Topic 1 - Tectonic Processes And Hazards EQ3

Question 1

Explain evidence for why we are living in a more hazardous world?

Answer 1

• risks seem to be increasing for many people - especially those in middle income and poorest groups
• increase in hazard vulnerability mostly due to human factors rather than physical (pattern indicates not a significant increase in tectonic hazards over last 50 years)

Question 2

Define rapid and slow onset?

Answer 2

Determines the rate and warning at which hazards materialise

Question 3

Define geophysical hazards - give some examples?

Answer 3

Tectonic hazards (earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis and landslides)

Question 4

Define meteorological hazards?

Answer 4

From the weather such as cyclones, storms or waves

Question 5

Define hydrological disasters?

Answer 5

Water hazards - floods or avalanches

Question 6

Define climatological disasters?

Answer 6

Droughts, heats and fires

Question 7

Define hydro-meteorological disasters?

Answer 7

Combination of water and weather, often flash flood events

Question 8

Define biological disasters?

Answer 8

Disease epidemics or insect viruses - eg bird flu

Question 9

Outline tectonic disaster trends since 1960 focusing on occurrence?

Answer 9

• tectonic hazards are becoming more common
• hydrological disasters are growing the fastest out of all natural disasters
• tectonic hazards have somewhat increased since 1980 - mainly fluctuate with spikes for example in 1997 and 2000

Question 10

Outline tectonic disaster trends since 1960 focusing on deaths?

Answer 10

• deaths from tectonic activity have increased - hydrological disasters cause far more deaths than any other hazard
• number of deaths from geophysical hazards appear to be stable - approx 10-30,000 deaths
• peaks in death toll are either large scale disasters or tectonic events in developing countries

Question 11

Outline tectonic disaster trends since 1960 focusing on cost?

Answer 11

• meteorological disasters are the most expensive natural disaster
• tectonic disasters have a increasing trend - however may be skewed by some major spike events

Question 12

Outline tectonic disaster trends since 1960 focusing on affected?

Answer 12

• number of people being victims from hydrological is highest out of all hazards
• number of people affected by geophysical disasters appear to be increasing - with average close to 5000 with spikes to 50,000

Question 13

Outline and explain the 4 biggest issues preventing accurate and reliable data sets regarding disaster statistics?

Answer 13

• do you include direct (primary) or indirect (secondary) deaths as well - for example aid workers who dies in Haiti would they be counted as primary deaths
• political bias may prevent accurate deceleration of data - 2004 tsunami in Myanmar the government did not want to show weakness by stating its losses - tourism is important in region, meaning numbers were reported lower
• no single organisation responsible for collecting data, so sources vary (also unlikely main focus is to recover and count bodies straight after disaster)
• trends can be upset by a cluster of mega-disasters (catastrophes) such as 2004, 11 and 15 in Nepal

Question 14

Summarise and outline what a mega disaster ‘catastrophe’ is?

Answer 14

• large scale - both spatial and economic, due to their scale they are complex to manage and often require international support
• high-impact and low probability events - due to low likelihood and high costs of preparing countries are often ill prepared
• have major influence on world and world regions - for example trade, finance and production

Question 15

Explain how mega disasters can have impacts on production and supply chains?

Answer 15

• high-value manufacturing is at risk due to its just-in-time (JIT) business model
• consequences of high-impact, low probability events means it spreads rapidly across economic and geographic boundaries - creating impacts which are difficult to plan fir
• 2011 Japanese earthquake saw a reduction of 5% in country’s GDP but saw wider impact for TNCS like Toyota and Sony (forced to halt production)

Question 16

Explain the acronym HILP and its relationship to mega disasters?

