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A Level Geography Powerpoint
A Level Geography Powerpoint
MSF
This PowerPoint
Tectonic Activity is presented as a PowerPoint
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It is anticipated that teachers will use slide sorter and
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For teaching and learning, view as a slide show to benefit
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When planning, teachers will find it helpful to start from
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Teachers can click to videos, websites etc. directly from
the slides when in the slide show mode.
3
Guide to this
presentation
References to teaching specifications.
Definitions in violet
Action for students
Further info
Video
Direct quote
Key
K
Link to appendix A
Back to contents Contents
Contents
4
Organisation of this
Presentation
.Presentation structure
PART I
Teaching specifications
Introduction
PART II
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Appendix A
Contents
PART I
Organisation and guide to this presentation
Awarding body specifications
Your research, case studies and writing
Exemplar slides for your research
Starting your case studies
PART II - Section One
Tectonic hazards and causes
Event, hazard or disaster?
Defining tectonic events and hazards
Seismic waves
Primary and secondary effects of earthquakes
Plate tectonics, GPS
PART II - Section Two
Tectonic Hazards: Physical impacts
Event Profiles
Tectonic impacts
Mind map exercise
Physical factors
Human factors
Fault action
Contents (contd)
PART II - Section Three
Tectonic hazards: human impacts
Geophysical and hydro-meteorological hazards and trends
Why do people live in tectonically active areas?
Dreggs Disaster Model
Disaster Risk Equation
Specific hazard impacts: human and economic costs
Exemplar table for your research: hazard impacts over time
Haiti (2010) Earthquake
Prediction
PART II - Section Four
Responses to tectonic hazards
Coping with tectonic hazard
Haiti housing crisis action
Insight into humanitarian work
The work of a MSF logistician
Cholera and GIS
Social Media
Disaster Risk Reduction
Early warning
Appendix
International humanitarian System
Further Info on Haiti
OCR A2 Geography:
Global issues
What are the hazards associated with earthquake and volcanic activity? Earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions are caused by plate tectonics and bring distinctive impacts to an area and
these vary from place to place.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have a range of environmental and social impacts on
the areas affected, which create a range of human responses to the hazard. The study of an
earthquake and of a volcanic eruption to illustrate the:
scale and types of impacts (environmental, social and economic), together with the concept
of primary (initial impacts destruction, casualties, landslides, fires) and secondary impacts
(including disease, infrastructure problems, resettlement);
human reaction in both the short term (emergency rescue) and long term (planning &
management).
Why do the impacts on human activity of such hazards vary over time and location? The
degree of impact on an area reflects its level of economic and technological development as
well as the population density. Impacts can vary over time from immediate to long term. The
study of contrasting examples to illustrate a:
contrast between countries at either end of the development continuum and between rural
and urban areas, to compare the impacts of, and reactions to, at least two contrasting types
of earth hazards;
comparison of impacts over short and long time periods for at least two contrasting
types of
Contents
earth hazards.
OCR A2 Geography:
Global issues
How can hazards be managed to reduce their impacts?
There are various ways to manage or reduce the impacts of hazards. The study of different approaches to
managing earth hazards to illustrate:
the extent to which earth hazards are predictable;
the management strategies used to reduce the possible impact of a hazard;
the effectiveness of managing earth hazards.
Key Concepts:
The nature of hazards varies with location.
The nature of hazards changes over time and space.
Earth hazards consist of a variety of interdependent and interconnected activities and processes.
Physical geography and human activity are interdependent and their interaction can produce hazards.
The impact of such hazards varies over time and given location.
Populations and environments respond in a variety of ways to hazards.
The management of hazards results in opportunities and challenges.
Associated Skills:
Research into hazard events
Analysis of a variety of types of image
Map work at a variety of scales, eg hazard mapping
Statistical analysis, eg analysing patterns and severity of hazard
Use and application of GIS and other modern technology, eg forecasting of earthquakes and eruptions
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10
Assessment
objectives
.You will need to:
A01
A02
A03
Contents
11
Contents
12
Synoptic research
unit with case studies
This unit provides flexibility in your study of
geography.
You will learn subject content and develop your
learning skills, particularly, selection and analytical
skills.
You will study this unit for several months.*
This is a synoptic unit that stresses the interrelation
of specific issues to overall themes in geography.
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13
Edexcel global
synoptic content
Your investigation of tectonic hazards, challenges and
responses will need to highlight:
Place
Power
s
Source: Dunn, Cameron and Kim Adams, A2 Geography Advice for students
endorsed by Edexcel, Phillip Allan Updates.
http://www. hodderplus.co.uk/philipallan/pdfs/Edexcel-A2-Geography9780340949542.pdf
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14
Source: Dunn, Cameron and Kim Adams, A2 Geography Advice for students endorsed by Edexcel, Phillip Allan
Updates.; http://www.hodderplus.co.uk/philipallan/pdfs/Edexcel-A2-Geography-9780340949542.pdf
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Contents
16
Your research
Action for students:
1. Start an Earthquakes folder for your research and
case studies.
2. Throughout your study extract the key information
about the tectonic event and retain the findings
and maps in your folder.
3. Remember to add references (sources) for the work
of others and to add definitions for key terms by
compiling a glossary of definitions in your folder.
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Source: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/special/caribout.htm
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Source: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/special/caribout.htm
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20
Further info:
The Geographical Associations
A2 Examinations: Developing your skills
in extended writing
http://www.slideserve.com/elsa/a2-examinations-developing-your-skills
-in-extended-writing
Sources
Who is the author? How does the authors role or job
such as academic, lobbyist, businessman, politician
relate to the topic? Consider North Korea and Amnesty
International presenting on the same issue, for example.
Is it a primary or secondary source? How reliable is it?
Does the website verify what it publishes or is it an open
forum where anything can be posted? Who owns and
contributes to it?
Is the information up to date?
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22
Question statistics
Who collected the numbers? Using what method and for what reason?
Simply because they are published doesnt make them facts. Many are
actually estimates.
Location matters. Collecting statistics in remote rural areas of
developing countries or densely populated urban settlements, for
example, can be difficult if they have been collected at all. A hazard or
disaster event adds complexity.
Numbers can be political. There may advantages to overstating or
understating numbers.
Statistics need to be collected in the same way to be compared.
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23
Schemata for
report writing
Your report
Defining
Research
Analysis
Conclusio
n
Quality
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24
Humanitarian
information
Mdecins Sans Frontires works in and Relief Web and Alert.net report on many
emergencies, including ignored or forgotten ones.
