Topic 1 - EQ3 - Tectonics

Question 1

How have risks seem to have changed since the 1960s?

Answer 1

Risks seem to be increasing for many people, especially those in middle income and poorest groups, mostly as a result of human factors increasing hazard vulnerability.

Question 2

How has the occurrence of tectonic disasters changed since the 1960s?

Answer 2

Tectonic disasters have become gradually more common since the 1960s, however, hydrological disasters have been growing the fastest, tectonic disasters have been growing relatively slowly in comparison. The number of tectonic disasters per year has greatly fluctuated since 1980, but tectonic disasters have increased if using 1980 as a base.

Question 3

How have deaths from tectonic disasters changed since the 1960s?

Answer 3

Deaths from tectonic activity have not increased at all since 1960, there have been a couple of anomalous spikes in deaths, e.g. in 1976, but there has been no actual trend.

This is because…
-Tectonic disasters cause far less deaths than any other hazard
-The number of deaths from geophysical hazards appear to be stable - most years approximately 10-30,000
-Peaks in death tolls are either large scale disaster or tectonic events in developing countries, such as Haiti. Death tolls are often much higher in developing countries.

Question 4

How has the economic cost of tectonic disasters changed since the 1960s?

Answer 4

Not changed much. They are still the second most expensive disasters after meteorological disasters.

Question 5

How has the number of people affected by tectonic disasters changed since the 1960s?

Answer 5

The number of people being victims from tectonics is the lowest out of all hazards, nevertheless, the number of people affected by geophysical disasters appear to be increasing with the average close to being 5,000,000 per year. Although there are spikes in the data such as in 1988, 2001 and 2008 ( China earthquake).

Rising population = more people to be affected?

Question 6

What are the issues with disaster statistics?

Answer 6

-Political bias prevents accurate declaration of data. After 2004 Tsunami in
Myanmar the government did not want to show weakness by stating its losses and the importance of tourism in Thailand meant numbers were reported lower than they should be.
-Who is responsible for counting up data? No single organisation is responsible for this, different sources vary.
-In remote locations it is harder to get accurate data.
-Do you include direct (primary) or indirect (secondary) deaths as well?
-In densely populated areas (Caracas landslides) and remote low HDI countries it is hard to get data, especially if no census or birth records, etc…

Question 7

What are tectonic mega disasters?

Answer 7

Large-scale disasters on a spatial scale, economic or human impact.

Due to their scale, their management is complex but essential to minimise impacts. They are often classified as high-impact, low-probability events (therefore countries often do not prepare for them). The scale of the impact mean that communities and governments require international support in immediate and long term.

Question 8

How will globalisation effect the impact of tectonic disasters (especially mega disasters)?

Answer 8

In a globalised, interlinked world it is perhaps now even more likely that tectonic
disasters will have a major global/regional influence. Trade, finance, production networks and business are greatly interlinked, so major disasters affect insurance companies in several countries.

Question 9

What are the three case studies for tectonic disasters with global effects?

Answer 9

-2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (tsunami caused widespread damage across Indian Ocean coastlines from Indonesia to Somalia often destroying entire villages)

-2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption (first time volcano erupted in 190 years sending a huge ash cloud which was blow to Europe by prevailing winds and a stable polar front jet stream)

-2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (Mag 9.0 earthquake 100km off Japanese coast triggering a powerful tsunami on the eastern coast of Japan destroying a nuclear power station and killing thousands)

Question 10

What were the regional and global social impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 10

Regional - more than 220,000 deaths and over 4 million homeless in countries with an Indian Ocean coastline

Global - as there were many tourist centres across the affected regions, particularly in the Maldives and Thailand, many countries in Europe had high fatalities too

Question 11

What were the regional and global economic impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 11

Regional - estimated $2.9 billion in damages, which destroyed coastal economies, but countries like Indonesia did not suffer economic collapse like many first thought.

Global - Many countries spent vast amounts on helping the affected, e.g. £392m in public donations from Britain, and the Central UN relief fund collected a colossal $6.25 billion. Money raised in Britain was a new British record for disaster support that has remained unbeaten since.

Question 12

What were the regional and global social impacts of the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption?

