Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

1. Tectonic

   • Earthquakes
     • Caused by tension between tectonic plates suddenly releasing
       • THE FOCUS is the exact point where the earthquake occurs, where the energy is released between plates
       • THE EPICENTRE is the point directly above the FOCUS which is usually the area most affected
       • SEISMIC WAVES are waves of kinetic energy released from the FOCUS that cause destruction.
         • Measured with SEISMOGRAPHS
       • AFTERSHOCKS occur as smaller releases of energy following a bigger earthquake, they can still cause severe damage.
     • Measured on the RICHTER SCALE
       • Severity is rated on a scale of 1 to 10
         • Each scale is ten times more in MAGNITUDE that the previous
     • CASE STUDIES
       • JAPAN 2011
         • Occured on Friday the 11th of March 2011
         • MAGNITUDE 9.0 on the RICHTER SCALE
         • 15,893 deaths
         • PRIMARY EFFECTS
           • Infrastructure damaged
             • Buildings damaged and burning
             • Trains damaged
           • Oil refinery caught fire
           • Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster
             • Partial core meltdown
             • Explosion damage
             • Reactors overheating
             • Second biggest nuclear disaster after Chernobyl
           • Over 15,000 dead
           • Over 6,000 injured
         • SECONDARY EFFECTS
           • Tsunami
             • Devastated the coast
               • Infrastructure severely damaged
                 • Economic damage
               • Towns destroyed
                 • People homeless
             • 10 metres high
             • Killed many people
             • Affected all of the Pacific Rim
           • Power cut off
           • Dirty water
             • Diseases spread
               • Strain on already overwhelmed hospitals
           • Aftershocks
           • £189 billion to recover
         • MEDC
         • Japan used to earthquakes
         • RESPONSES
           • Citizens calm
             • Used to earthquakes
             • Mobile device warning system
           • $1.1 million raised
           • Emergency services acted quickly
           • Everyone was efficient
           • Reserve energy used
       • HAITI 2010
         • https://handygeography.wordpress.com/gcse/the-restless-earth-revision-materials/earthquake-case-study-haiti-poor/
         • Facts & Statistics
           • MAGNITUDE 7.0
           • Occurred on January 12th 2010
           • Estimated 160,000 dead
           • Epicentre near Port-au-Prince
             • Capital city
           • Haiti poorest country in the Western Hemisphere
           • £9 billion cost
         • LEDC
         • PRIMARY EFFECTS
           • Landmarks destroyed
             • Tourism affected
           • 160,000 dead
           • 3 million people affected
           • 280,000 buildings damaged
           • Infrastructure damaged
             • Transport links
             • Communication
             • Hospitals and schools
             • Prison
               • 50,000 inmates escaped
         • SECONDARY EFFECTS
           • 20% of people lost their job
             • Economy damaged
           • Dead bodies everywhere
             • Disease
               • Cholera
           • Poor management lead to many people without aid
             • Violence
               • Crime
           • Thousands of people displaced from homes
             • Homelessness
             • Shanty towns
             • Can't afford new homes
         • REPONSES
           • Charity
             • "Hats for Haiti"
             • $3.5 billion raised
           • $430 million donated from the EU and USA
           • 4.3 people provided with food rations within weeks
           • Poor management
           • Temporary schools
         • Causes
           • North American Plate sliding past the Caribbean Plate at a conservative plate boundary
   • Volcanoes
     • Formed when MAGMA reaches the Earth's surface
       • Usually over tectonic plate boundaries
         • Mid-Atlantic ridge
     • CASE STUDIES
       • NEVADA DEL RUIZ 1985
         • http://www.slideshare.net/Ruth1618/nevado-del-ruiz-case-study http://www.slideshare.net/thepack001/nevado-del-ruiz-volcano-case-study
         • LEDC
           • Aid and support inefficient
         • Erupted on the 13th of November 1985
         • Columbia, South America
         • Lies within the Pacific rim of fire
         • Causes
           • Ice cap melted, creating LAHARS
           • Build up of pressure in the magma chamber after 100 years of inactivity
           • The town of Armero was completely buried in ash
           • Towns affected were originally built in valleys
             • Pyroclastic flows and lahars easily flowed through
         • On top of a destructive plate boundary between the South American and Nazca plate
         • 20,000 dead
         • PRIMARY EFFECTS
           • Infrastructure damaged
             • Schools
             • Hospitals
           • Lahars kills 70% of Armero's population
           • People died from toxic gases
         • SECONDARY EFFECTS
           • Area isolated
             • Aid inaccessible
           • Lack of clean water
             • Disease spreading
           • Land more fertile
           • 8,000 made homeless
         • Cost $7.7 billion in damage
           • That was 20% of Columbia's GDP
         • RESPONSES
           • Columbian Red Cross provided aid
           • Military provided helicoptors
           • Vaccines to prevent illness were distributed
           • Foreign aid works sent in
             • Doctors from Japan
           • Supplies from France and the USA sent in
           • Worldwide television broadcasted the story of Omayra Sanchez
             • A girl who's legs were trapped in mud and died after three days of agony
             • Met with a lot of sympathy
       • MT ETNA 2002
         • Location and Background
           • Mt. Etna is already a famously active volcano