Mdecins Sans Frontires / Doctors Without Borders: http://www.msf.org.uk
MSF is an independent international medical humanitarian organisation that
provides emergency aid in more than 60 countries to people affected
by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters or
exclusion from healthcare.
Reliefweb: http://www.reliefweb.int
ReliefWeb issource for timely, reliable and relevant humanitarian information
and analysisto help you make sense of humanitarian
crises worldwide.(reliefweb.int)
Alert.net: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/
Humanitarian news website covering crises worldwide, including hidden crises
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25
PART I
Contents
26
March 2011
Since 1900
:
USGS
K
27
Earthquake Location:
Coordinates for Tohoku, Japan (2011)
Location:
130 km (80
miles) east
of Sendai,
Honshu,
Japan and
373 km
(231 miles)
northeast of
Tokyo,
Japan.
Source: USGS
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28
Exemplar Template:
Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)
Date and time: Friday, 11 March 2011 at 5:46 UTC*
Location: Japan, near northeast coast of Honshu
Epicentre: 130km east of Sendai
Magnitude: 9.0 on Richter scale
Speed of Onset: Foreshocks
and rapid main shock, aftershocks
Duration: Short
Areal extent: Extremely large area
Map: USGS summary map on following slide
Plates: Pacific plate subducting under Eurasian plate.
Subduction zone very seismically active. Convergent
margin, fairly high convergence rate. Earthquake
shallow at the Japan trench.
Earthquake: 4th largest in the world since 1900 and
largest in Japan since recording began 130 years ago
(USGS)
History of Earthquakes: Japan trench
subduction zone has had 9 events 7+ on the
scale since 1973. 20% of worlds earthquakes
*Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) primary time
take
place in Japan.
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30
Annotated images:
Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)
Burning oil refinery in
Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.
31
AP
Contents
32
Contents
33
Starting your
Haiti case study
Action for students:
Using the websites on the following slides:
1. Develop a template similar to the Japanese exemplar
slides for your section on Haiti.
2. Haiti is situated near to two tectonic plates: record for
your research the names of the plates and explain
how these plates caused the earthquake.
3.
HAITI TECTONICS:
The Haiti Earthquake in Depth http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100113/full/news.2010.10.html
Anatomy of a Caribbean Earthquake http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122531261
Tectonics of the Haitian Earthquake
http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/01/tectonics-of-the-haitian-earthquake/
BBC map: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8466385.stm
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USGS
summary posters
Action for students:
epicentral area
plate tectonic
environment,
earthquake history
generalized seismic
hazard
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36
Source: http://geographyfieldwork.com/PopulationStructure.htm
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K
Source: GCSE Bitesize population change and structure:
Contents
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/population/population_change_structure_rev4.shtml
38
.
PART II: FOUR SECTIONS
Contents
39
Section One
Tectonic hazards and causes
This section focuses briefly on the
patterns
and processes of earthquakes and
volcanic hazards* and how they
are managed.
Contents
41
Section One
Tectonic hazards and causes
Contents
42
Event, hazard
or disaster?
Action for students: Discuss what makes an event a hazard or disaster
based on information in the images only.
4
5
Sources:
1 Water http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a06/f9/r2/natural-hazards-disaster-management-800x800.jpg
2 Internal displacement:
http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpGraphics)/B303AB7D46DFD5ECC12578D2005B9C8E/$file/nd-01-big.jpg
3 Haiti earthquake: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=haiti+earthquake&view=detail&id=CE5C433C1836E995E6DF12FF00689F877DA2DF3F&FORM=IDFRIR
4 Guatemalas Volcano of Fire:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=volcanic+eruption+diasaster&view=detail&id=D62AC286BAA6030CE1A08A8E7D78AFC1DB0139E2&FORM=IDFRIR
5 Fault Rupture source: http://www.teara.govt.nz/files/p4411gns.jpg
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Event, hazard
or disaster definitions
What is a natural event in an uninhabited place becomes a hazard in a
populated one.
A hazard is natural or human-made event that adversely affects human life,
property or activity. A hazard involves people.
A disaster is an occurrence disrupting the normal conditions of
existence and causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity
of adjustment of the affected community.(WHO/EHA 2002). There is no
universally agreed numerical threshold for designating a hazard as a disaster.
A matter of scale, a disaster is a lot bigger than a natural hazard.
Capacity: A combination of all the strengths and resources available within a
community, society or organization that can reduce the level of risk, or the
effects of a disaster.
Source: UN/ISDR, Words Into Action: A Guide for Implementing the Hyogo Framework, Switzerland, 2007
Source: WHO/EHA 2002, Disasters & Emergency definitions; http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7656.pdf
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44
Based on the video make a mind map about why the Haiti earthquake lead to
disaster. See sample mind map for guidance.
Source: http://www.mind-mapping.co.uk/make-mind-map.htm
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What is a
tectonic event?
Tectonic hazards
Tectonic activity cause a very large range of hazard events. These
are associated with the processes of earth movement and
volcanism, and they are classified into primary and secondary
hazards.
Primary tectonic hazards include earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions,
pyroclastic flow, ash fall and volcanic gases.
Secondary tectonic hazards include tsunamis, landslides and
lahars. A tsunami is a secondary hazard, because the flooding
is caused by the earthquake at sea. Tsunamis like the Asian
Tsunami (2004) are rare.
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What is an earthquake
and tsunami?
Action for students:
1.
2.
3.
Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geograph
y/natural_hazards/earthquakes_rev1.shtml
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Defining earthquakes
Earthquakes occur along fault lines and major plates lines.
The main shock in a cluster is the one with the largest magnitude.
Foreshocks occur before the main shock. Not all main shocks
have foreshocks.
The main shock is always followed by aftershocks, which are smaller than
the main shock and can continue for weeks, months or years.
Each earthquake can provide new information:
If a subsequent event is larger than the one deemed a main shock, it can
be redefined as a foreshock, for example, Tohoku, Japan (2011).
Similarly, an aftershock may sometimes be reclassified as a foreshock.
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49
Foreshocks, Main
shocks and aftershocks
sequence
Source: USGS
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50
Seismic waves
Action for students:
1.
2.
.
.
3.