Answer 16

High-impact, low prob
- require rapid responses at a global level
- due to low probability and high costs of mitigation there is often low levels of preparation

Question 17

Explain some of the social impacts from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 17

• deaths from 46 countries - 500 died from Germany and Sweden - due to tourism
• killed 280,000 people - displaced over 500,000 people
• left 1.7 million homeless
• loss of livelihoods - destroyed businesses/fishing boats ext

Question 18

Explain some of the environmental impacts from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 18

• smaller slammer islands were completely destroyed - coastal villages completely destroyed (high levels of homeless)
• fires broke out and destroyed water pipes - led to pollution (human and chemical waste)
• many ecosystems destroyed (led to loss of tourism and food)
• coral reefs destroyed - increases vulnerability of shore lines and reduces possible medicine

Question 19

Explain some of the economic impacts from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 19

• damage to assets was 6 billion and damage to infrastructure was 4 billion
• distrusted trade routes - Bangladesh
• tourism impacted

Question 20

Explain briefly the context of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

Answer 20

• huge tsunami
• high magnitude ext

Question 21

Explain some context for the 2010 eruption in Iceland - Eyjafallajokull?

Answer 21

• relatively small erruption
• first time volcano erupted In over 190 years - unprepared and unexpected
• impacted supply chain, manufacturing and transportation of perishable goods (wide international consequences)

Question 22

Explain 3 social impacts of the 2010 eruption in Iceland - Eyjafallajokull?

Answer 22

• ash eruption directly impacted flight paths - disrupting 100,0000 flights over Europe and to North America as winds directed ash (economic + social)
• tourists were stranded away from home - airlines lost 200 million/day (economic + social)
• sports affected - football teams could not travel to game + music bands could not reach California for a festival (social)

Question 23

Explain 4 economic impacts of the 2010 eruption in Iceland - Eyjafallajokull?

Answer 23

• tourism and business impacted - 3 billion lost (economic)
• fresh fish from Iceland had to be stored - reduced sales (economic)
• car parts could not reach European factories - BMW production down 7000 vehicles in a week (economic)
• perishable agricultural products rotted in UK warehouses - loss of 2 million per day (economic)

Question 24

Explain some context for the 2011 Japanese tsunami - tohoku?

Answer 24

• affected places around Pacific Ocean (destroying docks and boast)
• wave was 2m high

Question 25

Explain 3 **economic** impacts Of the 2011 Japanese tsunami - tohoku?

Answer 25

- decline in Japans manufacturing - specifically supply of semi-conductors and tech products - damage to Fukushima reactors, released radioactivity - encouraged countries to rethink about safe energy (Germany switched from nuclear energy, closed all reactors and encouraged solar energy) - worldwide availability and affordability of natural gas affected by japans increased demand

Question 26

Explain 5 **social** impacts Of the 2011 Japanese tsunami - tohoku?

Answer 26

- Displacement - thousands of families were displaced from their homes, and some were separated during evacuation - 15,899 deaths (2,527 missing and presumed dead) - 332,395 buildings destroyed or damaged - 300 hospitals damaged, and 11 destroyed - Over 4.4 million households without electricity

Question 27

Define multiple-hazard zones and disaster hotspots?

Answer 27

Places where a number of physical hazards combine to create an increased level of risk for a country and its population - made worse by factors like a vulnerable population (GDP/population density/wealth) or repeated events (gives no time to recover) - **often seen as disaster hotspots**

Question 28

Explain where the multiple-hazard zones are located and where there’s the possibility for disaster hotspots?

Answer 28

Eastern Asia has a multiple-hazard zone where there are both zones of tropical storms (cyclones) and winter storms as well as tectonic and tsunami activity which combined with numerous fast growing areas (some of the most in the world) - explains why 73% of Taiwan population and area is exposed and the 4 different hazards they are exposed to

Question 29

Outline and explain why large urban areas are often zones of multiple-hazard risk - give 4?

Answer 29

- Cities are economic cores as a natural focus for investment and development (implications for global financial markets) - They are often centres of growing populations due to rapid urbanisation in most developing countries (high dependency on infrastructure) - Many cities have large areas that are unplanned/ poor-quality housing/ densely populated/ on marginal or potentially dangerous sites (inappropriate construction leads to many deaths) - ecological imbalance - rapid urbanisation destroys ecosystems - deforestation increases chance of flash floods

Question 30

Outline and explain a **one hazard event** in the Philippines?

