Tectonics EQ3

Question 1

What is a tectonic mega-disaster?

Answer 1

Have regional or even global significance in terms of economic and human impacts

Question 2

What characteristics do mega-disasters typically share?

Answer 2

• Large scale spatially or in terms of their economic and human impact
• Due to outsourcing TNCs are often affected, having to halt production
• Problematic in short term and long term
• Communities and governments often required international support
• Can affect multiple countries
• HILP (High Impact Low Probability) this best explains why countries remain poorly prepared

Question 3

CASE STUDY: Eyjafjallajökull 2010 (Global Air Travel)

Answer 3

Global economic impacts:

• European flight authorities decided to ban all IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flights for several days
• On 18th april, during worst periods of the eruption, 313 airports across Europe were closed
• Major airlines said to be losing £130million a day
• Globally, airlines lost an estimated £1.05 billion
• Prices of stocks and shares in companies relying on air freight fell steeply
• Demand for jet oil slumped by 2 million barrels a day
• Also producers of specialised crops such as flowers and fruit in Africa and the Caribbean, products left to rot. Kenya alone lost £2.4 million per day

Question 4

CASE STUDY: Tohoku Tsunami 2011 Global economic impacts

Answer 4

In the short term, there was an impact on production, both in Japan and globally, as supply chains were affected.
Sony, 6 factories closed down, loss of $2.9 billion
-Nissan car production, 4 factories closed, 2,000 cars ready for export were damaged BUT car prices increased by 6% (profit of $3.8 billion)
The Fukushima nuclear power station destruction resulted in a loss of public acceptability in nuclear power, Germany and Italy immediately shut down some of their nuclear reactors

Question 5

What is a multiple hazard zone?

Answer 5

A place where multiple physical hazards combine to create an increased level of risk for the country and its population.

Question 6

What are disaster hotspots?

Answer 6

Hydrometeorological hazards. Likely to be where tectonic plate boundaries intersect with major storm belts in areas of high human concentration with low/ medium development.

Question 7

How might hazard risk vary within a country?

Answer 7

• Cities are centres of economic development, with high population densities and centres of growing population
• They may have huge areas of unplanned, poor quality housing where the urban poor live
• Slums are often on marginal and potentially dangerous land such as river banks and sleep slopes
• Many of the worlds megacities are located in hazard prone areas
• for this reason, large urban areas are often zones of multi hazard risk

Question 8

CASE STUDY - THE PHILLIPINES - A MULTIPLE HAZARD HOTSPOT

Answer 8

-One of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, has 8/10 of the most at-risk cities from natural hazards in the whole word
It is a lower-middle income country with a high population density
-Typhoons are a significant hazard, affecting the agricultural economy
-Floods are common esp due to high intensity monsoon and typhoon rain
-On zone between Pacific and Eurasian plates 65 destructive events in last 400 years
-37 volcanoes in philippines e.g Mt Pinatubo , lahars significant
-Coastal areas at risk from tsunami.

Question 9

How many islands are there in the Philippines

Answer 9

Over 7000

Question 10

What is the population density of the Philippines?

Answer 10

240km2

Question 11

Describe the worst earthquake event in the Philippines

Answer 11

1990 Rizal city - 1700 deaths and cost £300 million

Question 12

CASE STUDY COASTAL FLOODING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Answer 12

• Flooding is common due to high intensity monsoon and typhoon rain
• Coastal areas are at risk from local Tsunamis and others in pacific ring of fire.
• Risk raised by coastal development and removal of Mangrove swaps

Question 13

What is the arrival time for local tsunami’s in the Philippines?

Answer 13

3-5 minutes

Question 14

Describe the worst Philippines tsunami event - stats and when?

Answer 14

1976 - 5000 dead

Question 15

CASE STUDY Philippines government response

Answer 15

• Many organisations established to forecast, warn, risk assess, disaster train and educate:
• National disaster co-ordinating council
• Philippine Atmospheric, geophysical and astronomical services
• Land use planning
• Building regulations

Question 16

What hydro-metrological hazards could make a tectonic disaster worse?