In order to determine how far from a seismograph station an earthquake occurred, one needs to look at the difference
between:
Seismic waves and elliptical motion
P & S waves
S & Love waves
P & love waves
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51
Measuring shaking
Seismologists use a seismograph: an instrument that registers
the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates caused by seismic
waves and produces seismograms such as this USGS one:
A short wiggly line that doesnt wiggle very much means a small earthquake, and a long wiggly line
Further info
On seismic monitors - Incorporated
Research Institution for Seismology (IRIS):
http://www.iris.edu/dms/seismon.htm
On seismicity maps - USGS:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/w
orld/seismicity_maps/world.pdf
On seismograms USGS:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/hel
icorders/about.php
on seismographs and Richter scales:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environ
mental/earth/geophysics/question142.htm
52
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53
Japan
Source: Worldatlas
Contents
56
happen immediately and occur as a direct result of the ground shaking like
buildings collapsing.
Ground shaking
Ground shaking is most direct effect with cracks in land and structures, falling
masonry and / or collapse.
animation: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/simulations/
Secondary effects
occur as a result of the primary effects, for example, fires due to ruptured
gas mains.
Ground
displacement
Landslides
are movements of masses of rock or debris down a slope. Slope failure can
be triggered by, for example, earth tremors. Photo:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/glossary/?term=landslide
Liquefaction
occurs when the shaking of silts, sands and gravels causes them to lose their
load bearing capacity. Buildings and other structures, may thus sink into the
ground.
Liquefaction Hazard Map: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/qmap/
Liquefaction photo:
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/49488655AFEE6C258525773000766AF5-Full_Report.pdf
Tsunamis
Plate tectonics
How do earthquakes occur?
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/plate_tectonics/rift_man.php
Tectonic plates
Action for students:
1. Find a map of the global distribution of tectonic plates identify the
convergent (destructive or collision), divergent and
transform (conservative or transcurrent) plate margins.
GPS: measuring
plate motion
Global Positioning system (GPS) is one of various
technologies used for studying earthquakes. Receivers placed
along fault lines measures movements of the Earth's crust with
a precision of one millimetre per year.
K
This GPS Slip model of
Tohoku, Japan (2011) was
produced with vertical GPS
data.
Source: UNAVCO 2000
Further info on GPS and plate motion calculators for your records:
http://www.unavco.org/community_science/science-support/crustal_motion/dxdt/model.html
Source:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquake
s/world/japan/031111_M9.0prelim_geo
detic_slip.php
Contents
60
.
PART II SECTION TWO
TECTONIC HAZARDS:
PHYSICAL IMPACTS
Contents
61
Section Two
Tectonic hazards: physical impacts
Contents
62
Section Two
Tectonic hazards: physical impacts
What impact does tectonic activity
have on landscapes and why does
this impact vary?
Learning outcome
By the end of this section, you should be
aware of the effects of earthquakes on the
landscape.*
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63
Source:
http://gfdrr.org/docs/Haiti_MultiHazard_RiskAssessment_Report_EN.p
df
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64
Geological records
Historic records of earthquakes can be
incomplete and some countries have longer
records than others.
Where there are no written records of
earthquakes geological and soil maps can
be used to identify past earthquake activity.
The geological record when understood can
enable areas of high risk to be mapped.
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65
Event Profiles
Event profiles can be drawn for any event and help illustrate the great
variation in the nature of tectonic hazards. They are a common way
to compare and contrast different hazards. The typical earthquake
and volcanic profiles tend to differ most in terms of spatial predictability
and frequency.
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66
Event profiles
Action for students:
1. Refer to the Exemplar slide for
Japan, Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)
and construct one for Haiti Earthquake (2010). Keep in mind
factors of an event profile: magnitude, speed of onset, duration,
areal extent, spatial predictability and frequency.
2. Research and construct event profiles as presented on the previous
slide for the Haiti (2010) and Tohoku, Japan (2011).
Further info:
For a comprehensive presentation by a geophysicist on Haiti
and Japan earthquakes click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WGi4mjVqbY
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Tectonic impacts
Tectonic hazards can be complex with
multiple effects and impacts. Impacts can
be physical, social or economic.
Impacts can be:
Direct or indirect,
Short or long-term,
Tangible or intangible,
Negative or positive.
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Factors affecting an
earthquake: Mind map exercise
Action for students:
1. Draw a mind map of physical factors affecting an
earthquake.
2. Draw another for human factors.
3. Compare your mind map with that of a partner,do you
need to make amendments, do they need to make
amendments
Physical factors
affecting the impact of a tectonic
event
Physical Factors:
Severity of impacts
The hazard and the capacity of people affected to prepare for and
resist it determine the extent of the damage. Damage to the
environment such as deforestation can make their impact worse. So
the severity of impacts depends on both:
Physical factors (attributes of nature) such as the magnitude of
the event.
Human factors determining human vulnerability to natural
hazards such as population density.
Action for students:
Discuss whether the impacts on places, people and power of
volcanic hazards can be positive and negative, but for earthquakes
only negative.
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http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/07/06/how_disasters_help/?page=
full
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Fault activity
Action for students:
1. Label the faults as Dip slip, Strike-slip and Thrust. Mark with arrows to
indicate vertical or horizontal movement.
.
100
.
. 10
.
. 1
. 5.5
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/?
topicID=53&topic=Prediction
6.5
7
Magnitude
7.5
74
Effects of earthquakes
on landscapes
Action for students:
1.
Research faults and draw diagrams of dip slip faults (normal, reverse
and thrust), strike slip faults (left or right-lateral) and oblique
slip faults. You can refer to
http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/basics/faults.html
Example diagram
3.
4.
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75
Hazard Trends
Why live in tectonically active areas?
Prediction
Section Three
Tectonic hazards: human impacts
This section is organised around risks, vulnerability
and patterns of human impacts social and economic.
Social impacts refer to trauma and the disruption of
everyday life and communities.
Economic impacts can be damage to factories and
commercial properties and disrupted transport
networks.
Together with physical impacts, they determine how
places, people and power are affected.
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77
Section Three
Tectonic hazard: human
impacts
What impacts do tectonic hazards have on people
and how do these impacts vary?
Learning outcome
By the end of this section, you should:
Understand some of the reasons why people live in
tectonically active areas
Know the range of hazards associated with different types of
tectonic activity*
Be familiar with the specific impacts of a range of tectonic
hazards*
Be aware of trends in the frequency and impacts of tectonic
hazards.
