Tectonics EQ2

Question 1

What is a natural hazard?

Answer 1

A perceived nautral/geophysical event that has the potential to threaten both life and property

Question 2

What is a natural disaster?

Answer 2

The realisation of a hazard, when it causes significant impact on a vulnerable population

Question 3

What is Degg’s model?

Answer 3

Venn diagram stating that a disaster is the intersection of a hazardous geophysical event, and a vulnerable population

Question 4

Why is vulnerability important?

Answer 4

Vulnerability is directly linked to resilience, and a region’s capacity to cope with tectonic hazards. More vulnerable populations are susceptible to worse impacts from tectonic hazards.

Question 5

What is risk?

Answer 5

The probability of a hazard occurring that leads to the loss of lives and/or livelihood

Question 6

What is resilience?

Answer 6

The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb and recover from the effects of a hazard

Question 7

What is vulnerability?

Answer 7

The geographical conditions that increases the susceptibility of a community to a hazard or to the impact of a hazard event.

Question 8

What is the resilience of a community determined by?

Answer 8

The degree to which the community has the necessary resources and is capable of organising itself both prior to and in times of need

Question 9

What is the hazard-risk equation

Answer 9

risk = hazard x vulnerability/manageability

Question 10

What is the basis for the Pressure and Release model?

Answer 10

A disaster is the intersection of processes generating vulnerability on one side and the natural hazard event on the other

Question 11

What 3 factors are involved in the progression of vulnerability from the PAR model?

Answer 11

root causes
dynamic pressures
unsafe conditions

Question 12

What are some examples of root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions?

Answer 12

Root causes - limited access to resources. Ideologies
Dynamic pressures - lack of training, local investment. Rapid changes (urbanisation, deforestation)
Unsafe conditions - fragile physical environment, vulnerable society

Question 13

What are the social impacts of tectonic hazards

Answer 13

death/injury
destruction of homes
displacement, people made homeless

Question 14

What are the economic impacts of tectonic hazards?

Answer 14

buildings/infrastructure damage
economic losses
growth of economy prevented

Question 15

Why are the impacts of tectonic hazards often greater in less developed countries?

Answer 15

Less developed countries = poorly built infrastructure, poor healthcare, lack of resources to properly protect property, overpopulation, poverty
This creates a vulnerable society with a lack of ability to be resilient to tectonic hazards

Question 16

Why are the impacts of earthquakes generally greater than those of volcanoes?

Answer 16

concentration of volcanoes in narrow belts (less than 1% of population exposed to volcanic activity, whereas 5% at risk from earthquakes)

volcanic eruptions have a slower speed of onset and greater spatial predictability

earthquakes cannot be predicted (no diagnostic precursor), there is greater opportunity for volcano mitigation

Question 17

What is a tectonic hazard profile?

Answer 17

A technique used to try to understand the physical characteristics of different types of hazards

Question 18

What characteristics are compared in a tectonic hazard profile?

Answer 18

magnitude
speed of onset
duration
areal extent
spatial predictability
frequency

Question 19

What are the difficulties with hazard profiling?

Answer 19

degree of reliability when comparing different event types
hard to compare across hazard types as they all have different impacts on society and varying spatial and temporal distributions

Question 20

What inequalities can affect vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 20

Inequalities in access to:
education
housing
healthcare
income opportunities

Question 21

Why do less developed countries find themselves limited by the impacts of tectonic disasters?

Answer 21

Infrastructure is damaged, and livelihoods and savings are destroyed.
Death or migration of productive labour force means economy takes a huge hit.
Tectonic disasters worsen development, and make it difficult for recovery to happen in LICs/NEEs

Question 22

Why do more developed countries sometimes actually benefit from tectonic disasters?

Answer 22

Tectonic disasters create a favourable environment for advocacy for disaster-risk reduction measures.
Decision makers are also more willing to allocate resources in the wake of a disaster.
Reconstruction and rehabilitation create opportunities for integrating disaster-risk measures.

Question 23

What is governance?

Answer 23

The process by which a country/region is run

Question 24

What geographical factors influence vulnerability/resilience?

Answer 24

population density
isolation/accessibility
degree of urbanisation