1.5.B Profile examples

Question 1

What do profiles show?

Answer 1

Profile of earthquake, volcano and tsunami events showing the severity of social and economic impacts in developed, emerging and developing countries.

Question 2

The 2005 Kashmir earthquake

Answer 2

At magnitude 7.6, with a ground shaking intensity of V!! (severe) this was a large event
As will all earthquakes, speed of onset was very rapid so there was no change of evacuating to a safe area
Damage was centred on Muzaffarabad, but spread over an areal extend of more than 1000 km^2
Ground shaking lasted 30-45 seconds, but landslides triggered by the earthquake continued for some time, as did aftershocks up to magnitude 6.4

Question 3

Destruction in Kashmir

Answer 3

87,000 deaths
2.8 million people displaced or made homeless
17,000 schools destroyed or damaged
Nearly 800 health centres destroyed

Question 4

Why was the destruction in Kashmir so servere?

Answer 4

Numerous factors including poverty. poor building construction, time of day (many children were in school), geology and terrain (contributing to landslides) and isolation (making the rescue and relief effort difficult) help explain the impacts, but two hazard profile characteristics are also relevant:

frequency: the previous major earthquake in Kashmir was in 1905, so there was no ‘collective memory’ of the risks and impacts of earthquakes in the region

spatial predictability: Kashmir is in a ‘seismic gap’ i.e. an area of known risk that had not experienced an earthquake for some time. This should have been acted upon through education and risk awareness, which could have reduced the impacts.