Tectonics - Japan vs Nepal Flashcards
Why is Japan constantly affected by earthquakes? (3 marks)
Japan sits on the Ring of Fire, and it is sandwiched in between the Eurasian, Philippine and Pacific plates. As a result, whenever the plate boundaries move or collide, Japan experiences the power of the released energy, damaging buildings, roads, bridges, railways, and communities.
Name a Japanese earthquake, state when it occurred, state its strength, and describe the effects it had on the country. (6 marks)
Tohoku earthquake. March 11 2011. Magnitude 9.1. More than 450,000 homeless people, more than 15,500 dead, around 332,000 buildings destroyed, and 56 bridges as well. Massive tsunami crippled the infrastructure of the country. Flooded nuclear power-plant Fukushima. Shook the earth off its axis!
Describe Japan’s response after the many earthquakes before the 1940s that they couldn’t handle well. What did they do to develop? Give some examples. (4 marks)
Today Japan has some of the most resilient buildings in the world and their secret is their ability to “dance”. Here, skyscrapers look solid but in fact are very flexible and are able to move to withstand an earthquake.
Different architectural techniques include the Menshin, Taishin, and Seishin structures. The Skytree Tower in central Tokyo is the second tallest building in the world but has a central pillar attached to seismic dampers which can together withstand the energy of an earthquake. Preparedness for disaster in Japan include evacuation planning and emergency drills. There has been a big focus on education; and “soft mitigation strategies” (like improving warnings and identifying tsunami-safe centres) as well as “hard mitigation strategies”.
Why is Nepal affected by earthquakes? (3 marks)
Nepal sits right in the middle of the Himalayan Earthquake Belt. The Indian tectonic plate moves towards Eurasia at a speed of only 50mm per year, yet over hundreds of thousands of years this has created the mighty Himalayas, and caused frequent earthquakes.
As a developing country (as a pose to a developed country), why is Nepal disadvantaged when it comes to earthquake resistance? (5 marks)
With less money available, developing countries have a difficult decision as to how much money to spend on improving earthquake resilience. They have less technology to help them predict earthquakes; weaker infrastructure to help limit damage from earthquakes; and poorer.
Earthquakes are also infrequent and unpredictable, and these countries have more urgent problems. So earthquake resilience often does not get high levels of funding. Collapsing buildings which are not designed to withstand earthquakes is the major killer: In an earthquake in Nepal in 1995, 98% of the 9,000 deaths were from collapsing buildings (although 300 schools which had been retrofitted to increase earthquake resilience all survived).
How could things get better for Nepal in the future?
Buildings can now be made much more earthquake-resistant with just 5-10% increased building costs, so, over time, as new buildings replace older ones, towns and cities will be safer even in these developing countries, like Nepal.
What has Nepal’s response been? What have they decided to do about their situation? (2 marks)
In 2022, Nepal published an Earthquake Contingency Plan with the aim of improving the country’s ability to withstand and respond quickly to earthquake disasters.