Answer 12

Regional - air travel in and out of Iceland cancelled, however, it was a relatively small eruption with no direct deaths

Global - major air travel disruption with over 100,000 air journeys cancelled bringing the worst disruptions since 9/11 (football teams in Europe had to travel by coach instead of plane for champions league matches and UK/EU bands could not make it to California for a music festival). However, improvements in air quality were recorded near major EU airports and due to the internet video conferencing allowed people to have virtual meetings.

Question 13

What were the regional and global economic impacts of the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption?

Answer 13

Regional - fresh fish from Iceland had to be cold stored (so no longer fresh), and fish exports to neighbouring Britain and Norway were disrupted. Other export industries were also greatly affected, economically isolating Iceland. There was also considerable disruption to the tourist industry, an industry which Iceland greatly relies on.

Global - Tourism and International trade (especially in and out of Europe) greatly disrupted by air cancellations with the cost estimated to be over $3 billion. Although air freight is only a small fraction of global trade, it has a much higher value (0.5% of UK trade but 25% of value). Furthermore, perishable products, mainly agricultural products, rotted in warehouses.

Question 14

What were the regional and global social impacts of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami?

Answer 14

Regional - Estimated 15-20 thousand deaths with thousands missing, the damage from the nuclear power damage contaminated water which then leaked into the Pacific into fishing grounds leaving the population without fish and clean water.

Global - Tsunami affected places across the wider Pacific (e.g. Hawaii and California) destroying docks, boats out at sea, and it even killed one person in California + important contribution to negative perceptions of nuclear energy across the globe

Question 15

What were the regional and global economic impacts of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami?

Answer 15

Regional - the spill of radioactive material into fishing grounds left devastated coastal communities without their fishing industries (an economic lifeline for coastal areas) adding salt into the wound + the most expensive natural disaster in history costing an estimated $220 billion + fossil fuels had to be imported to make up of nuclear energy lost from destruction of Fukushima plant

Global - worldwide cost of natural gas increased due to Japan’s new demand (particularly big effect on Asian markets) + decline in Japanese contribution to world industry (world leader in specialist technological products like cameras and semiconductors)

Question 16

What are multiple hazard zones?

Answer 16

Places where a number of physical hazards combine to create an increased level of risk for the country and its population.

Question 17

What can make the risk at multiple hazard zones worse?

Answer 17

The risk is often made worse if the country’s population is vulnerable (wealth/GDP), population density, etc) or suffers repeated events so that there is never any time for an extended period of recovery. Magnitude of hazards together with the human geography, like with all disasters, is very important.

Such places are often seen as disaster hotspots.

Question 18

What are the three factors that would make a place a multiple hazard zone or hotspot?

Answer 18

-High occurrence of tectonic hazards
-High occurrence of hydro-meteorological hazards
-Human vulnerability

Can be visualised with a venn diagram, all three factors must overlap for a multi hazard hotspot.

Question 19

Why are large urban areas often zones of multiple hazard risk?

Answer 19

-Large cities are often centres of growing populations due to rapid urbanisation in most developing countries (as a result of the fact that cities are economic magnets)
-Many cities have large areas that are unplanned/ poor-quality housing/ densely populated on marginal or potentially dangerous sites - in developing countries such areas are even classified as slums or shanty towns. If the city becomes urban sprawl they can enter areas more vulnerable to hazards, such as local mountains.

Many rapidly growing mega-cites are located in hazard-prone areas, especially coastal mega cities in Asia such as Jakarta, Chennai and Manilla. With high densities of people, hazard management is not expensive and complex, making disasters inevitable socially and economically.

Question 20

What is our case study for a multiple hazard zone?

Answer 20

The Philippines

Question 21

What is the main hazard the Philippines is exposed to (non-tectonic)?

Answer 21

Typhoons (and resulting flooding) as it lies on a major storm track

Question 22

What hazards are the Philippines exposed to? (there’s three primary hazards)

Answer 22

-Volcanoes (frequent and violent as on a subduction zone, e.g. Mt Pinatubo, 22 active volcanoes)

-Earthquakes (frequent on subduction zone, vary in depth)

-Cyclones/typhoons (very frequent and usually deadly - typically 5-6 per year)

The Philippines is on a major convergent plate boundary with a subduction zone but it also lies on South East Asia’s major typhoon belt alongside the fact that it has a tropical monsoon climate making it subject to heavy annual rainfall. Recipe for disaster.

