MEDC's have the medical resources
and money to quickly get appropriate
aid to areas after a natural disaster.
Emergency services
In MEDC's who have a volcanic or earthquake risk, such as Japan and New
Zealand,there are well thought out emergency procedures. Practices in schools and
places of work mean that people know what to do it the event of a natural disaster. The
Government's and military have special emergency plans to help with the situation.
Building Technology
Countries such as Japan and the United States have been at the fore front of developing buildings that
have more chance of resisting an earthquake. Most houses in San Francisco are made of wood, to make
them more flexible and allow them to move with the quake. Larger skyscrapers are built with flexible
foundations, which literally allow them to sway during a quake, rather than being rigid and falling down.
Many countries in areas prone to natural hazards have building
codes to say where they can and cannot build, and how high the
buildings can be. New Zealand is a example of where this occurs.
Recovery
MEDC's tend to be able to recover quickly from
a natural disaster, due to having the investment
and technology needed to return the area to as
good as new as soon as possible.
LEDC's
Health care
LEDC's often have to rely on aid from overseas as their
health system, which is inadequate. This overseas aid
takes time to arrive, which could mean far more casualties.
Emergency services
Often LEDC's do not have these emergency plans,
and so far more damage can be done before the
emergency services reach the stricken area.
Building technology
LEDC's don't tend to have the technology available or money to pay for it,
and sooften their buildings are very susceptible to earthquakes. One
example was the Armenian earthquake in 1988, which was 0.1 less on
the Richter scale than Kobe, but killed 20,000 more people. Most of the
Armenian houses were built of stone and so collapsed instantly.
Recovery
Because LEDC's often have to rely
on aid from overseas, this quick
recovery is often impossible for them.
Fold mountains
Formation of fold mountains
Form along both destructive and
collision plate boundaries, (where two
plates are pushing towards each other.)
As two plates, with land masses on them, move
towards each other they push layers of accumulated
sediment in the sea between them up into folds. Thus
most fold mountains will continue to grow, as the
plates constantly move towards each other.
Destructive plate margin
At a destructive plate boundary the oceanic
plate is subducted beneath the continental
one. The molten material then rises to the
surface to form volcanoes, either in an island
arc or on the continental land mass. In both
cases Fold Mountains can be formed.
Collision plate margin
These occur less frequently, but two examples are the
Himalayas, where the Indian plate is moving North and East
towards the stationary European plate, and the Alps, formed
by the collision between the African and Eurasian plates.
Human uses of fold mountains
Farming is a primary activity in all of the fold mountain ranges
around the world. Mainly, due to the height and steepness of many
of the slopes, this is restricted to cattle and sheep farming.
However in the foothills of the Himalayas the Nepalese people use
terraces in the mountainside to help them grow crops, and some
southern facing Alpine slopes are used for vines and fruits.
Tourism is another major use of the Fold
Mountains of the world. Because they are in more
economically developed countries,the Alps and
the Rockies are perhaps the best examples of the
impact of tourism.However, it is an increasing
industry in both the Andes and the Himalayas,as
people look for less crowded places to go to.
Forestry is another big business in these mountainous regions. Examples of
cultivated coniferous forests can be seen in the Alps, where the trees have
been deliberately planted as crops. However in the foothills of the
Himalayas large-scale deforestation is also taking place, with logging
companies cutting down vast tracts of the deciduous rainforest there.
Many of the Fold Mountain regions of the world are prime spots
for the generation of hydroelectric power (HEP). They have a
plentiful supply of water; deep, narrow valleys with quick flowing
rivers, and they are sparsely populated, meaning that few
people are displaced when a reservoir is created.
Problems with Living fold mountain regions
Dangers
Avalanche
Landslide (Falling Rocks)
Icy Roads
Mountainous regions are particularly
difficult to build in due to the steep sided
valleys and cold climate.
Roads and other communications links have to snake
their way up wherever they can, and often these roads are
not big enough to adequately service a large community.
The climate is very cold and wet, meaning that
most industrial and agricultural activity is difficult.
For farmers they have a very short growing season,
and it is difficult to use machinery on the steep
slopes.
Earthquakes
what causes them
Destructive plate marjins
When the denser plate is subducted at destructive
plate margins, energy is released by the movement,
which may be felt on the surface as an earthquake.
Conservative plate margins
Pressure builds up at the fault, until the two plate
jerk past each other. This causes an earthquake and
the land around it becomes crumpled and ridged
Effects of earthquakes
Short term impacts
Social impacts
People may be killed or injured. Homes may be destroyed. Transport and communication
links may be disrupted. Water pipes may burst and water supplies may be contaminated
Economic impacts
Shops and business may be destroyed. Looting may take place. The
damage to transport and communication links can make trade difficult.
Environmental impacts
The built landscape may be destroyed. Fires can spread due to gas pipe explosions. Fires can
damage areas of woodland. Landslides may occur. Tsunamis may cause flooding in coastal areas
Long term impacts
Social impacts
Disease may spread. People may have to
be re-housed, sometimes in refugee camps.