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Hazard Trends
PART II SECTION THREE
TECTONIC HAZARDS:
HUMAN IMPACTS
Contents
79
Geophysical and
hydro-meteorological graph activity
Action for students:
Look at the two graphs and mark
them as appropriate to show:
Rising trend of hurricanes,
typhoons, tornadoes and such
Fluctuating trend
Rapidly rising trend of flood
events
Increasingly widespread drought
affecting millions of people
Rare but devastating
Fluctuating trend usually linked to
other hazards
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Geophysical versus
meteorological hazards and trends
EARTHQUAKES
Magnitu
de
Class
Number
M8
Great
M7
Major
15
M6
Large
134
M5
Moderate
1,319
M4
Small
~13,000
Contents
81
Contents
82
Disaster hotspots
The impact of natural hazards differs
between and within countries
and regions and countries. Asia
is the most affected by
natural hazards the
Philippines, Japan, India,
Bangladesh, China, Indonesia
most hazard-prone.
83
Ignorance of the
risks and / or
underestimation
of risk
Living
in areas
of
tectonic
risk?
Inertia; always
lived there,
roots
Nowhere else to
go / lack of
alternatives
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87
Blue and mauve and yellow dotted lines show Haitis last earthquakes 57 and 64
years before the 2010 one. Risk is a probability: without living memory, people may
underestimate the risk and consider preparing and planning less a priority.
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88
Risk = Vulnerability
x Hazard
Source: Edexcel Unit 4, Option 1- tectonic activity and hazards.
White, Philip, et al, Disaster risk reduction: a development concern,
DFID, 2004, 3.
Digby et al, Geography for Edexcel, Oxford University Press.
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Source: http://ihrrblog.org/2011/09/26/2011-un-world-riskindex/
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Disaster Risk
Equation
People can be affected by natural disasters anywhere.
However, the risk of disaster grows as global hazards
and peoples vulnerability increases, while their capacity to
cope decreases. The Disaster Risk Formula measures
hazard vulnerability:
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91
Vulnerability:
class-quake
Vulnerability:
describes how susceptible a population or parts of a population are to the damage
of hazards, notably the characteristics of a person or group and their
situation that influence their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and
recover from the impact of a natural hazard.(Wisner, Ben et al 2005, 11)
is determined by processes in the natural environment and by places, people
and power.
tends to increase the lower the countrys economic development and sociopolitical stability because risks and vulnerability make the impact of natural
hazards patterns worse.
Class-quake:
The Guatemala earthquake 1976 made headlines as a class-quake, as
it predominately affected the poor, excluded and vulnerable in slums
while the urban middle and upper classes remained relatively unaffected.
Source: Wisner, Ben, et al, At Risk: Natural hazards, peoples vulnerability and disasters, 2nd ed, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2005) 11.
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Vulnerability and
economic development
In less developed countries:
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93
Impact and
Economic Development
The graph illustrates how the Kobe Earthquake (1995) was a huge economic disaster,
while the Boxing Day Tsunami (2004) lead to far more deaths (like the Haiti 2010 earthquake).
Natural Disaster Cost by Year
Sources:
World Bank (2006). Hazards of Nature, Risks to Development. An IEG Evaluation of World, Bank Assistance for Natural Disasters.
The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Humanitarian Response to Natural Disasters: A synthesis of Norad www.norad.no/en/tools-and-publications/.../107610?_...true...
Graph by Robert Simmon, based on data courtesy EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database (www.em-dat.net) Universit
Catholique
de LouvainBrussels, Belgium
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Specific hazard
impacts: Human costs
The costs of tectonic hazards can be classified broadly as human or economic. Human
costs include primary, secondary and tertiary casualties. Over half of disaster deaths
occur in LEDCs even though only 11% of people exposed to hazards live there.
Primary casualties: People killed or injured by an earthquake or volcano. Casualties
tend to be much higher in less developed countries because of:
Limited preparedness,
Less effective warning systems,
Less effective search and rescue services.
Secondary casualties: People who survive initially but are injured or die because
of insufficient resources and lack of emergency medical care especially in
less developed countries
Tertiary casualties: People with pre-existing medical conditions aggravated by
the hazard event. This includes people who become ill, or die as a result of the
post-disaster environment.
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Specific hazard
impacts: Economic costs
There are two types of economic costs:
Direct costs: the immediate costs of repairing damage
caused by the event. In the case of earthquakes this
will often include demolishing buildings fractured by
the shock waves and rebuilding from scratch.
Indirect costs: loss of earnings caused by disruption
to working life. Increasingly, major natural hazards are
causing secondary technological and industrial
accidents and emergencies for example, the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.
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Long term
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Haiti research
PART II SECTION THREE
TECTONIC HAZARDS:
HUMAN IMPACTS
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99
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100
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101
Prediction
PART II SECTION THREE
TECTONIC EVENTS: HUMAN IMPACTS
104
Earthquake prediction
Action for students:
1. Research from the list below possible indicators of imminent earthquake activity and the
reliability of these indicators in predicting earthquakes.
2. Divide the research amongst fellow students and share your research with a written note for
each student on the reliability of these indicators in predicting earthquakes:
Indicators of imminent earthquakes
P and S wave ratio
Foreshocks
Water levels in wells
Radon levels in well
Levels of manganese, zinc and copper in basaltic rocks
Changes in the electrical properties of rocks
Ground deformation
Unusual animal behaviour
Monitoring how fast strain accumulates
Monitoring with satellites electrical charges
3.
Is it possible to predict the time, place and magnitude of future earthquakes in a precise,
timely and reliable way? Is there a method that is successful beyond chance, statistically more
than a lucky guess?
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Earthquake
prediction
Action for students:
1.
Watch the BBC video on predicting
earthquakes
on the North Anatolian Fault in Van, Turkey
(2011).
(04.49 mins). Watch it at least twice and make
notes for your research guided by the prompts
below
2.
Source: IRIS
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107
Pitfalls to Prediction
and Communication of Risks
Reasons for authorities and people not to act on disaster warnings:
Sources:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110914/pdf/477264a.pdf, http://www.nature.com/news/l-aquila-verdict-row-grows-1.11683,
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/11/01/laquila-earthquake-conviction/
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/early-warning-of-disasters-facts-and-figures/
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Section Four
Responses to tectonic hazards
This section focuses on coping with
tectonic hazards. Different community capacity
can define the approach - the extent to which
a country can implement:
Relief
Rehabilitation
Reconstruction, mitigation and
preparedness.
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Section Four
Responses to tectonic hazards
How do people cope with tectonic hazards
and what are the issues for the future?
Learning outcomes:
Understand how people and governments
cope with tectonic hazards.*
Be familiar with specific ways of adjusting to
tectonic hazards.*
Be aware of the different approaches to the
challenges of tectonic hazards.*
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Coping with
tectonic hazards
Essentially there are three options:
Do nothing
Adjust
Leave
The choice of option depends on a number of
factors including the nature of the hazard, its
frequency, its magnitude, population pressure in
the location and the level of economic
development.