Question 23

How much of the annual Filipino GDP has to be spent on cleaning up after typhoons?

Answer 23

2%

Question 24

What are the geographical characteristics of the Philippines? (size, population, GDP, topography)

Answer 24

-Nation made up of thousands of islands, together 25% bigger than the UK
-101 million people
-Middle income country
-Mostly mountainous/steep with coastal lowlands

Question 25

What are the secondary hazards that the Philippines often has to contend?

Answer 25

-Landslides (steep land, high annual precipitation and increasing deforestation, triggered by typhoons but also earthquakes)

-Floods (frequent as a result of typhoons, especially in densely populated low lying coastal areas)

Question 26

What are the human vulnerabilities of the Philippines?

Answer 26

-Much of the country’s lower class lives in low lying regions prone to coastal flooding due to storm surges and tsunamis, they often live in houses of poor quality or houses built on weak wooden stilts
-25% of population in poverty
-Manila has 2.8 million squatters living in densely populated poor housing
-Rapid rural-urban migration due to shift in jobs
-

Question 27

What were the multiple hazards of the 2006 earthquake in the Philippines?

Answer 27

-2006 earthquake killed 15 people, injured 100 and damaged 800 buildings
-Earthquake generated a 3 metre high tsunami
-Earthquake triggered landslides which breached the crater wall of a volcano and fell into a lake creating devastating flooding which washed away houses

Question 28

What were the multiple hazards of 2013-14 in the Philippines?

Answer 28

-October 2013 Earthquake Bohol (Mag 7.1, epicentre below historic island of Bohol, many landslides triggered)

-November 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (one of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded with winds of 313 km/h and in some areas 281.9mm of rainfall was recorded mostly falling in 12 hours and waves reached 7m high)

-January 2014 Floods from tropical depression

Question 29

What were the impacts of the 2013 Earthquake Bohol?

Answer 29

-222 reported dead (976 injured)
-Deadliest earthquake in Philippines in 23 years
-More than 73,000 structures damaged

-Energy released on Bohol equivalent to 32 bombs dropped in Hiroshima

-2 of the country’s oldest churches destroyed

Question 30

What were the impacts of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 30

-Over 7,000 people were killed by Typhoon
-More than 6 million displaced
-Outbreaks of disease due to lack of sanitation and basic supplies
-Huge numbers of internal refugees

-Estimated cost of $5.8 billion
-6 million lost their source of income as rice, corn and sugar producing, as well as fishing, areas for the Philippines were destroyed (71,000 hectares of farmland) affecting the country’s international trade and local economies
-Tacloban’s city airport was severely damaged

-Thousands of trees uprooted leading to habitat destruction and huge release of CO2
-Flooding caused oil spill in fragile mangrove ecosystem

Question 31

Even if the multiple hazards do not happen within the same region of a country, how can they still have an interconnected impact on one another?

Answer 31

It drains resources and stretches the abilities of emergency systems to respond.

Cost of repairs or money lost from trade as result of consecutive hazards can create a cumulative economic effect causing economic collapse.

Also can effect national mood/morale.

Question 32

Can earthquakes be accurately predicted?

Answer 32

The actual time and location of earthquakes can not yet be accurately predicted. Probability/likelihood can be forecasted to some degree based on past patterns, however only really accurate on the scale of years to decades.

Nevertheless, the ability to ‘forecast’ general trends can encourage preparation, response strategies and recovery strategies in high risk locations.

Question 33

What do some believe is an indicator that an earthquake is about to happen?

Answer 33

-Animal behaviour with rats and snakes appearing to be frozen, cows and horses looking restless, geese frequently took flight and chickens refused to enter their coops
-Variations in electromagnetic forces
-Patterns of underground magma movement which can be used to map stress points between plates where an earthquake may occur (still in infancy and not widely accurate)

Nevertheless, geophysicists do not believe that there is a realistic prospect of accurate prediction in the foreseeable future.

Question 34

Can volcanoes be accurately predicted?

Answer 34

Monitoring systems can be used to help predict when a volcano may erupt.

-GPS positioning systems can monitor changes in size/shape of a volcano and the build up of magma
-Monitoring emission rates can help predict as emission rates typically increase 5-10x pre-eruption rate
-Robotic spiders can travel into the vent to collect rock samples and test temp and mineral content
-Monitoring temp of volcanic rock can identify when magma is rising close to the surface (high temp=rising magma)

Question 35

Can tsunamis be accurately predicted?

