Unit 4 tectonics pre release case study cards

Human factors:

• Population density
• Level of development
• Preparation and awareness
• Industry

Physical factors:

• Magnitude
• Boundary type
• Magma type
• Geology
• Duration
• Depth of focus/ epicentre
• Time

Economic

Social

Environmental

In general event occurring in less developed countries have a higher social impact than events in MEDCs however these events have a higher economic impact due to the level of development and the sector of employment focused upon.

EQs

• Japanese earthquake
• Asian Tsunami
• Haiti
• Kobe
• Sichuan

Volcanoes

• Mauna Loa
• Eyjafjallajokull and Grimsvotn volcanic eruptions
• Mount Merapi
• Montserrat
• Mt Etna
• Pinatubo

• Magnitude: 9.0
• Depth of focus: 32km
• Time: 14.46
• Plate boundary: destructive
• Level of development: MEDC
• Population density: 337.13

Social impacts:

-          14,998 deaths; out of these deaths 92% of casualties died by drowning; proving that although Japan was prepared for the earthquake they had not sufficiently prepared for the subsequent tsunami.

-          5,297 injured

-          9,853 missing

-          45,700 buildings destroyed

-          4 passenger trains disappeared

-          Immediately after the disaster 1.5 million houses were left without water

-          According to TEP around 4.4 million people were left without electricity

-          There were 300,000 refugees in the Tohoku region.

Economic impacts:

-          Industrial production stopped

-          Estimated cost of rebuilding $122 billion

-          Damaged area; Tohoku region accounts for 8% of Japan’s GDP

-          Damage to fishing industry that is significant for employment in the area; $5 billion and 90% of 29,000 fishing boats deemed un-usable

Magnitude: 7

Depth of focus: 13km

Time: 16:53

Plate boundary: Conservative

Level of development: LEDC

Population density: 367.14

-          Estimated 3 million affected by the quake

-          222,570 deaths

-          Displaced 1.3 million people

-          97,294 buildings destroyed

-          Haitian prison destroyed; almost all of the 4,000 inmates escaped; posing a great security risk to all those affected

-          Estimated economic losses are 20%-100% of GDP of Haiti

-          Estimated that it will cost $8.5 billion in damage to Haiti’s economy.

-          The earthquake made the country’s GDP contact by 5.1% in 2010

-          Water borne illnesses were and still are a huge problem, 5,000 people have died since the catastrophe due to cholera.

-          According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the biggest issue is the building waste; some 40 to 50 percent of the buildings fell in Port-au-Prince and nearby towns

 The impacts from this tectonic event were significant; when reviewing the Degg Disaster model the earthquake had very high impacts because the physical event met a very vulnerable population whose capacity to cope was low because of extreme poverty within the country; the lack of development was a major factor in this earthquake because the secondary impacts such as death from cholera are so high due to a lack of healthcare provision within the country.

Japan’s earthquake had a lower impact due to its level of development and if the Haitian earthquake had occurred in Japan the impact would’ve been a lot less due to the infrastructure that would’ve have been present in a high income country such as Japan, furthermore the subsequent issue of water borne disease would’ve have been a lot lower due to a better provision of healthcare.