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Park hazard
response model
PRO: Useful to compare different events, curves of CON: Model is general, does not account for different levels of
development and other issues affecting disruption and recovery.
which can be drawn and compared on the same graph.
http://
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Relief phase
Relief defines the set of activities implemented after the impact
of
a disaster in order to assess the needs reduce the suffering limit
the spread and the consequences of the disaster open the
way to rehabilitation
Resilience how able a community is to adapt and to recover.
Emergency defines a state in which normal procedures
are suspended and extra-ordinary measures are taken in order
to avert or deal with a disaster
Further info on immediate relief activities:
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/EarthquakeEM/Session%2011/Session%2011%20Response%20and%20Recovery_
01.pdf
Source: WHO/EHA 2002, Disasters & Emergency definitions; http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7656.pdf
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Rehabilitation and
reconstruction
Rehabilitation and reconstruction actions include:
repair and reconstruction of lifelines and building;
measures to turn around post-earthquake economic
downturns;
and financial assistance after losses.
The recovery period is also a good time to adopt new
mitigation measures such as a more earthquakeresistant built environment (Mileti, 1999).
Sources:
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/EarthquakeEM/Session%2011/Session%2011%20Response%20and%20Recovery_01.pdf
Meliti, D. 1999. Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States. Joseph Henry Press.
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Important lifelines
Earthquakes affect aboveand below- ground lifelines.
Buried utilities and
communication systems are
more likely to be damaged as a
result of earthquakes than
natural hazards
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Further info
122
Relief
in Japan
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Psychosocial support
in Japan
Psychological assistance was an
area in which MSF could offer
increased support.
People can have intrusive
memories of the event,
flashbacks, nightmares. People
can withdraw and not want to
communicate. Some people will
not be able to sleep, to eat, and
all of these things can make
them very different than they
used to be and can cause
significant suffering, Ha Young,
MSF Korea
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Haiti 2010:
MSFs response
MSF emergency response in Haiti was its largest in its 40-year history.
Thousands of Haitians, most of whom were directly affected by the
disaster, mobilised along with 3,400 staff to help MSF provide assistance
in hospitals and four mobile clinics.
MSFs humanitarian action is based purely on need, independent of
any religious or political agenda. Predominately MSF is focused on
medical assistance, a subset of humanitarian assistance, but it also performs
non-medical activities like providing tents, safe water or latrines.
Further info:
September 2012 Humanitarian Snapshot
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/map_3010.pdf
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Emergency
medical care in Haiti
Wounded people congregate in
MSF compound
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An operating theatre in a container at Trinite Hospital, Haiti. An inflatable tent hospital also replaced the destroyed La Trinit hospital and provided emergency medical care and more specialised trauma and orthopaedic surgical care.
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The work of a
MSF logistician in Haiti
Action for students:
1. Visit the MSF UK website: Click on Working with
us/working overseas/ who do we need?/ logistician to
learn about the work of a MSF logistician and to view the
video about the work of a logistician. (6.50 mins)
2. In pairs, read the logisticians blog (in Appendix) about his
work in Haiti prior to the earthquake, when the earthquake
occurred and afterwards.
3. Read and critique the reports each of you wrote previously on
the first seven days and discuss if you need to amend your
reports in light of the blog of the logistician.
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Outbreaks of cholera in
Haiti: Long-term social problems
131
Further info:
On cholera http://www.msf.org.uk/cholera.focus
http://www.msf.org.uk/cholera_treatment.aspx
http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/epidemiological-updatecholera-7-january-2013
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Cholera outbreaks
and riots
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MSFs
cholera response
MSF response
In 2010 alone, MSF treated more than 91,000 of the 171,300 people (25% of total) reported as
having cholera in Haiti nationwide in 73 CTCs.
Among those coming for treatment are some of the most vulnerable populations, including
pregnant women.
MSF uses preventative anti-cholera kits to prevent further spread with items such as rubber
gloves, buckets, disinfectants, plastic cups, spoons, soap and water purification tablets.
MSF cholera treatment kits include oral rehydration.
The staff at these clinics include epidemiologists and water and sanitation experts,
who make sure there issafe, clean drinking water and build latrines
Cholera Kit
CTC
Photo MSF /
Lachant
134
Inside a cholera
treatment centre (CTC)
Action for students: Whats inside a CTC?
Interact with this resource.
http://ctc.msf.org/home/en
?
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Geographic Information
Systems and cholera response
Geographical information systems (GIS) are organized collections
of hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel data designed
to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all
forms of geographically referenced information.(Fema)
GIS support:
timely and better decision-making and communication.
Cost saving and higher efficiency.
Better record-keeping.
With seismic models they can forecast and graphically display (e.g., digitized
colour maps) damages for earthquake scenarios.
With early-warning systems they can provide an almost real-time graphical
display of a regions shaking effects.
Source:
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/EarthquakeEM/Session%2011/Session%2011%20Response%20and%20Recovery_01.pdf
http://www.esri.com/what-is-gis/overview#top_five_panel
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137
Development of GIS
mapping in Haiti by MSF
Variable functionalities, skill set and costs
Google Earth is easy to use and free
Quartier boundaries
Local staff, GPS on motorbike and crowd-sourcing
Source: Dupuis, Ludovic et al, Field-friendly spatial analysis tool to aid MSF cholera response in Haiti
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GIS systems
GIS could support field operations
through improved:
Medical response
Targeting of interventions
Epidemiological analysis
Activity planning
Advocacy
Source: Dupuis, Ludovic et al, Field-friendly spatial analysis tool to aid MSF cholera response in Haiti
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GIS and
cholera response
GIS systems could support MSF field operations
through improved:
Medical responses
Targeting of interventions
Epidemiological analysis *
Activity planning
Advocacy
Photo by Ron Haviv/VII
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Social media
PART II SECTION FOUR
RESPONSES TO TECTONIC HAZARDS
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Mobile phone
technology: Haiti and Japan
With telecommunications infrastructure now ubiquitous, there are 4 billion
mobile phones worldwide, the majority in developing countries. Mobile
phones are increasingly used as part of preparation activities and
warning communication. Their use in emergency communications, especially
through SMS is revolutionising the flow of information. Texts take up less
bandwidth than calls and are much less affected by network delays
HAITI - Mission 4636
A group of companies, including Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS, CrowdFlower and Samasource,
set up a text message hotline that was supported by the U.S. Department of State
and advertised by radio stations. Anyone in Port-au-Prince could send an SMS to a
toll-free number, 4636, to request help. The messages were routed to relief crews at the
U.S. Coast Guard and the International Red Cross on the ground.