Answer 35

Earthquake induced tsunami cannot be predicted from before the earthquake happens, however, seismometers can tell an earthquake has occurred and locate it, and then ocean monitoring systems can detect the tsunami in open sea and predict where it will strike.

Such monitoring equipment is not widespread at all, e.g. was not in place for 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Question 36

Rank the tectonic hazards in how easily they can be ‘predicted’?

Answer 36

1 - Volcanoes
2 - Tsunamis
3 - Earthquakes

Question 37

What are the 4 stages of the hazard management cycle?

Answer 37

-Mitigation
-Preparation
-Response
-Recovery

Question 38

What is mitigation in the hazard management cycle?

Answer 38

Identifying potential natural hazards and taking steps to reduce their impact. The main aim is to reduce the loss of life and property.

Involves:
-Zoning and land use planning
-Developing and enforcing building codes
-Building protective structures

Question 39

What is preparation in the hazard management cycle?

Answer 39

Minimising loss of life and property and facilitating the response and recovery phases. Many activities are developed and implemented by emergency planners in both governments and organisations.

Involves:
-Developing preparedness plans
-Developing early warning systems
-Creating evacuation routes
-Stockpiling aid equipment and supplies
-Raising public awareness (holding earthquake drills)

Question 40

What is response in the hazard management cycle?

Answer 40

Coping with disaster. The main aims are to save lives, protect property, make the affected areas safe, and reduce economic losses.

Question 41

What is recovery in the hazard management cycle?

Answer 41

Focusing on immediate needs (short term) and focusing on long term needs including reducing future vulnerability, similarly to mitigation (long term).

Involves:
Short term
-Providing essential health and safety services
-Restoring permanent power and water supplies
-Re-establishing transportation routes
-Providing food and temporary shelter
-Organising financial assistance to help people rebuild their lives

Long term
-Rebuilding homes and other structures
-Repairing and rebuilding infrastructure
-Re-opening businesses and schools

Question 42

What does Park’s model show?

Answer 42

The model shows how hazards impact countries with the use of a curve. It is split up into four stages: pre-disaster, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Question 43

How do countries at different stages of development have different curves on Park’s model?

Answer 43

More developed countries often have curves that dip a lot less in the relief stage due to a strong immediate response and then a quick recovery of the curve to relatively normal levels as a result of strong rehabilitation and reconstruction plans in place. They can often carry own growing and bettering after hazard reconstruction. E.g. Japan or Iceland.

Less developed countries often have much deeper curves due to much worse deterioration as a result of much poorer relief plans and limited rehabilitation or reconstruction. Post-reconstruction they are still often worse off than pre-disaster. E.g. Haiti.

However, the physical features of the hazard can also actually affect the curve. There will be more direction caused by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake under the capital city than a low VEI earthquake in the countryside.

Question 44

What are the four stages Park’s model?

Answer 44

Pre-disaster: Quality of life is normal before a disaster strikes; people do their best to prevent and prepare for such events happening, for example by educating the public on how to act when disaster strikes, preparing supplies, putting medical teams on standby, and so on.

Relief: The hazard event has occurred - immediate relief is the priority with medical attention, rescue services and emergency care provided. This period of time can last from hours to a number of days. The quality of life has seemingly stopped decreasing and is beginning to move up slowly.

Rehabilitation: Groups (for example, the government) try to return the state of things back to normal, by providing food, water and shelter to those who are without these basic needs.

Reconstruction: In the longer term rehabilitation moves into the reconstruction period during which infrastructure, crops and property are invested in. During this time organisations may use preparation and prevention to improve from the mistakes of this disaster to respond better to the next one.

Question 45

Why may Japan be representative of a high line on Park’s model?

Answer 45

Japan has some of the best disaster preparedness on earth, as demonstrated by its response to the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Question 46

Why may Haiti be representative of a low line on Park’s model?

Answer 46

Haiti in 2010 was unprepared for the earthquake, and the earthquake hit the capital hard. The initial response or relief was extremely flawed, however, really it was a slow onset disaster as the worst came in the weeks to years following with the spread of disease, and crime, amongst the displaced people. It did not reach a state of normality for years, arguably still has not.