Answer 30

- 2006 earthquake killed 15 people, injured 100, damaged/ destroyed 800 buildings - generated a 3 meters high tsunami - this triggered landslides, which breached the crater wall of a volcano and fell into a lake, creating a flood that washed away houses

Question 31

Explain the effects of **different hazard events** happening in a short space of time - focus on the events of Philippines?

Answer 31

- **3 natural disasters within 3 months in the Philippines** - October 2013- earthquake killing 233 people - November 2013- Typhoon Haiyan killed 6201 people - January 2014 - floods from a tropical depression killed 64 people

Question 32

Outline some of the **physical** risks present in the Philippines - give 5?

Answer 32

- main risk is typhoons (typically 5-6 storms a year) lies on a major storm track - volcanoes - very common, frequent and violent (andesitic magma) - earthquakes - subduction zone - frequent but vary in depth - flooding - droughts (rare but El Niño does cause these)

Question 33

Outline some of the **human** risks in the Philippines - give 3?

Answer 33

- rapidly developing lower-middle income country (GDP 7000) - many of country poor live in areas prone to flooding, tsunamis and sea surges (made worse by poor building quality) - 25% of people live in poverty - capital city has 2.8 million people in poor quality housing - rapid urbanisation (up 45%) with 42 million living in urban areas (high rural to urban migration - looking for jobs)

Question 34

Outline the impacts of the **Bohol earthquake** in the Philippines?

Answer 34

- epicentre of 7.1 magnitude quake - beneath island of Bohol (damaged 2 of the country’s oldest churches) - low-rise buildings collapsed - roads were cut in 2 by landslides - 73,000 structures damaged - 200 dead with 1000 injured

Question 35

Outline the economic impacts of the **2013 typhoon Haiyan** in the Philippines?

Answer 35

- overall economic impact estimated at $5.8 billion - Six million workers lost their sources of income. - agriculture destroyed affecting the country's international trade and farmers' incomes. - Tacloban's city airport was severely damaged, affecting business and tourism.

Question 36

Outline the social and environmental impacts of the **2013 typhoon Haiyan** in the Philippines?

Answer 36

**social** - 7000 killed - 1.9 mill homeless - outbreak of disease (lack of sanitation,food, water and medication) **Environmental** - flooding destroyed houses and businesses - 71,000- hectares of farmland destroyed - oil spill caused by flooding - affected mangroves

Question 37

Outline the impacts of the **2015 typhoon Koppu** in the Philippines?

Answer 37

- second strongest typhoon to hit the country in the year - 500,000 displaced - flood in impacted housing and rainfall caused landslides - 54 deaths - drowning + injuries

Question 38

Explain the relation between prediction and forecasting of earthquakes?

Answer 38

Earthquakes can not yet be predicted (actual time and location) but the risk and probability can be forecast since its based on statistical likelihood of an event happening at a location - ability to predict is useful as it can encourage prevention, pre reaction, response and recovery to be planned in high risk locations

Question 39

Explain some of the methods used for predicting and forecasting tectonic hazards - **focusing specifically on volcanos**?

Answer 39

- GPS positioning systems measuring changes in size/shape of volcano (therefore the build up of magma) - scientists can measure thermal temperatures of volcanic rock - and identity when magma is rising close to surface - collecting gas samples (sulphur dioxide) during eruption, emission rates increase - robotic ‘spiders’ can travel into vents to collect rock samples, testing temp and mineral content

Question 40

Explain some of the methods used for predicting and forecasting tectonic hazards - **focusing specifically on earthquakes**?

Answer 40

- seismic gap theory - ideal all parts of the fault will move - animal behaviour - research speed of underground magma movement

Question 41

Explain some of the methods used for predicting and forecasting tectonic hazards - **focusing specifically on tsunamis**?

Answer 41

- recorders on seabed monitors changes in pressure, can detect tsunami as small as 1cm - acoustic link transmits data to moored surface buoy which relays the data to a satellite which transmits data to ground stations (Problem is these are generally located in deep ocean, so will not detect shallower activity)

Question 42

Explain the model - hazard management cycle?