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Crowdsourcing and
crisis mapping
"Often, it's not the experts who know something, it's someone in
the crowd*
Crowdsourcing capitalises on the increasing reach of internet connectivity and
ICTs. A community of connected volunteers crowdsource, that is, provide
information and/or expertise to enhance relief operations.
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, for example, crowdsourcing allowed people on
the scene, mapping experts and other stakeholders to communicate what they
saw in nearly real time supporting the humanitarian response.
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Voluntweeters in Haiti
Tweak the Tweet is a system of codifying tweets to be picked up
automatically
by relief agencies without using human sorting (secondary level
crowdsourcing
was seen when tweets were retweeted by volunteers who codified
them to fit
the
In Haiti there were over 3000 unique TtT tweets sent
Non system).
TtT Tweet
and
(2010-01-18 10:30:09) orphanage in urgent
of supplies
in Laboule: Clairnise or Alberte
7need
million
tweets.
509-3400-9797
Reformatted Tweet
(2010-01-18 11:11:11) #haiti #need
supplies #name orphanage #loc
Laboule #contact clairnise or alberte
509.3400.9797 #rescuemehaiti
Source on crowdsourcing and Tweak the Tweet: http://crowdresearch.org/chi2011-workshop/papers/starbird.pdf
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Source:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-11-japan-social-media_N.htm
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-11-japan-social-media_N.htm
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Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR)
While the Park Hazard Model charts the response to one or
more hazard events, Disaster Risk Reduction is a
preventative disaster management approach.
In the relief phase reactive measures deal with acute immediate
needs, emergency response to life and death.
Rehabilitation, reconstruction, prevention and preparedness
deal with longer-term causes of disaster and chronic needs.
Vulnerability and loss and disruption are minimised through technical,
social and economic measures such as pre-positioned plans and
community capacity building for improving development.
Action for students: Play a disaster simulation game from the
UN/ISDR, click: http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html
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Hyogo Framework
for Action
In 2005 the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in
Kobe, Hyogo, Japan agreed on a Hyogo Framework for
Action (HFA) to prioritize DRR on a global scale.
I.Make DRR a priority at the national and local level with strong institutional
basis for implementation.
II. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning, take
action.
III. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build
awareness and a culture of safety and resilience at all
levels.
IV. Reduce the underlying risk factors.
V. Strengthen disaster preparedness for
effective response at all levels, be ready to act.
Source: UNISDR, www.unisdr.org/hfa
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Millennium
Development Goals
The Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015) observes that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is essential to
achieve internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.
DRR matters because poor countries and communities have much lower capacity to reduce risk and
are disproportionately affected.
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Source: http://beijingcircles.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/mdgs-large.jpg
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Objectives of mitigation
Action for students:
Use the words increase and decrease in the spaces where
appropriate.
Save lives
________ vulnerability
_______ capacity
_______ risk
Risk Reduction
Source: http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/5514.pdf
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Mitigation
Primary mitigation
Mitigation is about preventing hazards from
becoming disasters or lessening their effects primarily
through reducing vulnerability, as the hazards
themselves largely cannot prevented or predicted. This
can be done by minimizing the effects of disaster
through building codes and zoning, public education
and vulnerability analyses.
In primary mitigation the presence of the hazard, where
possible, and of the vulnerability is reduced.
Secondary mitigation is intended to decrease the
impact of the hazard through preparedness and planning.
Source: WHO/EHA 2002, Disasters & Emergency definitions http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7656.pdf
The Disaster Management Cycle, http://www.gdrc.org/uem/disasters/1-dm_cycle.html
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Primary mitigation:
Vulnerability analyses
Vulnerability analysis has to take account of the nature
of the settlement and its infrastructure, for example:
Medium height buildings are more vulnerable than tall or single
storey buildings.
Masonry buildings are more vulnerable than wooden or steel framed
buildings (albeit the fire risk is greater).
The location of services (electricity, gas, water)may have an impact
on potential damage.
The design and size of roads and bridges etc will have an impact on
evacuation, emergency access and potential loss of life.
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Preparedness
Secondary mitigation
Secondary mitigation seeks to reduce the effects of
the hazard through preparing and planning how to respond.
Measures ensure the organized mobilization of personnel,
funds, equipment and supplies within a safe environment for
effective relief.(WHO/EHA 2002)
For preparedness, these efforts include preparedness
plans, emergency exercises and training; warning systems.
In terms of response, measures such as search and rescue
and emergency relief intend to minimize the hazards
created by a disaster through search and rescue, emergency relief.
Source: WHO/EHA 2002, Disasters & Emergency definitions; http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/7656.pdf
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Planning for
earthquakes
Planning for an earthquake is usually based on the
assumption everything will be destroyed, for example,
an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or above in San
Francisco would destroy everything.
Earthquakes happen without warning and it is
impossible to plan response activity in advance.
Earthquakes are more likely (by a ratio of 3:1) during
non working hours)
Communication systems may well be damaged which
will hamper response management.
Aftershocks will cause additional damage, interfere with
response efforts and cause anxiety in the population.
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Government
strategies
Key strategies used by governments:
Land use zoning
Building regulations
Evacuation drills
Emergency service provision
Further info:
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Fema (www.fema.gov) gives advice on how to cope
and prepare for events such as earthquakes.
Los Angeles Fire department
LAFD (www.lafd.org) gives advice on how
to prepare for earthquakes.
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Individual preparation:
Grab bag in Japan.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12759840
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Hamlet of Aneyoshi
In Japan, hundreds of centuries-old tablets some over 600 years old - dot the coastline and
form a crude warning system. The stone slab reads: High dwellings are the peace and
harmony of our descendants. Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not
build any homes below this point. Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/japan-tsunami-warnings-fr_n_845818.html#
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Modern
early warning system
Japan: satellite communication
technology
Japan is the World leader in Earthquake
preparedness, the earthquake set off
the Pacific Ocean Tsunami Warning System
DART II and warned about a tsunami across
the Pacific. The warnings were more
coordinated than after the Indian Ocean Tsunami
in 2004, so more people could evacuate to
higher ground.
Satellite communication has improved which
has reduced the lag between data collection
and warning. A recorder on the seabed that
transmits data about anomalies to a buoy on the
surface. Then the data is transmitted every 15
seconds via satellite to ground stations.
But Japan had only planned and prepared for a 200
to 300-year tsunami, not a 1000 year one (1 in 1000
Source:
years).
