Disaster Hotspot - The Philippines

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  • Created by: GMarsden
  • Created on: 10-05-15 16:39

A disaster hotspot is a place at risk from 2 or more hazard types with a high vulnerability to disasters due to the size, density and/or the poverty and wealth of the population.

Basic facts about The Philippines:

  • It is an MIC (Middle Income Country) according to the world bank
  • It has a population of approx. 98.4 million
  • It has an avg. of $5000 per capita
  • Mountaineous country
  • Crowded coastal lowlands
  • Typhoon belt
  • Most people live and work on steep slopes

Vulnerability:

  • Densely populated area - more impermeable surfaces and increased chance of people dying
  • Population pressure leads to deforestation and therefore more landslides
  • It has a fast growing economy but much of the population is still living below the poverty line
  • Experiences many disasters throughout the year - hard and time consuming to recover after each one

The Philippines experiences many earthquakes as it lyes on a destructive plate boundary. At this plate boundary the dense Philippines plate (oceanic) is being subducted beneath the eurasion plate (continental) which causes pressure to build up and be released in the form of seismic waves. This is also the process which causes many volcanic eruptions across the Philippines. As the subducted Eurasion plate melts in the Earth's mantle the molten rock (magma) forms a magma chamber which explodes violently due to the huge amounts of pressure being built up and therfore causes a volcanic eruption.

The Philippines…

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