Answer 42

- a theoretical model - process in which governments and other organisations work together to protect people from natural hazards - involves key players like governments (local, regional and national level) International organisations, business and community groups Eg making buildings earthquake resistant (Mitigation) will reduce problems in responding and recovering from earthquakes

Question 43

Explain the model - park model?

Answer 43

- shows how a country might respond after a hazard event (can be used for comparisons of countries at different levels of development and how they recover) - can be used to help plan and understand risk and resilience - and to better prepare to future events

Question 44

Explain how the park model is used?

Answer 44

- Impacts of the event change over time - e.g. depending on size, development, aid received - All events have different impacts, so their curves differ - e.g. fast vs slow occurring events will have differing responses. - Wealthier countries will have different curves to developing as they are able to recover faster

Question 45

Define hazard mitigation?

Answer 45

Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events (eg land-use zoning, diverting land flow and engineering)

Question 46

Define hazard adaptation?

Answer 46

Strategies designed to reduced the impacts of hazard events (high-tech monitoring , modelling hazard impacts and community preparedness)

Question 47

Explain how we can modify tectonic events?

Answer 47

- earthquakes are unpredictable (cant predict time or place) - volcanic eruptions can be modified by using lava dispersion barriers or by spraying seawater to cool and solidify lava flow or by draining crater lakes to reduce risk of Lahars - tsunamis can be modified by changing offshore coastal environments - by building barriers like sea walls or mangrove forests Engineers and scientists work together to develop advanced technology and satellite imaging to better prepare

Question 48

Outline and explain what **land-use zoning** is as an example of strategy to modify the event?

Answer 48

Process where local government planners regulate how land in a community is used - effective method for protecting people and property in areas at risk

Question 49

Evaluate the usefulness of land use zoning?

Answer 49

- area around around a risk (eg volcano) is divided into zones based on the likely type and level of damage from an eruption - planners than decided how to use that land (limits certain infrastructure - nuclear power plants and development of area which offers natural protection eg mangrove forests) **positive** - less common in developing countries explains why hazard events here cause more damage and destruction **negative** - hard to change land use of urban areas that has already been built on **negative** - potential a low cost solution - requires planners **positive**

Question 50

Outline and explain what **diverting lava flow** is as an example of strategy to modify the event?

Answer 50

Method which involves attempting to divert lava flow away from people and communities - to safer directions done through building barriers and digging channels

Question 51

Evaluate the usefulness of diverting lava flow?

Answer 51

- path taken by lava is hard to predict - making it difficult to know where to build the wall or dig the channels **negative** - the terrain has to be suitable (eg downward slope to aid flow) **negative** - stopping the lava flowing towards one community may push it to another **negative** - can prevent damage to infrastructure and high value property **positive**

Question 52

Explain some of the methods for diverting lava flows?

Answer 52

- water sprays - seawater pumped from the ocean can be sprayed on the lava, appears to be successful and drastically decreases lava temperature - explosives - can be used in some situations to halt the advance of lava by depriving it of supply

Question 53

Outline and explain what **geographical information information system (GIS) mapping** is as an example of strategy to modify the event?

Answer 53

GIS can be used in all stages of the disaster management cycle - for example to identify where evacuation routes should be placed to to help with rescue and recovery options - GIS is maps showing various elements (population densities, hospitals, residencies, fire departments, governments)

Question 54

Evaluate the usefulness of geographical information system (GIS)?

Answer 54

- aid agencies and governments can easily see where aid should be directed and where it may be difficult to reach - which reduces response time **positive** - expensive and may require advanced technology to maintain and direct response live **negative**

Question 55

Outline and explain what **hazard resistant design and engineering defences** is as an example of strategy to modify the event?

Answer 55

Possible to design and construct buildings that can withstand tectonic events with planning, government monitoring and control in developed and developing countries

Question 56

Outline some of the hazard-resistant design and engineering defences?