Answer 16

• Intense rainfall (high volume and long duration) can cause Lahars
• On steep slopes, rainwater can easily erode and transport fine grained, loose volcanic sediment and form a slurry, especially if vegetation has not had time to grow back on recent volcanic deposits
• Lake breakout floods that occur without an eruption can also lead to lahars. They commonly occur after a stream becomes blocked by a volcanic landslide or pyroclastic flows that form a natural dam

Question 17

Can we predict earthquakes?

Answer 17

Cannot be predicted. only areas at high risk can be identified (risk forecasting), plus areas that are likely to suffer severe ground shaking and liquefaction. This can be used for land-use zoning purposes.
“Seismic gaps” = areas that have not experienced an earthquake for some time and are “overdue” can point to areas of high risk

Question 18

Can we predict volcanic eruptions?

Answer 18

Yes. Monitoring equipment on volcanoes can measure changes as magma chambers fill and eruptions nears.
Tiltmeters and strain meters record volcanoes “bulging” as magma rises and seismometers record minor earthquakes indicating magma movement
Gas spectrometers analyse gas emissions which can point to increased eruption likelihood

Question 19

Can we predict Tsunamis?

Answer 19

Partially. An earthquake-induced tsunami can NOT be predicted. However, seismometers can tell an earthquake has occurred and locate it, then ocean monitoring equipment can detect a tsunami in the open sea
This information can be relayed onto coastal areas, which can be evacuated. Tsunami monitoring equipment was not present in the Indian Ocean 2004 tsunami so there was no way of warning people - despite there being many hours in which to have done so.

Question 20

Why do developing countries struggle with volcano monitoring and tsunami warning?

Answer 20

The cost of technology.

Also, it may be more difficult to reach isolated, rural locations with effective warnings

Question 21

What are the four stages of the hazard management cycle?

Answer 21

Mitigation, preparation, response and recovery

Question 22

What is mitigation & the aims of this process?

Answer 22

Takes place during and after hazard events. It involves preventing or minimising the effects of hazard events by identifying potential natural hazards and taking steps to reduce its impacts. Main aim = reduce loss of life and properties (largely by helping communities to become less vulnerable)
Actions:
-Zoning and land use planning
-Creating and enforcing building codes
-Building protective structure (such as tsunami sea defence walls)

Question 23

What is preparedness & the aims of this process?

Answer 23

Takes place before hazardous events. Preparing to deal with a hazard event, minimising loss of life and property, and facilitating the response and recovery stage. Many activities are developed and implemented by emergency planners in both governments and aid organisation.
Actions:
-Creating preparedness plans
-Early warning systems
-Evacuation routes created
-Stockpiling equipment and supplies
-Public awareness raised (e.g by holding earthquake drills)

Question 24

What is response and what are the aims of this process?

Answer 24

Responding to a hazard effectively. Coping with a hazard. To save lives, protect properties, make sure affected areas are safe and reduce economic losses.
Actions:
-Search and rescue efforts
-Restoring critical infrastructure (e.g power and water)
-Evacuating people where needed
-Ensuring critical services continue (health care and law enforcement)

Question 25

What is recovery and what are the aims of this process?

Answer 25

Getting back to normal.
Short term: attending to the immediate needs of people, overlaps with the response phase. May last for weeks
- Providing essential health and safety services
- Restoring permanent power and water supplies
- Re-establishing transport routes
-Providing food and temporary shelter
-Financial assistance to people
Long term: same actions but may continue for months/ even years. Overlaps with mitigation cycle as helps decrease vulnerability.
-Rebuilding homes
-Reopening schools/ businesses
-Repairing infrastructure

Question 26

Describe Park’s hazard response model

Answer 26

Different hazards have different impacts, shown by the speed of the drop in quality of life, the duration of the decline adn the speed and nature of the recovery.
The differences in the lines of a model will be due to the type of hazard, degree of preparedness, speed of the relief effort and the nature of recovery and rebuilding.
MEDCs will recover much faster than developing countries.
This model can be used to help plan and understand risk and resilience, as well as to better prepare for future events

