Unit 4- tectonic hazards

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  • Created by: Jenna
  • Created on: 19-05-15 20:21

Tohoku Earthquake

11th March 2011, Japan, MEDC

Destructive plate boundary- Pacific plate subduct under Japan

Physical Factors:

  • 9.0 magnitude
  • Tsunami surged at speed of 500mph- waves reached Alaska, Chile and Hawaii
  • lasted 6 minutes (long)

Human factors:

  • Predicted an earthquake however not a tsunami (warning was issued 3 mins after quake)
  • densely populated- urban area, people living in marginal areas

Environmental impact- tsunami caused Fukushima Nuclear power plant to leak 300 tonnes of radioactive waste into the Pacific (still ongoing)

Social impact- 18,000 deaths, 750,000 homes destroyed

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Christchurch Earthquake

New Zeland, MEDC, 21st Feb 2011, 12:51pm. Result of an aftershock from sep 2010 quake

Destructive plate boundary- Pacific plate subducts under Australian plate

Physical Factors

  • 6.3 magnitude (even tho the mag 6.3 was smaller than sep 2010 quake this one was more severe as they hadn't repaired all damage from sep and had liquefaction)
  • landslides @ redcliffs
  • liquefaction
  • epicentre 10cm away from city (urban area)

Human Factors

  • Heavily populated

Social impacts- 185 deaths, 80% of city without power

Economic impacts- take 50-100 years to recover from damage

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Haiti Earthquake

LEDC, 12th Jan 2010, 4:53 in afternoon

Destructive plate boundary-  North American subduct under Carribean

Physical Factors:

  • 7.0 magnitude
  • Epicentre 16km from Port-au-Prince the capital
  • 52 afterchocks of 5.0 mag or higher

Human Factors

  • Quake struck in area most densely populated- slums- vulnerable population
  • weren't prepared- no evacuation or emergency plan
  • aid took up to 48 hours to get there

Social impacts- killed 200,000, 3 million ppl affected

economic impact- $8 billion worth of damage infrastructure

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Montserrat Volcanic eruption

Carribean, LEDC, 25th June 1997

Physical Factors:

  • Pyroclastic flows - forest fires
  • Carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide was released from magma & poisoned animals & flora
  • Ash cloud caused a black out
  • Earthquake

Human Factors

  • Predicted- advanced warning for about 2 years
  • prepared- exclusion zone in South of island- so all apart from 19 evacuated North
  • less densely populated

Social impacts: 19 people died (because they would not evacuate from the South) 11,000 evacuated & unemployment rose from 7% to 50%

Environmental impacts: 2/3 of island covered in ash & forest fires destroyed animals habitats

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Nepal Earthquake

South of Asia, LEDC, 25th April 2015
Collision plate boundary- Indian and Asian

Physical Factors

  • 7.8 magnitude & an aftersock of 7.3
  • sits on a continental collision zone
  • height of Himalayas has dropped 1 metre

Human Factors

  • densley populated capital of one of the world's poorest countries- slums- vulnerable
  • Buildings weren't developed
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Chile Earthquake

Feb 27th 2010
LEDC

Physical Factors

  • magnitude of 8.8
  • epicentre 100km away from the provincing capital Chillan  
  • 130 aftershocks
  • lies on the ring of fire

Human Factors

  • densely populated
  • prepared- quake prone region

Social impacts: 525 people died, chillan prisoners escaped & 500,000 horses made unhabitable
Envrionmental impacts: Tsunami in Pacific Ocean between Alaska and California

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Northridge Earthquake

Jan 17th 1994- 4:30 am
MEDC, Los Angeles

Physical impacts

  • 6.9 magnitude
  • duration about 10-20 secs
  • epicentre directly below the city centre

Human Factors

  • 60 people were killed
  • damage of $20 billion dollars

Environmental impacts: landslides, damaged waterlines

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The boxing day tsunami (asian tsunami)

26th Dec 2004- tsunami caused by a 9.0 earthquake , lasted 75 mins and travelled 375 miles
Andaman Islands- Asia,
Physical Impacts

  • tsunami caused by a 9.0 earthquake ,
  • lasted 75 mins
  • travelled 375 miles
  • caused the planet to vibrate by 1cm

Human Factors

  • No warning, weren't prepared, no tsunami detectors in indian ocean
  • affected 18 countries

Social impacts: 230,000 died

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Mount St Helens Volcanic Eruption

May 18th 1980 @ 8:32am... Washington, USA, MEDC- 13th most populous state

Physical Factors:

  • mini earthquakes leading up to the eruption , then on the 18th magnitude 5.1 earthquake
  • biggest landslide in earth's recorded history
  • ash cloud exceeded 650ft in height (enough to fill 1million olympic swimming pools)
  • pyroclastic flows- lasted 9 hours
  • 520 million tonnes of ash & within in 15 days it had circled the entire globe
  • lahars

Human Factors

  • predicted- scientists had been monitoring since spring

Economic impacts: $1.1 million damage, ash on roads, airport runways, and oil systems
Social impatcs: more than 200 homes were destroyed, people let without basics like clean water & electricity
Environmental impacts: 7,000 game animals died, crops were destroyed & 12 mil salmon died (massive impact on fishing industry)

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Sichaun Earthquake

LEDC, China, 12th May 2008, 2:30pm, destructive plate boundary

Physical Factors:

  • Destructive plate boundary – produce naturally violent earthquake
  • Shallow depth (12miles) which meant that it was more destructive than deeper quakes, despite the magnitude
  • Just 72hrs after the event there had been over 100 aftershocks of mild magnitudes which reduced the capacity to cope

Human Factors

  • Densely populated (180/sq km) which means that there was higher potential for people to be injured/killed

  • Happened at 2.30pm when people would’ve been at school and work- wasnt predicted

  • As an LEDC of low development, the buildings were not build of a standard to withstand large earthquakes

  • The epicentre was only 5miles from the capital – a megacity of 14 million people

social impacts: 69,000 deaths, school collapsed with 900 students in, only 60 survived
environmental impacts: 2 chemical plants leaked ammonia

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Introduction

  • "Tectonic hazards are perceived natural events which pose threat to human life and property"- Nagel (2008)
  • A tectonic event: is the result of a movement in the earth's crust
  • A tectonic disaster: is when a tectonic event occurs and causes extensive loss of life, damage and destruction
  • Types: seismic (earthquake, primary hazards) and volcanic (eruptions)
  • Secondary hazards occur due to the occurence of a previous tectonic event e.g. tsunami

This report will.... by applying case studies such as... which show human and physical factors

The report will also refer to various models throughout such as...

  • human and physical factors can also be displayed using the disaster risk equation(as edexcel geog) This shows how the risk from a hazard can be influenced by physical (hazard) and human (capacity to cope and vulnerability) factors
  • Deggs model- shows how the hazard and the vulnerability of the area affects the severity of the disaster
  • Park's model- shows the affect of disaster on quality of life over a series of time and includes relief rehabilition and recovery
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