           • Located on the isle of Sicily, off the coast of Italy
             • MEDC
           • Residents within the range of the volcano are well aware of the risks and are well prepared
             • Still devastating
           • Erupted violently during the months of December and November in 2002
           • Situated on top of a collision boundary between the Euroasian plate and the African plate
         • PRIMARY EFFECTS
           • Over 100 homes were damaged or destroyed
           • Air filled with toxic chemicals that can be harmful for humans and animals
             • Wildlife destroyed
           • Infrastructure damaged
             • Tourism disrupted
               • Economy impacted
             • Farming disrupted
               • Economy impacted
             • Transport links destroyed
           • 77 confirmed deaths
         • Secondary Impacts
           • Ash cloud disrupted air travel
             • Tourists stranded
           • Economy impacted due to affect on farming and tourism
             • Food prices rose
           • Schools closed
           • Two-wheeled vehicles banned for safety reasons
           • Damaged infrastructure unable to function
           • Soil more fertile from the dried mineral-rich lava rock
           • Homes destroyed meant people were displaced
         • RESPONSES
           • Short term
             • Sicily declared in a state of emergency by the government
             • Relief aid sent to affected areas
             • Barriers were build by the army to divert lava away from buildings
             • Aid was efficient and affected areas quickly recovered
               • Sicily used to eruptions
           • Long term
             • Tax allowances given to local business owners to help with financial recovery
             • Damaged buildings were rebuilts
             • Scientists pledged to improve Mt. Etna's monitoring
             • An emergency evacuation plan was made
     • Occur at DESTRUCTIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE plate boundaries
     • MAGMA is molten rock beneath the Earth's surface
       • Becomes LAVA when it reaches the Earth's surface
         • It then dries to form mineral-rich rock
     • Cone shaped
       • SHIELD volcanoes
         • Formed when the magma rising is very runny and can travel further before drying
           • Eruptions are more frequent but gentle
         • CONSTRUCTIVE or TENSIONAL BOUNDARIES
       • COMPOSITE volcanoes
         • Formed where the MAGMA rising is more viscous and moves less before drying
           • Eruptions infrequent but more destructive
         • Found at CONSTRUCTIVE or COMPRESSIONAL boundaries
         • Produces pyroclastic flows
     • Can be underwater
       • Island formations
     • Types of volcano
       • Active
         • Still erupts frequently
       • Dormant
         • Temporarily inactive
         • Not yet extinct
       • Extinct
         • Inactive for a very long time
         • Unlikely to erupt again
     • Composed of several parts
       • Secondary vent
         • Smaller holes where magma escapes
       • Main vent
         • Main outlet that magma escapes from
       • Magma chamber
         • The collection of magma below the volcano building up
         • Eruption occurs when pressure builds up here and explodes out the vents
       • Crater
         • Created when an eruption blows of the tip of the volcano
     • SUPERVOLCANOES are very large volcanoes with massive destructive power
       • Erupts at least 1,000km3 of material
       • Forms a CALDERA
         • A depression in land as opposed to a cone shape
       • Erupts very infrequently, hundreds of thousands of years apart
       • Yellowstone is a supervolcano

2. Climatic

   • Hurricanes
     • http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/geography/physical_processes/weather_climate/revision/9/
     • CASE STUDIES
       • Cyclone Nargis
         • Primary impacts
           • 140,000 dead
           • 2.4 million affected
           • Infrastructure destroyed
             • Transport links swept away
             • No power
           • 2 million homeless
           • Buildings destroyed
         • Secondary impacts
           • Mosquitoes thriving
           • Disease
           • Poverty
           • Area isolated
           • Food prices rise
           • Crop failure
         • Responses
           • Myanmar government suspicious of aid
             • Did not welcome aid
             • A lot of deaths could of been prevented
             • Faced a lot of criticism
           • Aid not well distributed
             • Volunteers harassed and abused
           • Government didn't have enough money
           • Globally, help was offered but denied by the government
             • Aid workers and media not allowed in
           • Charities raised money, but the Myanmar government didn't want it
         • Causes
           • Myanmar has destroyed 80% of its mangrove coasts
             • Impacts worse
           • Built up in the Indian ocean before hitting Myanmar in April and May of 2008
           • Country devastated
         • May 2008
         • Myanmar
           • South-East Asia
         • Category 4
         • 140,000 dead
         • $10 billion cost
         • LEDC
       • Hurricane Katrina
         • http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/geography/physical_processes/weather_climate/revision/10/
         • Primary impacts
           • Communication broken
           • No clean water
           • Infrastructure destroyed
           • 1464 dead
           • 1.7 million without electricity
           • Homes destroyed
         • Secondary impacts
           • Dirty water spread disease
           • Dead bodies health risk
           • $10.5 billion cost
           • Job loss
           • Emotional trauma
           • Businesses severely impacted
           • Agriculture destroyed
           • Tourism decreased
           • Wildlife habitats destroyed