Question 47

Why is Park’s model useful to geographers studying hazards?

Answer 47

-Shows how a country/region might respond after a hazard event.
-Helps to understand the time dimensions of resilience, from the event to returning to normal.
-Can be used to compare how areas at differing levels of development might recover.
-Can be used to plan and understand risk and resilience, as well as to better prepare for future events through modifying responses.

However, all hazard events are different so the same country may have different curves for different events.

Question 48

Why is a focus on concrete plans for hazard management in the case of a hazard more necessary than hazard prediction or forecasting?

Answer 48

The sudden onset of many tectonic hazards, and the lack of reliable ways to predict them, heightens the importance of hazard management in protecting communities from the impacts of hazard events.

Question 49

What are hazard mitigation strategies?

Answer 49

Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events (e,g, land use zoning, diverting lava flows, GIS mapping, and hazard-resistant design and engineering)

Question 50

What are hazard adaption strategies?

Answer 50

Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard events (e.g. High tech monitoring, crisis mapping, modelling hazard impacts, public education, and community preparedness)

Question 51

What are 4 strategies to modify hazard events (hazard mitigation strats)?

Answer 51

-Land use zoning
-Diverting lava flows
-GIS mapping
-Building design

Question 52

What is land use zoning? What are the pros and cons of land use zoning?

Answer 52

It is a strategy to modify hazard events by reducing the human and economic costs of them. It involves zoning areas by tectonic hazard probability and planning building types by level of risk of tectonic hazards, e.g. no hospitals in high risk areas, instead perhaps public parks. Any buildings in areas with a substantial risk can be designed to withstand hazards with reinforcements and low cost strategies.

Pros:
-Settlements and critical buildings (hospitals) around hazard zones are limited or not allowed which means if hazard strikes the impacts will be limited as less people exposed to hazard
-Reduces economic impact of hazard as things of economic value are kept out of the zone
-Potentially low cost as no hard engineering needed, only needs planners

Cons:
-Not very common in developing countries due to numerous factors, including less effective and corrupt governance
-Could result in relocation which breaks up communities
-Drives down land prices in area around the hazard

Question 53

What is diverting lava flows? What are the pros and cons of attempting to divert lava flows?

Answer 53

It is a strategy to modify hazard events by using a variety of methods to direct the flow of lava away from people and communities to reduce the impact of volcanoes.

Pros:
-Isolated successes, e.g. barriers and channels successfully diverted a lava flow from the 1983 eruption of Mount Etna in Italy + Icelanders sprayed 6 million metres cubed of seawater on the lava which saved the port of Heimaey in 1973 (economic lifeline of the island)
-When it works it can save not only hundreds of lives but also infrastructure

Cons:
-The path taken by lava is hard to predict - making it difficult to know where to build the walls or dig the channels
-The terrain has to be suitable (e.g. with a downward slope, so the diverted lava can easily flow away)
-Stopping the lava from flowing towards one community may push it towards another

Question 54

What is GIS mapping? What are the pros and cons of GIS mapping?

Answer 54

It is a strategy used in all stages of the disaster management cycle. GIS mapping plots population densities, evacuation routes, areas likely to be most affected by earthquakes…

Pros:
-Aid agencies and governments can easily see in map form where aid should be directed to and where might it be most difficult to reach needy communities
-Help identify evacuation routes, or with rescue or recovery

Cons:
-Hard to change GIS mapping in response to real-time occurrences and changes in the hazard (not always fully predictable)

Question 55

What is high tech monitoring? What are the pros and cons of high tech monitoring?

Answer 55

It is a strategy of modifying vulnerability by using technology to predict disasters more accurately.

Pros:
-Allows scientists and others to learn more about these natural processes
-GIS helps to create hazard maps and manage hazards more effectively

Cons:
-Technology often very expensive

Question 56

What is crisis mapping? What are the pros and cons of crisis mapping?

Answer 56

It is a strategy of modifying resilience and loss by mapping locations where food, shelter or rescue is needed to show aid/rescue workers where to target their efforts.

Pros:
-Can help to direct resources accurately
-Aid is easier to direct as people are reported under rubble, injured, etc…

Cons:
-Some people may not be reached in time or some issues may be prioritised as many people using crisis mapping might overwhelm the aid.