USGS and NOAA;
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/early-warning-of-disastersfacts-and-figures/
164
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Source: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/image/eew2.png
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Mitigation
and preparedness in LEDCs
Mitigation measures especially long-term management of
economic and
urban development in seismic areas are less likely to be efficient or
in place in less developed countries.
People are more likely to settle in seismic areas and these tend to
be densely populated with high occupancy buildings.
Earthquake-proof building codes and by-laws are more likely to be
inadequate, unenforced or non-existent, so the damage to property
and human life is greater.
Warning systems are absent or lacking. There tend to be lower
awareness of risks, less public education and fewer drills, but even
where people are aware, economic survival takes precedence over
safety concerns.
Public capacity to deal with search and rescue and mass casualties
can be lower.
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What for
Japan and Haitis future?
Action for students:
How can Japan and Haiti cope with
their vulnerability and exposure to
natural hazards?
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APPENDIX
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Haiti Blog:
Before the earthquake (1)
Logistician, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Life progresses as usual here, but this is not a usual situation compared with my experiences back
home. A pregnant woman arrived in the hospital yesterday and it was all hands on deck. We already
had a full maternity ward, with patients on makeshift beds in the corridors. But what do you do when
yet another one arrives who needs emergency care? I arrange for another bed packed beside the
others and let the medics get on with their work. One emergency Caesarean Section later and
mother and child are well.
It's not just the emergencies that are exciting. All aspects of my work here are interesting. MSF is
running a maternity hospital in the capital. There are no other facilities like it in Haiti at all and the
statistics on mother and child health are still terrible. Maternal and infant mortality are especially
high which is why MSF's emergency care for complicated deliveries is so important.
My job is so varied. The infrastructure in Haiti is very poor, with basic services such as electricity,
clean, running water and transport very unreliable. I make sure that the hospital has all of these,
backing up electricity with our generators, servicing the water systems and running the fleet of cars
MSF uses for transporting staff and patients alike. I also run the medical supply system which is a
huge challenge, trying to get safe, certified medicines to the patients through our supply hub in
Amsterdam. The cold chain is a particular challenge in this heat many medicines must be kept
between 2 and 8 C at all times and with unreliable electricity we use a system of fridges and cold
boxes.
The country is so poor which means MSF has to bring in virtually all its supplies. You cannot rely on
anything being available which means planning months ahead. I have found this to be pretty tricky
when you can't really predict how many patients you will have from one week to another!
171
Before the
earthquake (2)
And now a little about the country itself from what I have seen. Port-Au-Prince is a thriving,
but very busy city with everything you might expect of a capital city in the developing world.
There are markets everywhere and a huge contrast between rich and poor. The slums are
very basic and house an amazing number of people, but this is also where the gangs are
based. They control so much of the city and we struggle to get anything done when they are
involved. People seem to get by though, working, trading and buying in the markets, fishing
etc., although most live without basic services in the shanties and neighbourhoods.
In the countryside it is a little different Haiti is very densely populated and most of the
forest has been cut down to provide building materials and wood for making charcoal to cook
with. One of the most amazing sights is the border with Dominican Republic where you can
physically see the line of trees that signifies the Dominican side. The country is hilly and
exposed to all manner of natural disaster in the last 10 years they have seen hurricanes,
deforestation, flooding and earthquakes, all of which make it a very precarious place to live.
All in all, we manage to make things work OK here. MSF manages to provide emergency care
to mothers and children in a place where it would otherwise not exist. It is hard work, but we
still manage to have some fun and just sharing all of this with our national staff and being
part of our patients' lives is very rewarding. I saw the mother and baby who I made the
makeshift bed for this morning and they are both well. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.
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Immediately after
the earthquake (1)
I simply don't have time to write, and I don't know where to start, but I must
update you briefly about what has happened. Also to say that I am OK, but so
many are not. Two days ago the earth shook and changed the face of this already
struggling country. It is not an overestimation to say that virtually everything has
been destroyed.
We do not have much information about what has really happened because all
the communication except satellite phones are down. I can send this email via
the sat link, but we only download once a day. The reports we have had are only
from our staff, many of whom are still missing. Some of my international
colleagues were missing for a time, but are now all accounted for. We know that
most homes have collapsed, the hospital is almost totally destroyed and many of
our patients and staff are under the rubble. We hear that rescue operations will
begin tomorrow, but little is known. There is total chaos here.
We have been without water and electricity since the earthquake, but I have
managed to get some basics sorted out. We are still using our emergency water
supplies and I simply don't know when they will be replenished. I have rigged up
some basic electricity using our small back up generators, but we only have a
Contents
limited amount of fuel for them.
173
Immediately after
the earthquake (2)
Everyone is in shock: roads are blocked, essential services are destroyed and we now have to make
sense of the situation and work out how we can help in the best way possible. There are so many
things to do. We must work out how to treat the wounded, how to get clean water (not just for
ourselves, but also the entire population in the city), how to get supplies in as the port and airport
are both closed. And what about our existing patients in the maternity hospital? Babies will no doubt
still be born and who will look after the complicated deliveries? To be honest, we are completely
overwhelmed here, but we must work out at least where to start.
I have just heard a report that there maybe thousands of people buried under the rubble. That
means that sadly many will be dead and many more injured. Right now we are not set up to provide
medical or humanitarian care to these people so I must focus on rebuilding our facilities and getting
more emergency supplies into the country.
I have very little idea how the Haitian people are coping with the tragedy and the mess. Some of our
staff have made it in today and have told us about how their shanties have been flattened, but
people are busy rebuilding them already. The trouble is that with rubble everywhere and no supplies
coming into the country, nothing can get to the neighbourhoods. Food is already short and water can
only be obtained from old wrecked piping. People are still pulling friends and neighbours out of the
rubble. No news has come in yet about the situation in the countryside, but we do know that the
epicentre of the quake was right in Port-au-Prince. We have to hope that some of the outlying areas
were spared, but I just don't know.
There is so much to be done and I have to work with colleagues to prioritise the most essential
things first. Which means I have to go....!
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As you all know, the death toll was horrific, but the mess that remains challenges
us to the limit. The emergency wounded have been tended to, but we still have
awful orthopaedic cases that we see and there will continue to be lots of
rehabilitation necessary. Basic services have broken down and supplies have been
so limited we have also become aware of a problem with people living with
HIV/AIDS as their essential medication is very short supply.
