Restless Earth Case studies

Example is Japan : the subduction of the Philippine plate under the Eurasion plate.

The Alps

- Most farms are on the south facing slopes as there is more sun

- Transhumance- Animals(goats) graze on the high Alp

- Wood is the main building material

- North facing slopes are covered by evergreen trees

- There is tourism all year round

- The main attraction is sking which gets 70% of tourists

- There are 100 million visitors per year

- Steep slopes, high precipitation and summer melting of glaciers produce fast flowing rivers.

- Berne area in Switzerland gathers 60% of it's energy from Hydro-electric power (HEP) stations

Biggest eruption in 1995 (Capital Plymouth destroyed)

Most recent erruption 2010

Effects- of 1995 erruption

- 19 people died and 7 were injured

- Vegetation and farmland was destroyed

- The capital (Plymouth) was burried under 12m of mud and ash

- Over 20 villages and two thirds of homes on the island were destroyed by pyroclasic flow

- The population is now much older as many young people have left

- 50% of the population were evacuated from the island

- Population has decliened - 8000 of 12000 inhabitants have left since 1995

- Volcanic ash has improved soil fertility

Short term responses

- Shelters were built to house evacuees

- £10.5 million was given to relocate refugees

- Local emergency services provided support units to search for and rescue survivors

- The UK provided £17 million of emergency aid

Long term responses

-The UK has provided £41 million to develop the north of the island - new docks and air port have been built

- A risk map was created and an exclusion zone is in place - the south of the island is off limits

- The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has been set up to try and predict future erruptions

- Over £200 million has now been spent by the British government

Yellowstone, National Park

- The magma chamber  is 80km long, 40km wide and 8km deep.

- The magma is aprox. 20-25 thousand km cubed.

- The last erruption was 2 million years ago (ash covered more than half of america)

- Low chance of an erruption in the next thousand years

Primary Effects

- Killed aprox. 230,000 people

- Injured aprox. 300,000 people

- Half of Haiti's schools and 3 universities collapsed

- 90% of the buildings in Port-au-prince destroyed

Secondary Effects

- 90% of rural population live on less than $2 a day

- 600,000 people fled

- 13 out of 15 minestry offices had to be destroyed

- 20 out of 50 radio stations that were active in the city before the earthquake were back online within a week

Short term responses

- 39 trucks carrying canned food were dispatched

- 10 mobile kitchens with 110 cook who could cook 100,000 meals per day wer dispatched

- The Dominican emergency team helped 2,000 injured people

- American Red Cross got $7 million in donations in 24 hours

Long term resopnses - by 2010

- Thousands of people returned to the rural towns they came from

- 98% of rubble hadn't been cleared away

- 1.6million in relief camps

- 23 major charoties rasied $1 billion but only 2% has been released

Primary Effects

- 181 people killed

- Aprox. 2000 people treated for injuries

- Cars and buses crushed by falling debris

- Liquefacation produced 400,000 tonnes of silt

Secondary Effects

-

Responses

Effects

Responses