Geography - tectonic hazards useful case studies

• earthquake in Bam, Iran
• Iran classified as a country with an upper middle income
• magnitude 6.6
• 26,000 dead
• shallow earthquake
• happened at 5 am when most people were at home/in bed
• release of energy as seismic waves was directly under the city
• vertical shaking causing maximum damage
• buildings vulnerable to shaking due to age and as they have heavy roofs
• poor infrastructure
• 3 main hospitals destroyed - lack of specialised training
• during search and rescue, emergency services struggled with the destruction of their own facilities and infrastructure
• cold winter - most deaths due to hypothermia rather than direct crush injuries

• developing country
• population 26.5 million
• earthquake - 7.8 magnitude
• 22,000 injured
• multiple hazard zone
• low level of development - local earthquake science is out of date
• Kathmandu is one of the fastest urbanising areas - around 85% of the country's population is rural and much of the country's economy is primary industry
• population is vulnerable
• poverty puts people in more vulnerable areas than richer people

• developed
• Canterbury indured a series of major earthquakes
• economy was resilient in the aftermath of the earthquakes
• disruption to industrial production was short lived - regions manufacturing hub had no significant damage
• agricultural sector undamaged
• rebuild costs were largely insecured losses
• financial markets ignored earthquake impacts
• business activity resilient
• damage to properties, public infrastructure
• relocation of people had to happen
• tourism industry suffered - attractions demolished in Christchurch
• international visitors down by 40% in 2011-2012

• Iceland
• volcanic eruption
• eruption happened underneath an ice sheet
• large column of volcanic ash
• areas flooded as glacier melted
• agricultural land damaged
• ash fall poisoned animals
• roads destroyed
• travel disrupted
• businesses lost trade
• perishable foods wasted as they could not be transported
• people asked to stay indoors due to ash

• Japan
• earthquake turned tsunami
• 9.0 magnitude
• north american plate dragged by subducting pacific plate slipped upwards
• 200000 dead
• 3692 missing
• explosions at Fukushima nuclear power plant = nuclear contamination 
• contaminated water leaked into pacific ocean
• electricity lsot in 6 million homes
• blocked roads
• specialist search and rescue teams flew from overseas
• people evacuated from Fukushima area
• rebuilding, reconstruction, port facilities rebuilt, tsunami defence system reconsidered
• liquid natural gas prices worldwide - availability and affordability affected

VOLCANOES: very common - Mt Pinatubo. 

• frequent and violent
• andesitic magma
• ash
• lahars
• pyroclastic flows

EARTHQUAKES: frequent but vary in depth from shallow to deep

LANDSLIDES: frequent

• typhoons
• deforestation

CYCLONES: very frequent and usually deadly

FLOOD: a frequent result of typhoons

DROUGHT: rare but ENSO cause these

VOLCANOES: rare

EARTHQUAKES: frequent

• conservative plate margin
• San Andreas fault
• usually shallow focus

LANDSLIDES: frequent

• heavy rain
• coastal erosion
• wildfires

CYCLONES: never

FLOOD: rarely , associated with ENSO

DROUGHT: very common

• tsunami
• magnitude more than 9
• indo-australian plate sibduct below eurasian plate
• over 31,000 dead
• no warning systems - uneducated population
• 1.7 million homeless
• threat of disease from mixing fresh water, sewage and sea water
• ports destroyed
• loss of tourism
• crops destroyed
• NGOs and local authorities had immediate and seconfary responses to a devastation of this kind
• search and rescue
• temporary shelter
• reconstruction still taking place
• warning system now set up
• sustainable development projects have been set up by local charities to aid recovery

• earthquake
• between 800-1000 dead
• 400 injured
• 6.1 magnitude
• 20,000 homeless
• towns flattened
• houses collapsed due to shaking
• droughts and wars as a result
• shallow focus