Economic impacts
The cost of rebuilding a settlement is high. Investment in
the area may be focused only on repairing the damage
caused by the earthquake. Income could be lost.
Environmental impacts
Important natural and human landmarks may be lost.
Examples
LEDC country
Hati {12th January 2010}
Effects
Short term effects
~There was not enough food and water, ~building were destroyed
and badly damaged, ~people had nowhere to sleep, ~Peoples
belongings were damaged and destroyed, ~Rape increased
Long term effects
316,000 people died and more than one
million people were made homless
Large parts of the impoverished nation were damaged
The governments of Hati also estimated that 250,000 residents and
30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed of were severely famaged
It is estimated that 1 in 5 jobs were lost as a result of the earthquake
Sea levels in local areas changed, with some
parts of the land sinking to below the sea
In 2011 people still lived in make shift homes
(tempory homes)
People had no jobs, therefore they could
not provide for their families
Children had no education
because schools were destroyed
3 million people in total were affected
Responses
Injured people were being cured
International aid (England)
Re-building towns
As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care
and sanitation became priorities
Many countries responded to appeals for aid,
pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medial
teams, engineers and support personnel
Delays in aid distribution lead to angry
appeals from aid workers and survivors
What caused it
The Caribbean and North American plates
slide past each other in an east-west direction
Conservative plate boundry
The stress that builds up is released which causes
a strong movement thisresolves in the two sides of
the fault which generate an earthquake
MEDC country
Italy {20th May 2012}
Effects
Seven were listed dead - including 4
workers at a factory in Farrara
In San Carlo more than 350 families lost their homes.
5,000 people left homeless
At least 100 stuctures of historical significance
have been damaged of destroyed
Half a clock tower fell down in the mainshock (built in
the 13th century) and the remaining part collapsed
completely during an aftershock later that day
Approximately 300,000 wheels of hard
cheese, with an estimated value of 200
million euros, were destroyed
Responses
Culutral buildings repaired
Local emergency services worked
hard to rescue people
Emergency aid for people displaced
Emergency shelters set up
People back into work as soon as it
was safe as the industrial area is in
the North of Italy
Factories were rebuilt
however this took a long time
What caused it
shallow thrust faulting caused the earthquake this
is where one plate jumps on top of anouther
Eurasian and African plate
Other facts
The epicenter was between Finale
Emilia and San Felice Sul Panaro
The main earthquake measured 6.1 on
the richter scale and hit northern Italy
Two aftershocks of magnitude 5.2 occured, one
appoximately an hour after the main event and another
approximatly eleven hours after the main earthquake
Volcaneos
Types of volcaneos
Shield volcaneo
Formation
When the plate collide, the denser oceanic plate is
pushed down into the mantle. Here the plate melts and is
destroyed in the subduction zone. In the subduction zone
the plate forms a pool of magma. The heat and pressure
may force the magma along a crack where it erupts at
the surface to build up a volcano.
Chaicteristics
Tall cone, narrow base & steep sides
Layers of lava and ash
Irregular with long dormant periods
Violent eruptions
Composite cone volcaneo
Formation
The plate move apart and magma rises upwards to fill the gap. This
adds new rock to the spreading plates. Some magma reaches the
surface through a vent. Some volcanoes grow high enough to form
volcanic islands.
Characretistics
Cone with wide base and gentle slopes
Made of lava only
Regular and frequent eruptions
Lava pours out with little violance
Examples
Shield volcaneo
Surtsey in Iceland
Mauna Loa in Hawaii
Composite cone volcaneo
Etna, Vesuvius and stromboli in Italy
Krakatoa in Indonesia
Plate boundries
Destructive
How they occur
These occur when an oceanic plate
is forced under a continental plate.
Description
The oceanic crust meltsin the subduction
zone creating earthquakes and volcanoes
Examples
Nazca and North American
Constructive
How they occur?
These occur when two plates
move away from each other
Description
Common under oceans. The gap is
filled with magma creating volcaneos
Examples
North American and South American
conservative
How they occur?
These occur when two
plates slide past each other
Examples
North American and Pacific
Description
Pressure builds up along the
fault causing earthquakes
collision
How they occur?
These occur when two continental
crusts collide and neither can sink
Description
Often this movement and pressure can
cause earthquakes, but no volcanoes
will occur on these boundaries
Example
Indian and Eurasian plate
Tectonic plates
Plates
The picture above shows the earths tectonic paltes and which direction they are moving in:
Convection currents
Heat rising and falling inside the mantle creates convection currents generated by
radioactive decay in the core. The convection currents move the plates. Where
convection currents diverge near the Earth's crust, plates move apart. Where
convection currents converge, plates move towards each other. The movement of
the plates, and the activity inside the Earth, is called plate tectonics.