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PLATE BOUNDARIES - Coggle Diagram
PLATE BOUNDARIES
LIC CASE STUDY: Haiti Earthquake
Key Facts
12th January 2010
7.0 earthquake
On a destructive plate margin
Between Caribbean and North American plates
Epicentre was 6 km from the capital - Port-au-Prince
Focus was 12.87km deep
Primary Effects
300,000 injured
220,000 were killed
Bad damage to the main port
8 hospitals collapsed
100,000 houses destroyed
200,000 houses damaged
1.3 million people left homeless
Secondary Effects
Increased crime
People moved into temporary shelter
Frequent power cuts
Outbreaks of cholera by November 2010
2 million people left without food or water
Short Term Responses
Bottled water and purification tablets provided
235,000 people moved away from Port-au-Prince
Rescue teams and 10,000 troops sent from the USA
£20 million donated by UK government
Crucial aid slow to arrive due to damaged port
Long Term Responses
Dependent of oversees aid
New, better quality houses built
One year later still over 1 million in temporary shelter
Large investments to restore the port
HIC CASE STUDY: Christchurch Earthquake
Key Facts
22nd February 2011
6.3 magnitude earthquake
Focus was only 4.99km deep
On a conservative plate margin
Between Pacific and Australian plates
Primary Effects
181 people killed
2,000 injured
Over 50% of the city's building damaged
City's cathedral spire collapsed
Damage to water and sewage pipes
Secondary Effects
Businesses closed for a long time
Couldn't hold 5 Rugby World Cup matches
Schools closed for 2 weeks
Short Term Responses
International aid provided
Charities like the Red Cross came to help
Areas zoned to investigate damage
300 Australian police officers flown in
Long Term Responses
$898 million in building insurance claims
Water and sewerage restored to the city by August 2011
Temporary housing provided
Destructive Plate Margins
Plates move TOWARDS each other
Causes earthquakes
Oceanic plate is forced beneath the continental plate
This is called subduction
This is because the oceanic plate is denser and heavier
Plate sinks into the mantle and melts to form magma
Pressure of magma builds up beneath the Earth's surface
Magma escapes through weaknesses in the rock
Rises up through a composite volcano
This causes a violent eruption with steam, gas and ash
Collision margins
Neither can sink
Land buckles up to form fold mountains
Two continental plates collide
Causes earthquakes
Constructive Plate Margins
Plates move APART
Magma from the mantle rises up
This makes new land
Forms a shield volcano
Can cause earthquakes
Conservative Plate Margins
Plates move PAST each other
Can be side by side moving at different speeds
Friction occurs and plates get stuck
Pressure builds up as plates are still trying to move
Pressure releases
Lots of energy is sent out
This can cause an earthquake
These can be very destructive as they're close to Earth's surface
No volcanoes can form
Predicting, Protecting and Preparing
Prediction
Using seismeters to monitor earth tremors
Easier to predict where than when they will happen
Protection
Constructing safe buildings
Steel frames to swing during Earth movements
Areas outside buildings where people can assemble
Rubber shock absorbents to absorb tremors
Preparation
Practicing in hospitals, emergency services and for residents
Drills in earthquake prone countries
Reduces impacts and increases chance of survival
Stocking resources like food and medical supplies
Formation of Tectonic Plates
Earth's crust is broken into plates
Oceanic
Found underneath the ocean
Denser than continental crust
Can be subducted
Continental
Found under land masses or continents
Older than oceanic crust
Less often destroyed
'Slab pull' drives the movement of tectonic plates
Old, denser tectonic plates sink into the mantle
This occurs at subduction zones
Newer and less dense sections of plates are pulled along behind
Plates move apart in other places
