case study: an earthquake and a volcano

•case study of an earthquake: Haiti (2010) 

•scored 7 on the Richter scale

•25km radius from the epicentre - Port au Prince

•13km depth - very shallow (focus point)

•causes for earthquakes in Haiti and failure 

          •conservative plate boundary of Northern American Plate and the Caribbean Plate

          •lies on a fault line 

          •poor preparation due to lack of road, building and emergency service quality

          •management was only reactive not proactive so nothing was properly safe 

•effects of the earthquake 

          •social impacts:

                    •220,000 killed; 250,000 injured, 1.3 million homeless; 300,000 buildings collapsed

                    •police and government in chaos

                    •water, communication and electricity all damaged - all infrastructure ruined

                              •lack of water, food and housing

                                        •cholera attack of 8000 deaths 

          •economic impacts:

                    •$2.3 billion damage to buildings, with $7 billion of a total cost 

                    •jobs and businesses closed, reducing economic assistance 

                    •increase in poverty - 80% now became below the poverty line 

•management to help the earthquakes’ impacts (NGO’s e.g Oxfam)

          •short-term:

                    •hygiene kits; clean drinking water; food; finding survivors 

                    •temporary shelter camps; basic sanitation provision (£20 million from UK)

          •medium-term:

                    •trying to save people due to disease

                              •emergency health clinics due to cholera outbreak

     

          •long-term:

                    •education and preparation 

                              •earthquake simulating exercises for familiarity 

                              •practice drills for emergency services and students

                              

                    •rebuilding because the buildings were: on slopes; no foundations; no building

                     regulations with no finance and few resources

•case study of a volcano: Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) 

•causes for an eruption in Eyjafjallajökull:

          •lies on a constructive plate (North American and Eurasian) 

                    •plates move a few cm each year

          •lies on a hotspot; raises temperature and quantity of the magma; needs to escape 

          •has 30 volcanic areas (25% of the land is volcanic) 

•advantages / opportunities:

          •farming the land

                    •high quality of soil due to the volcano to grow crops to feed the family and for oil and bio-diesel

                   

          •hot water e.g lagoons and for geothermal energy

          •provides wind shelter, maintaining a temperature; lots of pretty landscapes and diversity

          

          •power plant jobs that are geo-thermal (100,000 people employed)

          •tourism; blue lagoon; hot water pools; 500,000 visitors a year 

                    •tourism opens job opportunities related to light, the views, landscape and waterfalls

•affects of eruptions:

          •flash floods

                    •melting of glacier; infrastructure may be ruined e.g bridges, lines 

          •ash and lava

                    •farmland all destroyed; grazing land washed; no crops and food; bad economy

                    •clogs machinery; no work can be done

                    •damages to roof buildings from weight; massive cleanup needed 

                    •160,000 flights cancelled; loss of money for companies; further economic damage

•management to help the impact of the eruption 

          •preparation: •evacuation plans where people moved to shelters but animals were left

          •monitoring: •advanced warnings from monitor seismic activity as well as monitoring ground deformation with gps

                              •very proactive to maximise efficiency 

                              •meetings about the evacuation plans to remove chaos

          •monitoring radar systems improved to 3D ash cloud models for the pilots to fly through for more accuracy and less delays

          •channels for meltwater - levees / embankments

          •redirecting the lava to water canals or lava dams; reducing damage done; control for ease