The maternity hospital is, mercifully, up and running to the best of our abilities. I
have worked round the clock to help a huge team construct a new hospital out of
container like units and we have managed to get the essential medical equipment
and supplies from Amsterdam. In some ways things have stabilised and I now feel
that we have a bit of time to reflect on the last few months. It has been very
traumatic, not least of which has been coming to terms with the death of some of
our staff and their families.
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The other problem is security. The earthquake created a situation where people had to fend for
themselves and we have seen a return to the gang culture that plagued the country preearthquake. The gangs control everything and even we, as MSF, have to negotiate this situation.
The gangs do not think twice about using violence if they do not get their own way and this has
complicated our work immeasurably. There are times when it simply is not safe enough to go out
and do your job. Just yesterday I had planned to go and check the water supply for one of our
community clinics, but we received word from the local gang that they controlled the water supply
and threatened me if I went to check it. How do we know they are doing it well? What are they
charging people who have nothing for clean water? What are the health implications if people are
forced to use water from the stream? I have no answers to these questions, but I still have the
responsibility of ensuring that people have clean water.
Now that things have settled down a bit life has slowly resumed in Port-au-Prince. The markets are
running again and I see people picking through the rubble to get about. Some of the roads have
been cleared so people can move about more freely and the air and seaports are running as before
the quake. Many of the shanty buildings have been put together again, but the bigger houses are
still as they were, in ruins.
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International
humanitarian system
UN System
UNHCR, OCHA, WFP, Unicef, WHO and
others
ICRC / Red Cross Movement
Non-governmental organisations
Donor Community
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UN System
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NGOs
Non-profit, voluntary citizens group performing a
variety
of services and humanitarian functions
International NGOs
Local NGOs
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Humanitarian Principles:
International humanitarian Law
There is a set of humanitarian principles.
International humanitarian Law designed to minimise
the negative impact of war (while paradoxically accepting it)
Geneva Convention, other treaties, customary law that deals with
methods or means of warfare and the protection of civilian
populations
Speaking out (tmoignage) against violations of humanitarian law
forms part of MSFs mission.
Not the same as
Principles of humanitarian action
Human Rights Law, which is embodied in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights applies to all people at all times, whether or not
there is war, or whether or not they are civilians.
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Humanitarian Principles:
Principles of humanitarian
action
Humanity: MSF is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisis regardless of
their race, religion, or political affiliation.
Impartiality: its work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and
impartiality.
Independence: MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.
Medical teams conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population's medical needs
before opening programs, aiming to fill gaps that exist (rather than replicating services that are
already offered) or reach communities that are not being assisted. The key to MSFs ability to
act independently in response to a crisis is its independent funding. Ninety percent of MSF's
overall funding (and 100 percent of MSF-USA's funding) comes from private, non-governmental
sources. In 2009, MSF had 3.8 million individual donors and private funders worldwide.
Neutrality: As an organization, MSF is neutral. It does not take sides in armed conflicts,
provides care on the basis of need alone, and pushes for increased independent access to
victims of conflict as required under international humanitarian law.
Source: Doctors Without Borders, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/aboutus/
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Humanitarian
assistance
Complex relationship between humanitarian assistance and
political action
Constantly need to define and question the purpose of
humanitarian action, its operational principles and
relationship with other actors like military, governments and
aid agencies.
Contextual differences, time pressure and fast-changing
situations on the ground are challenging.
The multiplicity of agencies and actors, often independent,
can make coordinated and effective action harder.
Emergencies can polarise objectives and it can be difficult to
be objective.
Further issues can arise because of refugees and internally
displaced people and public health emergencies.
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Priorities
of natural disaster response
Areas that are recognized as priorities in humanitarian
interventions and that evaluations often flag as shortcomings
in operations:
Linking relief, recovery and development;
Mapping and monitoring needs and target groups;
Synergy between local, national and international capacities;
Coordination of humanitarian actors and projects;
Disaster Preparedness and vulnerability reduction.
Evaluation is systematic and impartial examination
of humanitarian action intended to draw lessons to improve
policy and practice and enhance accountability.
Source: Assessing the Quality of Humanitarian Evaluations, The Alnap Quality Proforma,
http://www.alnap.org/pool/files/QualityProforma05.pdf
Humanitarian response To Natural Disasters: A Synthesis of Evaluation Findings,
http://www.norad.no/en/tools-and-publications/.../107610?_...true...
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Haiti:
Republic of NGOs
Why has Haiti been called the Republic of NGOs?
In mid 2000s international community establishes its cooperation to help the fragile state.
The over 3,000 NGOs in a population of 10 million exploded to an estimated 10,000 after
the 2010 earthquake; its an estimate, as most are not registered. They provide most of
the services like healthcare and education and development efforts, expertise and funding
not provided by the government. They can be perceived as more stable and accountable
than the Haitian government.
Most like government are concentrated in Port-au-Prince and urban areas, meaning that
there is little support from NGOs and government for sustainable livelihoods in rural
communities.
Most NGOs are in relief during acute emergencies (like MSF) or reconstruction and
development (like Oxfam). To use a metaphor, the former tends to give out fish to keep
people alive, while the latter later teaches to them fish.
The scope of the problems is beyond the mandate and capacity international assistance.
International assistance can include other nations, armies, international agencies, nongovernmental organisations, foreign philanthropists and volunteers. Developed and
wealthy nations are less likely to require or request foreign aid in the wake of a disaster
than less developed ones.
Source: Great Eastern Japan Earthquake,
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/05/the-great-eastern-japan-earthquake-assessing-disaster-response-and-lessons-for-the-us
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Chronic housing
issues in Haiti
Suitability or availability of land; sprawling informal suburbs and slums;
failing or non-existent infrastructure.
Sites not cleared of rubble.
Build Back Better Requirements, which cost more, demand technological
know how and take time.
Land tenure issues mean that international and local non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) are struggling to identify and get permission to build
homes in alternative residential areas. Government is stalling on land
reform, tenure and ownership legislation; there is lack of clarity about
ownership of land and Haitian elites are not cooperating as landowners.
Translating an urban development strategy into practice.
People are unwilling to leave Port-au-Prince because of inability to make a
living outside of the capital in spite of incentivized government rural
relocation programs.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/aid/countries/Haiti_paper_01102010.pdf
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Examples of
Crowdsourcing - Haiti
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MSF:
Contact us or find out more
Visit our website: www.msf.org.uk
About MSF: http://www.msf.org.uk/about.aspx
Email us: [email protected]
Find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/MSF.english
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MSF_UK
Follow us on You tube: www.youtube.com/user/MSFUK
The MSF movement was awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.
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