Restless Earth Case Studies

Facts

• 7000km long, 300km wide, 4000m average height.
• Longest range of fold mountains in the world. 

Farming

• Bolivia: subsistence farmers (for self) grow wide range of crops. 
• Terraces used to create flat land, retain water, limit downard movement of soil. 
• Cash crops: soybeans, rice, and cotton. 
• Llamas carry materials for irrigation into inaccessible areas (Machu Picchu relied on them). 

Mining

• Andean countries are top 10 for tin, silver, nickel and gold.
• More than half of Peru's exports are from mining. 
• Yanacocha gold mine is the biggest in the world.
• Gold bearing rock loosened with daily dynamite blasts, sprayed with cyanide and gold extracted.
• Nearby town of Cajamarca grown from 30,000 to 300,000 in 2010. Brings jobs but also crime.

Hydroelectic Power

• Steep slopes and narrow vallows can be more easily dammed. 
• Relief encourages rapid flow of water. 
• Melting snow in spring increases supply: disadvantage, variation. 

Tourism

• Mountain peaks, volcanoes, glaciers, lakes. 
• Inca Trail: over 250 species of orchid. 
• Archaeological and natural reserve- important both culturally and naturally. 
• Finishes at the Lost City of the Incas, 45km trek, usually covered in 4 days.
• Best taken April-October, drier weather. 
• Altitudes of 4200m reached. 
• Closed for conservation every February, only 200 trekkers can start each day. 
• Tickets must be bought at least a month in advance. 

Details 

• 5:46am, January 17th 1995. 
• Philippines beneath Eurasion, Nojima fault line. 
• 7.2 Richter Scales. 
• Tremors lasting 20 seconds. 

Effects

• 6434 dead, 40 000 injured, 300 000 homeless. 
• Gas mains ruptured, water pipes fractured, railway lines buckled. 
• 2 million homes without electricity, 1 million people without water for 10 days. 
• Fires, people huddled on streets, tented shelters in parks. Damage at over $220 billion. 

Responses

• Friends and neighbours searched rubble, joined by servies when access was possible. 
• Hospitals struggled to cope with influx, major retailers helped provide essentials. 
• Railways 80% operational within a month. 
• New buildings built further apart to prevent domino effect, reinforced with steel, rubber blocks under bridges to absorb shocks. 

Details

• 16:53, 12th of January 2010. 
• Caribbean island, 7.0 magnitude. 
• Epicentre just 15km SW of capital. Conservative: NA and Caribbean plate. 
• Minor tremors continued up to 5.0. 

Effects

• 230 000 dead, 1.5 million homeless, 180 000 homes destroyed. 
• Homeless accommodated in over 1100 camps: limited services, water, sanitation. 
• Cholera, storms, flooding. 
• 5000 schools damaged or destroyed, $11.5 billion damage. 

Responses

• Teams of medics, sniffer dogs, heat sensitive equipment. 
• Aid in the form of water, food, supplies and shelter from USA and Dominican Republic. 
• 3/4 of damaged buildings inspected and repaired.
• 20 000 people received cash or food for public work. 
• World Bank pledged $100 million to support reconstruction and recovery. 

Details

• 17th January 2002. 
• Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. 
• Plate movement along East African rift valley. 

Effects

• Lava spilt downwards in three streams, 60kph, flowed across Goma airport. 
• Split town in half, destroyed homes, water pipes, and roads. Explosions in fuel stores. 
• 45 dead. 
• Half a million fled from Goma to neighbouring Rwanda. Spent night on streets of Gisenyi. 
• No electricity, shelter or clean water. Cholera. Many returned for fear of looting.

Responses

• Water had to be supplied in tankers. 
• Aid agencies- Christian Aid and Oxfam- distributed food, medicine and blankets. 

Details

• Fold Mountains: Cascade Range in Washington State, USA. 
• Composite volcano, destructive plate boundary, Juan de Fuca beneath NA. 
• March 1980- earthquakes, ash, steam. Bulge grew on N flank. 
• May 1980 at 08:32am- eruption. 

Effects

• 5.2 earthquake caused landslide on NE side. Lateral blast. 390m summit removed. 
• Glaciers melted and formed lahars, swept away trees and rock, blocked Spirit Lake. 
• Destruction up to 27km N of crater. 
• 57 dead- more if not a Sunday. 
• Crops ruined, livelihoods of loggers gone, 15 000 acres destroyed.
• Power lines came down, damage estimated at over £800 million. 
• Damage to forests= increased flooding.

Responses

• Washington issued a 15kmph speed limit, people ecouraged to stay indoors. 
• Forest replanted and naturally recolonized. Exclusion zones. 
• Area given National Monument status in 1982- tourist destination. 

Details

• North America, Magma beneath Yellowstone currently shifting.
• Caldera bulging beneath lake, signs of increasing activities at Norris Geyser basin. 
• Ground risen 70cm in places. 
• Magma chamber: 80km long, 40km wide, 8km deep (recent studies show may be larger). 
• Eruption is due. 
• Potentially 5x the minimum size for a supervolcano.

Effects

• 10 000km of land lost. 
• 87 000 dead. 
• 15cm of ash would cover buildings within 1000km. 
• 1 in 3 affected would die. 
• Ash would affect transport, water, electricity, farming. 
• UK would await arrival of ash some 5 days later. 
• Global climates would change and crops would fail. 

Details

• Tohoku, Japan. 
• 11th March 2011, 9.0 magnitude. 
• 100km East of Sendai. 3000m of coastline affected.
• Wall of water 40m high in 30 minutes, 9 additional waves 10m high. 

Causes

• Destructive plate margin. Pacific beneath NA. 
• Segment of rock slipped suddenly, upwards 'flick' between 5-10m.

Effects

• 20 000 dead, 200 000 buildings damaged, 500km squared coastal plains inundated. 
• Explosions at Fukushima power plant, contamination, worries of meltdown. 
• Electricity cut off in 6 million homes, 1 million lpeople left without running water.

Responses

• 100 000 Japanese soldiers deployed, specialist search and rescue teams flown in. 
• Exclusion zone around power plant, evacuated from area. 
• Huge rebuilding longer term, system of defenses reconsidered.