Question 27

CASE STUDY Sri Lanka disaster response curve Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami

Answer 27

Stage 1 –> Modifying the cause: no early warning system, no planning, no government department to deal with emergency
Stage 2 –> Tsunami strikes: Major wave incursion along coastline, massive damage to housing, fishing fleet, tourism, roads etc. Major loss of life, property and livelihood. This is the impact of the high level of vulnerability, especially due to ongoing civil war
Stage 3 –> Relief. World Bank makes $75 million for emergency relief effort. Gov mobilise army for search and rescue, medical aid and food/shelter made available. Successful operation with no outbreaks of disease
Stage 4 –> Rehabilitation. Gov declared buffer zone prohibiting building on coastline, temporary housing programme started within 5 weeks, damaged roads and railways repaired. Mainly succesful but some issues, buffer zone abandoned and civil war disrupted rehabilitation in north and east.
Stage 5 –> reconstruction: Most owner house rebuilding completed. Fishing fleet replaced. Tourism hotels rebuilt, early warning systems installed in Indian Ocean, community awareness programme in place, tsunami escape routes mapped out

Question 28

What is the role of national government in disaster management?

Answer 28

Main coordinator of all disaster management
National action plan for disaster risk reduction
Sustainable development
Coordinate with international and regional charities to make funds and resources

Question 29

What is the role of the regional/local government regarding tectonic hazard?

Answer 29

Pre-disaster enforce infrastructure and encourage investment also education and awareness through social stability
Relief- planned evacuation routes specific for their community
Rehabilitation - rely less on aid - learn from past mistakes and risk mapping regularly
Reconstruction - rebuild stronger houses (Retrofitting) and accuracy of forecasting

Question 30

What is the role of UN and IGOs regarding hazard management?

Answer 30

Pre disaster- data collection, holding national gov to account
UN- international donors entering hazard zones easier and transport in country

Question 31

Role of NGOs regarding hazard management?

Answer 31

Aid for basic needs such as food - decrease impacts of the hazard - secondary impacts to reduce secondary deaths

• Educational institutions (pre disaster) - risk mapping - evacuation procedures - lead up to date information about vulnerable areas of the community
• Financing risk management

Question 32

What is the role of Scientists and researchers regarding hazard management?

Answer 32

Pre-hazard- identifying any possible leads on a hazard event - informing warning systems and government - network coordination
During relief and rehabilitation - monitoring and measure the hazard to use data for preparation for future hazards
Reconstruction - where is vulnerable to liquefaction and landslides - Tsunamis and where is vulnerable

Question 33

What is community adaptation?

Answer 33

Cooperation within communities to change people’s way of life so as to reduce tectonic hazard impacts

Question 34

What is community preparedness?

Answer 34

Cooperation within communities to get ready for tectonic events. This can take a variety of forms

Question 35

What is retrofitting?

Answer 35

Adding something to a building after it was built to help it withstand tectonic events

Question 36

What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation?

Answer 36

Adaptation: Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of a hazard
Mitigation: strategies designed to avoid, delay or prevent hazardous events

Question 37

What event in 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami showed the importance of community preparedness and adaptation?

Answer 37

The elders noticed unusual movements in the bay, only one of 200 villagers died as they were ordered to run to hill top.

Question 38

What shows that not all hazard resistant design needs to be expensive and high tech?

Answer 38

In response to the 2005 EQ in Pakistan houses in remote rural villages are built of straw held together in plastic netting sandwiched between players of plaster

Question 39

Describe effective aspects of hazard resistant design and engineering defences?

Answer 39

• Collapsing buildings are one of the main causes of death and damage in tectonic hazards, designing buildings that can withstand hazards is vital to protect lives
• Resistant to ground shaking
• Sloped roofs reduce ash build up
• Rubber shock absorbers between foundations and structure
• Retrofit existing buildings
• Protective structures and walls
• Dampers swing counter to the swaying of a building, acting as a shock absorber. Buildings flex and bend instead of snapping. Tokyo has these dampening pendulums