Answer 56

- new building and structures can be designed to resist ground shaking during earthquakes - roof of houses built near volcanoes can be sloped - reduce amount of ash building up (reduce risk of collapse) - protective structures such as sea walls or retaining walls can stop impact of tsunamis

Question 57

Evaluate the usefulness of hazard resistant design and engineering defences?

Answer 57

- can be expensive to implement and maintain properly - may not be an option for developing countries, if they do it the resources used may not be of a high standard and lead to collapse/destruction **negative** - can be added to existing buildings - process called retrofitting **positive**

Question 58

Outline and explain what **high tech monitoring** is as an example of strategy to modify vulnerability and resilience - give some examples of different ones?

Answer 58

Technology plays important role in helping communities and individuals to become less vulnerable to hazard events - allow scientists to learn about these processes and improve prediction accuracy - early warning systems - detect signs of tectonic activity and informs authorities - satellite communication technology - helps transit data from monitoring equipment so early warnings can be issued - mobile phone technology - used to communicate rapid warnings

Question 59

Outline and explain what **crisis mapping** is as an example of strategy to modify vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 59

Online resource allowing groups to create live interactive maps set up a map site - local people began providing information, such as where people were trapped and plotted these location on maps which were used by aid workers

Question 60

Outline and explain what **education** is as an example of strategy to modify vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 60

Helps people understand what they can do to protect themselves during and after hazard events (more kids focused) - practising emergency procedures (Japanese children practise 4 times a year) - encouraging households and workplaces to create emergency preparedness kits - education on how to construct earthquake proof buildings

Question 61

Outline and explain what **community preparedness and adaption** is as an example of strategy to modify vulnerability and resilience?

Answer 61

- involves actual people living in a community - best way to develop plans and educate people (especially relevant in low income countries) more effective when organisation and co-ordinated - creating lists of vulnerable people who may need assistance (elderly) - organising practice evacuation events - providing first aid courses

Question 62

Explain strategies to modify loss - mention immediate response, players involved (volunteers + NGOs)?

Answer 62

After tectonic event immediate response by authorities is important - includes fully equipped rescue efforts and relief aid (water, blankets,food and shelter) to prevent deaths from exposure, hunger and thirst - NGOs may be involved (CAFOD and Red Crescent may provide relief - volunteers are also essential for communication and relief (Kobe 1995 has 1.2 million volunteers)

Question 63

Explain the role of aid in managing loss after tectonic events - what are the types of aid and who are the players involved?

Answer 63

- **emergency aid** - through provide food, clean water and shelter - **short term aid** - restoring water supplies by providing temporary shelter - **longer term aid** - reconstructing buildings and infrastructure, redeveloping the economy and managing programmes to reduce future disasters Can involve governments (both affected and others) NGOs (charities) IGOs (UN) and in some cases financial aid through the insurance industry

Question 64

What is the role of NGOs in responding to disasters and tectonic events?

Answer 64

Involved where local governments are struggling to respond (or who lack the resources) they can provide funds (are a charity though so limited resources) co-ordinate searches and rescue efforts **involved in all stages of the hazard-management cycle - remain in affected areas for years to help redevelopment but also before disasters to train and increase resilience**

Question 65

explain the role of insures in disasters and tectonic events?

Answer 65

- more prominent in developed countries - work with governments to recover and respond to financial losses - not really available or affordable in developing countries - majority of people have much more important pressing economic matters rather than a earthquake which could happen

Question 66

explain the role of insures in disasters and tectonic events?

Answer 66

- more prominent in developed countries - work with governments to recover and respond to financial losses - not really available or affordable in developing countries - majority of people have much more important pressing economic matters rather than a earthquake which could happen

Question 67

explain the role of communities in disasters and tectonic events?

Answer 67

Local people are the first to respond and are crucial in the immediate search-and-rescue efforts - in remote locations it can take days for aid to arrive - local people have to undertake recovery efforts themselves (2015 Afghanistan earthquake saw villagers in mountains establish groups which traveled to remote areas to search for injured people) **likely to be better in developing countries as there is less reliance on professionals**