         • Causes
           • Many US states affected, mostly Lousianna
           • New Orleans devastated
             • Loss of tourism
             • Businesses disrupted
             • Buildings destroyed
           • Many people jobless and/or homeless
           • Nationwide distress
         • Responses
           • Government aid was slow
             • Accused of being racially driven
             • Violence over aid
           • Charities raised a lot of money
           • Lousiana still affected now
         • 1464 dead
         • First hit 29th of August 2005
         • South-East USA
           • Lousianna
     • Also known as cyclones and typhoons
       • Cyclones in the Indian ocean
       • Typhoons in the Pacific ocean
       • Hurricanes in the Atlantic ocean
     • Formation
       • Must be around the equator
         • Within 5° and 30° lattitude
       • Water from 26°C to 28°C
       • Winds above 74mph to be classified as a catergory 1 hurricane
     • Heavy rainfall, strong winds and other related hazards such as mudslides and flooding
     • Classified with the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
     • Very destructive
   • Droughts
     • Classified as when there is an abnormally long period of time without precipitation
       • Slightly different for different countries and climates
     • Severe water shortage
       • Lack of clean water can lead to disease spreading
     • Human causes
       • Deforestation
         • Reduces the soil's ability to hold water and this quickly dries out the land (Can lead to desertification)
       • Dams and reservoirs
         • Reduces flow of water
         • Provides energy and water to areas by the reservoir, but further down the river can be a severe shortage
     • Effects
       • Wildlife die
       • Agriculture impacted
         • Food prices rise
         • Famine
       • Restrictions on water usage might have to be enforced
       • People might feel the need to migrate, putting strain on other countries
     • CASE STUDIES
       • 'The Big Dry' Australia 2010
         • Caused by El Niño
           • Annual weather pattern that causes the trade winds of the Pacific ocean to reverse
             • Australia has no rainfall for a few weeks
             • Every few years it becomes dangerous
         • Impacts
           • Very severe water shortage
             • Water had to be imported
           • Agriculture impacted
             • Food prices rose
           • Wildlife dead or severely affected
             • Not adapted to such extreme weather
         • Responses
           • Australian government had to issue a water usage restriction
             • Filling swimming pools banned
             • Restriction on time spent in shower
             • Restriction on garden tending
         • MEDC
       • Kenya ???
   • Natural hazards caused by the weather
   • Flooding
     • http://www.slideshare.net/geodebs/revision-pack-2014-gcse-geography-ocr-b
     • CASE STUDIES
       • Zambezi
         • Primary impacts
           • Areas flooded and isolated
           • Infrastructure destroyed
           • Crops destroyed
           • The 32 million people living in the river's basin all affected
         • Secondary impacts
           • Food prices rose by up to 37%
           • Disease spreading through dirty water
           • Over 150,000 hippos in the river
             • Hippos are very deadly
         • Causes
           • Exceptionally heavy rain
             • Usually a manageable annual rainy season
           • Deforestation
           • Soil erosion
         • Responses
           • Government declared state of emergency
           • 110 relocation camps established
           • Government allocated $13 million to help
           • A total of $7 million was donated
         • 2009
         • LEDC
         • South-East Africa
       • Cockermouth
         • http://www.acegeography.com/flooding-case-studies-gcse.html
         • Causes
           • A WARM CONVEYOR from the mid-Atlantic brought an exceptional amount of rain
           • The town of Cockermouth was built within the valley basin of two rivers, Derwent and Cocker
           • River Derwent burst its banks, causing severe flooding
           • Melting snow from the North York Moors contributed to surface runoff
           • Dredging the rivers was proposed a few years ago, but environmental agencies said no
             • Endangers fish species
           • Between 28 Febuary and 11 March 500mm of rainwater fell
         • Responses
           • Government provided £1 million
           • The Cubrian Flood Recovery fund was set up, raising £1 million in 10 days
           • Temporary railway station set up
           • Helicopter rescued 50 people
           • Temporary internet access at libraries set up
           • Army built temporary foot bridges
           • RSPCA came in to rescue stranded pets
         • Primary impacts
           • 1300 homes flooded with sewage
           • 50 people had to be evacuated by helicopter
           • Buildings destroyed
           • 4 bridges collapsed, 12 closed
           • One person died, a policeman trying to save somebody else
         • Secondary impacts
           • Sewage-infected water was a health risk
           • People unable to move back into homes for over a year
           • Cost of repairing a house at £28,000 each
           • Pets distressed and unable to escape
           • Main roads closed, increasing traffic
           • Cost of £100 million
           • Businesses unable to recover
         • 2009
         • Cumbria, a county in North-West England
           • MEDC
     • Heavy rainfall
     • Long periods of rain
       • Often more than 24 hours solid
     • Urbanisation makes flooding worse because cities have more impenetrable surfaces
     • Deforestation worsens flooding because there are less trees to absorbs water
     • Already saturated ground worsens flooding
     • Can be prevented through dredging and widening rivers