Question 57

What is public disaster education? What are the pros and cons of public disaster education?

Answer 57

It is a strategy of modifying vulnerability and resilience. It helps people understand what they can do to protect themselves before, during and after a hazard event, including:
-Practicing emergency procedures (Japan children practice 4 times a year) and nationwide
there is the Disaster Prevention Day is held for all.
-Encouraging households and workplaces to create emergency preparedness kits
-Education on how to construct earthquake proof buildings.

Pros:
-If people know exactly how to respond then they are much more likely to survive and not do things that could injure or kill them - reduces the overall death toll of the hazard.

Cons:
-Not practiced everywhere, lots of countries do not teach their children how to prepare for a disaster
-Is unfortunately irrelevant in the case of the very worst tectonic disasters

Question 58

What is community preparedness and adaptation? What are the pros and cons of community preparedness?

Answer 58

It is a strategy of modifying vulnerability and resilience which can also be vital in modifying losses. It is argued that involving the actual people living in the community most at risk from a natural hazard, with their local knowledge, is the best way to develop plans and educate people (especially in lower income countries) to help create formalised and coordinated community preparedness.

Pros:
The local community knows the area best and so are possibly those best prepared. The familiarity of locals with the area they live in can help warning signs be identified in the cases of tsunamis or even volcanoes. Costs very little to coordinate a disaster plan in an area.

Cons:
If preparedness is not formalised and coordinated it can become messy and ineffective. Communities do not have all of the resources of governments or NGOs.

Question 59

What is the role of aid and NGO assistance in hazards? What are the pros and cons of aid and NGOs?

Answer 59

Aid and NGO assistance are a key part in modifying losses after a hazard. Aid offered by governments or NGOs can be provided as cash, personnel (NGO volunteers), services or equipment. It can be distributed straight to the government of the affected country which then uses it to manage the disaster recovery operation or it can be provided directly to the affected people who use it for community based recovery efforts. It is vital if the local government does not have the capacity to cope on its own.

Pros:
Aid can be personalised to suit the current situation of the country in regards to the stage of the hazard management cycle. NGOs can also be valuable in every stage of the hazard management cycle.

Cons:
-Financial aid in isolation with no strategy in place is often ineffective
-Top-down aid plans to corrupt governments are terrible as government officials in some countries have been known to embezzle aid money or spend it on what they deem to be a personal priority as opposed to what is the priority of the people (saving lives, developing medical care, temporary housing…).
-NGOs are often not stationed in the country and it can take weeks for foreign NGOs to coordinate any efforts to help.
-Some NGO have issues with extremely unprofessional workers (Oxfam in Haiti).

Question 60

What is the role of insurers in hazards? What are the pros and cons of insurers?

Answer 60

Insures can be key in modifying hazard losses. They provide individuals and businesses with the money they need to repair and rebuild their livelihoods.

Pros:
In some cases governments work with insurance companies to provide insurance for economic losses from disasters. Personal insurance can also cover personal costs to stop families and individuals from becoming economically ruined.

Cons:
Few people have personal access to insurance from tectonic hazards. This insurance is not as widespread as there are more important economic needs than insurance for a hazard event that may not happen.

Question 61

What are the 4 strategies to modify vulnerability to hazards (hazard adaptation strats)?

Answer 61

-High tech monitoring
-Crisis mapping
-Public education
-Community disaster plans

Question 62

What are the 4 strategies to modify losses from hazards?

Answer 62

-Aids
-NGOs
-Insurance
-Community action

Question 63

What is the role of communities in hazards? What are the pros and cons of communities in reducing hazard losses?

Answer 63

Local people (esp in rural or developing areas) are key first responders post-hazard to help recovery and rescue - especially because aid can take days/weeks.

Pros:
No delay in them jumping into action (as there is for external support)

Cons:
Local communities not best equipped with resources and tech to help minimise losses

Question 64

What is earthquake-proof building design? What are the pros and cons of earthquake-proofing?

Answer 64

Designing and constructing buildings or infrastructure that can withstand tectonic events. Can involve reinforcing existing buildings.

Pros:
-Reduces fatalities in case of disaster as buildings withstand more (building collapse kills most people)
-Low cost and low tech strats like wrapping plastic around hay bales

Cons:
-Usually high cost so some countries can’t afford high tech improvements (e.g. Haiti)