaved by 15m – sent shock waves
-greatest fault length of estimated 1,500km – longer than US state of California
-waves travelled up to 8000km/h (500mph)
- earthquake causing tsunami was especially large
- no tsunami warning systems
- low levels of preparedness
IMPACTS
- 5 million affected, 300,000 died, 1.7 million left homeless
-lack of food, clean water, medical treatment
-120,000 workers lost jobs in Thailand tourism industry
- economies devastated: fishing, tourism, agriculture. 60% of Sri Lanka’s fishing fleet and infrastructure destroyed
- economic loss of $1 billion
- Thailand lost $25 million a month
- ecosystem severely damaged
- 800m of vegetation and topsoil removed inland
-freshwater supplies and agricultural soil contaminated with saltwater
- mangroves and coral reefs absorbed some wave energy in Maldives, mangroves destroyed in Sri Lanka
RESPONSES
• -Food aid was provided to millions of people, e.g. from the World Food Programme
-The British public gave £330 million through charities, e.g. the average ActionAid donation was £84 – their best ever response.
-Search and rescue
-Emergency food and water
-Medical care
-Temporary shelter
Tohuku Tsunami Japan 11th March 2011
GOOD FOR
o Disaster in a developed country
o Good governance and supposedly low levels of vulnerability and high resilience
o Global economic impacts
o convergent (oceanic-continental, mega thrust)
KEY FACTS
-9 magnitude
Epicentre E of Tohuku region of Honshu island
-Pacific plate sub-ducted under Eurasian
-Wave heights and natural protection offered by coast varied greatly across coastline
- energy supply – cooling failure at Fukushima power plant – level 7 nuclear melt down = release of radioactive material
IMPACTS
- 15,891 deaths
- 2,500+ missing
homes and businesses destroyed
-mass migration
- global supply chain affected – car industry Nissan and high tech companies
-overall economic loss $300 billion
- Nissan’s profits fell by 15%
- radiation from nuclear power plant contaminated multiple oceans
- areas made inhabitable
-death of animals
- 110,000 nesting sea birds killed
RESPONSES
-text alerts about earthquake and tsunami
- 1 minute warning about earthquake
-aseismic building design (stringent laws) saved lives
- authorities told to stop trains, factory assembly lines, evacuation of people from impact zones
- Tokyo residents received a minute warning before earthquake struck city
Kilauea, Hawaii Hotspot volcano (ongoing)
GOOD FOR o developed country (USA) o hotspot volcano, shield o long duration event o damage over 14 years KEY FACTS -erupt basaltic lava, low viscosity, effusive -predictable -shield and hotspot volcano -emerged from sea floor around 500,000 years ago -34 eruptions since 1952 IMPACTS -lava flows 181 residences destroyed - $61 million in damage costs -8 miles of highway covered by flows during past 14 years -air quality diminished -new coastline to the island RESPONSES -Continuous eruptions means locals know how to cope with them – whole towns have been moved -Hawaii Volcanoes National Park created 1916 -2.6 million tourists visit volcano
Merapi, Indonesia
GOOD FOR
o emerging country
o pyroclastic flows
o composite cone volcano
KEY FACTS
-fertile soil – densely populated
-SE Asia, Indonesia
-volcanic bombs and hot gases up to 800°C spread over 11km
-rainfall created a lahar
IMPACTS
-587 deaths
- whole villages wiped out – 360,00 displaced
-15km away villages were under 30cm of ash
-pyroclastic flows spread 3km down mountain
- sulphur dioxide blown across Indonesia
-economic losses surpassing $600 million
-damage to tourism, manufacturing and agricultural sector
RESPONSES
-210 evacuation centres set up
-1,600 people part of national aid response
-International aid offered e.g. Red Cross
2,682 people have had to be moved to new safer permanent homes
-government making money available to farmers to help replace livestock
Pinatubo, Philippines June 1991
o emerging country o most destructive in century o global impacts o volcanic eruption KEY FACTS One of the most destructive volcanic eruptions of 20th century -crater of volcano is lake of 2.7km -7.8 magnitude earthquake NW of Pinatubo
IMPACTS
-847 killed
-200,000 people homeless
-damage to economy and infrastructure
volcanic ash up to 30km
-thick deposits of tephra, pyroclastic flows and lahars
-cooled global temps by 1.5°C for 3 years
RESPONSES
-millions of dollars from government of Philippines and international aid used to clean and provide help for victims
Montserrat, Caribbean 1995-7
GOOD FOR
o developing country
affected whole island
o low death toll
o long duration
KEY FACTS
-small warning signs given off – earthquakes and eruptions of dust and ash
-remained active for 5 years
IMPACTS
-11,00 people evacuated
-19 people killed
-unemployment rose due to collapse of tourism industry
- volcanic eruptions and lahars destroyed large areas
-crops destroyed
-lot of pyroclastic flows
RESPONSES
-evacuation
-abandonment of capital city
-British govt. gave up money for compensation and redevelopment
-exclusive zone set up in volcanic region
-volcanic observatory built to monitor volcano
-new roads and new airport built
-presence of volcano growth of tourism
