A tsunami is a series of large waves that can flood coastal areas. 2. They can be caused by earthquakes
To what extent to you agree with the view that the hazards resulting from earthquakes and volcanic activity cannot be managed but merely adapted to. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are both nature disasters that human can’t control when or where it will happen and it may cause lots of death and economic loss. There is no way that we can stop it from being happened but we can definitely try to adapt it by many different ways. Firstly, volcanoes are found at destructive and constructive plate margins. At destructive plate margins, the oceanic plate goes under the continental plate due to it’s more dense, which is a process known as subduction.
Today, its importance comes more from the wealth of scientific knowledge derived from it than from its sheer size. (USGS) Rupturing the northernmost 296 miles (477 kilometers) of the San Andreas Fault from northwest of San Juan Batiste to the triple junction at Cape Mnemonic. The earthquake confounded contemporary geologists with its large, horizontal displacements and great rupture length. At almost precisely 5:12 a.m., local time, a for shock occurred with sufficient force to be felt widely throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The great earthquake broke loose some 20 to 25 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco.
Explain why coastal California is considered a disaster hotspot? (15marks) A disaster hotspot is a country or area that is vulnerable/ disaster prone due the hazards that are; Geophysical, hydro- meteorological. A human factor that increases the risk is vulnerability which includes- population density, wealth and GDP (gross domestic products) which affects the impact of the natural hazard. California is considered a disaster hotspot as all of these factors contribute to an increased danger to human life, meaning it is susceptible to the following natural hazards: earthquake, tsunamis, volcanoes, droughts, wildfires, fog and smog, hurricanes and landslides. One hazard can often trigger others (e.g.
I shall use examples of the Kobe Earthquake 1995, Boxing Day Tsunami 2004 and the Haiti Earthquake 2010. The earthquake of 2004 was caused by subduction of the Australian plate and the Eurasian Plate ,a 15-20m slip occurred along the fault line which then caused an earthquake measuring a 9.1 on the Richter scale. This a very high recording on the Richter scale so therefore it would always cause devastating hazards , but human factors could be seen as making the impacts far worse. The earthquake in the ocean had caused a tsunami to occur within the Indian Ocean. The wave reached up to 30 metres high causing devastation to the 13 countries surrounding the ocean.
A hazard can be defined as something that poses a threat or danger, either to the human or physical environment. In the case of earthquakes, hazards can include the shaking of the earth, liquefaction, or if the epicentre occurs under an ocean a tsunami may become a hazard. Although human factors may influence the severity of the impact, physical factors may also play a part. Population distribution and density is a key human factor which affects the severity of earthquake hazards. As a result of an earthquake in Haiti (2010) up to 230,000 people were killed.
A hazard can be defined as natural phenomena that produce negative effects on life. According to Dr Martin Degg at the University of Chester, a natural hazard only becomes a disaster if it threatens humans. In Degg’s model, the hazard circle includes all the physical factors while the factors that make a population vulnerable are mostly human. In other words a hazard that produces a disaster in one population may have only a limited effect on another less vulnerable population. Take for example the two earthquakes that affected Northridge and Haiti.
The scale or better known as magnitude of the earthquake effects these characteristics and determines the physical destruction. The local geology of the area such as whether building on reclaimed land can have huge toll on building destruction and impact on hazards. Along with this the proximity of the earthquake to the coast can have a huge impact on the hazards. If the earthquake occurs out at see the tsunamis can be just as devastating if not more destructive than the earthquake. It would result in services being unable to reach areas due to the flooding and many more lives could potentially be lost.
Each year, around 60 major volcanoes erupt globally. How hazardous each eruption is depends on a variety of physical and human factors. This essay will analyse how physical volcanic properties interact with human variables to make certain volcanoes more hazardous than others. This will be identified through the numerous recorded eruptions from different countries at different stages of development. Since the degree of impact an earthquake has is measure on both the Richter and the Mercalli scale, it must be reasonable to assume that the power of an eruption is representative to the degree of how potentially hazardous the event may be.
Explain why the Philippines and California multiple hazards hotspots are affected by disasters in different ways?? Disaster hotspots are multiple hazard zones such as the Californian Coast and the Philippines. They are places which experience more than one hazard. California is on a conservative plate boundary where two plates (The North American and Pacific) are sliding past each other at different speeds and pressure hence generating frequent shallow focus earthquakes. This includes San Andreas Fault where a network of active faults underlies the LA region and San Francisco Bay Area.