Disaster hot-spots: the Philippines & the California coast.

The Philippines General facts & why it's a disaste

An arc island in south east Asia.
Made up of 7,000 islands.
Population of 91 million in 2007
Lies in typhoon belt.
Astride an active plate boundary
On a destructive plate boundary - the philippines plate is being subducted beneath the eurasaian plate.
Tropical monsoon climate - heavy rainfall.
Prone to landslides due to combination of heavy rainfall, deforrestation and flooding.
Lower middle income country.
Average population densities - 240 people per km2 - high.
Population density for megacity malina - 2,000 peopler per km2
Vunerable population- poor & live near the coast.
Vunerable to locally generated tsunamis and typhoon-generated storms.
74% of it's population is vulnerable.

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Biggest eruption in 50 years - in the world.
10km eclusion zone set up around Pinatubo which was then extended to 30km.
Two weeks before erruption, they produced a video outlining risks of pyroclastic flow and lahars.
By 9th of june 1991 - 58,000 people evacuated. Reaching 200,000 by 12th june.
First erruption 12th june 1991 caused a cloud of ash 20km into the atmosphere.
Second erruption 15th june 1991 - dome on the side of the volcano collapsed, creating pyroclastic blast and huge lahars.
Death and injury toll just 4,300 people.
350 people died, including 77 in the lahars that occured.
Some evacuees died in camps - exposed to disease.
80,000 hectares of farmland buried by ash - disrupting livelihoods of 500,000 farmers and their families.
Economic losses of $710 million - agriculture and property mainly.

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National Disaster co-ordinating council.
Philippine atmospheric,geogphysical and astronomical services.
Philippine institute of volcanology and seismology.
Land-use planning and building regulation, and structural progrrammes of defences help people to survive the huge range of hazards facing them.

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population of nearly 40 million.
6th largest world economy.
per capita incomes of over $65,000.
suffers from : earthquakes,river flooding,coastal flooding,drought,wildfires/bushfires,landslides/mudslides/fog and smog.
Hazard zone concerntrated around san andreas fault.
Ifluencing factors: Plate techtonics and climate patterns (El Nino & La Nina)
San Andreas fault - conservative plate boundary.
Conservstive plate boundary between - North american plate and pacific plate.
El Nino - increases sub-tropical storms - increased landslides.
La Nina - increases drought - increases risk of bushfires.

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