How do tectonics develop into disasters

Impacts of tectonics

LIC- Nepal 2015

Social impacts

9000 deaths

22000 injured

Rural villages destroyed

UNESCO heritage site destroyed in Katmandu

11 people killed at base camp Mt Everest (avalanche)

Economic impacts

Gov had to pay £10bn in damages

Rural villages destroyed

Short term loss of revenue from tourism industry

Environmental impacts

Destruction of forests due to pyroclastic flows

NEE - China 2010

Social impacts

87,500 dead, 375,000 injured​

Widespread destruction of buildings​

At least 5 million homeless

Many causalities caused by aftershocks in following days, weeks and months​

Economic impacts

$150 billion worth of damage​

Stock exchanges had to stop operating​

Roads/highways collapsed

Millions of livestock were killed​

HIC- Chile 2010

Social imapcts

500 deaths

Blackout that affected 93% of the population

Felt by 80% of the population

Economic impacts

370,000 homes damaged

Economic costs of $15-30 billion to Chile, and $67 million to Japan (fishing in Tôhoku)

Inequality leading to vulnerability and resilience

Level of development

Nepal (less developed) 7.5 on richter scale had worse impacts than Chile (more developed) 8.8

Increasing risk

Population growth

Urbanisation and urban sprawl

Demographic (Very young or old population)

Inadequate infrastructure

Knowledge on hazards

Resilience on power, water and communication system

Mitigating risk

Poor healthcare system

Warning and emergency response

Government disaster assistance programs

Scientific understanding

Hazard engineering

Insurance

Governnace and geographical factors influence vulnerabily and resilience

Eg Japan disastrer prevention day- prepares people in the event of hazard how to react and stay safe

Governance

Meeting basic needs- food supply, water supply and health needs are met the population is physically more able to cope with disaster

Land-use planning- reduce risk by preventing habitation on high risk slopes, areas prone to hazards

Environmental managment- Secondary hazards, such as landslides, can be made worse by deforestation. The right monitoring equipment can warn of some hazards, such as lahars.

Prepardness- programs to raise awareness and teach people how to react

Corruption- using money for hazard management for other things, allwoing unsafe buildings for bribes

Governments that are open, with a free press and media, can be held to account, increasing the likelihood that preparation and planning take place.

Geographical factors

population density: highly populated areas may be hard to evacuate

Eg. Turkey earthquake 1999 gov blamed for high death toll due to unsafe buildings

eg, Mt Vesuvius in Italy, and are likely to be hit harder by an earthquake

degree of urbanisation: when cities are struck by major earthquakes, death tolls can be high because of the concentration of at-risk people.

such as the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan or Haiti in 2010

isolation and accessibility: often rural areas are hit less hard than urban areas by the initial impact of the disaster, but isolation and limited access can slow the rescue relief effort

Hazard context

LIC- Haiti

Decades of corrupt, ineffective and brutal governance left Haitian people hugely vulnerable because of slum housing, ineffectual water supply and endemic poverty. A post-earthquake cholera epidemic has killed more than 10,000 people and infected more than 800,000.

160,000 deaths

1.5 million homeless

250,000 homes destroyed

NEE - China

69,000 deaths

375,000 injured

Economic costs of $140 billion

Economic losses in China were high, reflecting its development progress since 1990, as it destroyed formal homes, businesses and infrastructure. The immediate response was rapid because the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were only months away, so the Communist government mobilised the army and other responders rapidly.