Tectonics earthquake case studies Flashcards
Developing example + magnitude and focal depth
Haiti
7.0
13km
Emerging example + magnitude and focal depth
Sichuan, China
7.9
19km
Developed example + magnitude and focal depth
Sendai, Japan
9.0
29km
Developing time, date, year
12th January 2010
16:53 local time
Emerging time, date, year
12th May 2008
14:28 local time
Developed time, date, year
11th March 2011
14:46 local time
Haiti plate boundary + movement
Strike-slip fault (conservative)
NA + Caribbean plates
Sichuan boundary + movement
Collision
Indo-Australian + Eurasian
Sendai boundary + movement
Convergent
Pacific + Eurasian
Haiti epicentre
25km from Port au Prince
Sichuan epicentre
80km from Chengdu
Sendai epicentre
100km east of Sendai
Haiti duration
30 seconds
Sichuan duration
over 2 mins
Sendai duration
approx 6 minutes
Haiti social impacts (primary + secondary)
316,000 deaths (government) or 220,000 (UN)
all 8 hospitals collapsed / damaged
only airport destroyed
prison collapsed -> 4000 inmates escaped
still people living in temporary shelters on streets
(S) cholera outbreak killed 9000 by 2015
(S) 1/5 jobs lost
(1) 1 million homeless
Haiti economic impacts
$14b loss
1/5 jobs lost = rise in unemployment
Haiti environmental impacts
plastic waste from tents + tarpaulin
areas of coast submerged
liquefaction
Haiti vulnerability
Poorest country in western hemisphere
High levels of corruption -> organisations hesitant to channel aid through government
86% in Port au Prince in slums
Only seismometer was for teaching purposes
1/3 access to tap water
Haiti preparation
no living experience
Haiti response
international aid $13b
Hope for Haiti Now campaign
Red Cross 50 bed field hospital
small scale practice drills
buildings on stilts = aseismic design
Sichuan social impacts
Over 70,000 fatalities (5335 children)
middle school collapsed = 900 pupils dead
Over 5 million homeless
Sichuan economic impacts
$130b loss
Oil prices dropped by $1.73 (believed demand from China would drop)
Sichuan environmental impacts
Livestock lost in large quantities
Large landslides
Blocked rivers caused flooding
Loss of clean water supply
Over 2000 dams damaged
Sichuan vulnerability
Bribes + corruption meant building codes ignored
Largely untouched by economic development compared to Eastern coast
Sichuan preparation
building codes (but disregarded so ineffective)
Sendai social impacts (primary and secondary)
1500 deaths from earthquake
1 collapsed dam + 1 damaged motorway
airport closed
(S) 16,000 deaths- 93% from drowning (half of deaths were over 65s)
(S) 350,000 homeless
Sichuan response
130,000 soldiers sent to affected areas
Government pledged $10b for rebuilding
Temporary homes built within 2 weeks
Sendai economic impacts
$240b loss
Sendai environmental impacts
2 nuclear reactors in meltdown (Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant) -> evacuation zone of 20km (140,000 evacuated)
Sendai vulnerability
mountainous spine to country means high coastal population density
no coal reserves = dependent on nuclear power
75% buildings designed aseismically e.g. counterweights, cross bracing
planned evacuation routes + shelters
pre-installed alert app on phones
10m high sea walls
Sendai response
Disaster Prevention Day 1st September
All lines of communication switched to official coverage
Japanese Meteorological Agency monitors seismic activity
tsunami predicted 3 mins after earthquake = time to evacuate
Accepted help from over 20 countries
Bank of Japan offered $183 billion to banks to protect economy
