They can cause widespread destruction, such as the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens. Lahars are a secondary effect of a volcanic eruption and are cement-like mudflows consisting of volcanic ash and water. They often occur in the days following an eruption when people are at their most vulnerable and with the capacity to travel up
According to CBC News World, “The storm hit Haiti's rural western tip hard, flooding the refugee-camp homes of quake survivors.” (2010). The storm was actually downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm but still caused massive flooding with the vast amount of rain and mudslides that were rampant. The country also has a long history of earthquakes dating back to 1564. The most recent in this list is the 2010 earthquake close to Port-Au-Prince. The nation is located in a region seismic activity due to the movement of the Caribbean tectonic plate, which is compared with which a finger shoving away against two larger plates, the North American and South American.
Gilbert News Gilbert News The definition of major incidents A major incident is a non-routine emergency situation that demands special arrangements by one or all the emergency services. For the rescue and transportation of a large number of causalities. The organisation and mobilisation of the local authority, to respond to threat of death injury or homelessness on a large scale. E.g. The 911 attacks or the Somerset floods.
All hazards, whether natural, technological or war hazards, are able to cause loss of life, property damage, and various secondary effects1. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, is a recent natural disaster that will be remembered by many as one of the most deadly hurricanes in history6. The sinking of the RMS Titanic, in April 1912, which many believe to have been caused by a collision with an iceberg, was in fact caused by its poor technology3, making it one of the most memorable historical technological disasters to have ever occurred. While these two disasters may seem unsurpassed, they will be analyzed and compared, in order to determine possible similarities and differences that relate to the disasters’ elements of risk. (i) Description of Disasters: Hurricane Katrina is said to have been the most costly and deadliest hurricanes in U.S history, resulting in $81.2 billion dollars in damage and 1836 casualties6.
This paper is a recounting of the events surrounding the accident, both before, during, and after. It also includes connections to modern day actions that can be taken based on the lessons learned. Crisis Management: An Analysis of the 1947 Texas City Explosion On April 16, 1947, a cargo ship carrying a large amount of ammonium nitrate in its hold exploded in the port of Texas City, Texas. About 15 hours after the initial explosion, another ship carrying ammonium nitrate also exploded. Estimates by the Red Cross and the Texas Department of Public Safety counted 468 fatalities, 100 persons missing and never found, and approximately 3,500 injured.
I will be discussing factors that cause differences in hazards posed by volcanoes. I believe the most important factor is the location of a volcano and the type of volcano. The most explosive and therefore dangerous volcanoes are found on destructive plate boundaries (Over 80% of the worlds volcanoes occur at these boundaries) for example the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia on the 13th November in 1985 which killed over 25000 residents of Arenas and Armero. At destructive plate margins, the oceanic crust is denser than continental crust and is therefore subducts under the continental crust. Due to high temperatures in the mantle of around 3000 degrees centigrade, this oceanic crusts melts and then rises due to the convection currents in the aesthenosphere .
Case study: 2005 Kashmir Earthquake The 2005 earthquake of the Kashmir region is the 17th deadliest earthquake ever recorded, killing approximately 79,000 people from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan alike. The earthquake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. Earthquake area [pic] Fact file When: 8th October 2005 Where: Kashmir (India, Afghanistan & Pakistan) Magnitude: 7.6 Deaths: 79,000 (totalled from primary and secondary effects of the earthquake) Injuries: 106,000 Area of destruction 31.4km² Why did it happen? [pic] The earthquake happened because the region is on a collision boundary of the Indian and Eurasian plates (the two plates that form the Himalayas). These two normally push together steadily, but when they jam the pressure builds up, and then is realised as an earthquake, such as the Kashmir quake [pic] How were the people affected?
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.
Nature against humankind One of the most tragic aspects of Depression in 1920s was the weather working against people. Floats and wind storms battered the North area and the eastern section of the country. In the 1930s most of major rivers rose over their banks and floated the streets and towns in the East. In 1937 the Ohio River flood was one of the worst in the history. All in all, it destroyed the homes of half million people.
This essay will address the factors that affect the quality of human life in the 2011 Japan and 2004 South Asia tsunamis, and what made them become two of the word's biggest disasters. Tsunamis become disasters when they result in loss of lives, injuries, and displacement of human population. In the case of South Asia and Tohoku tsunamis the coastline was densely populated leading to thousands of lives being lost as well as extensive damage to infrastructure - these were two of the greatest disasters the modern world had ever seen. The 2004 South Asia tsunami caused more than 270,000 deaths in fourteen countries across two continents (The Bolton Council of Mosques 2007-2012), whereas the Tohoku tsunami had caused approximately 20,000 deaths. This latter death toll was surprisingly high as Japan has the world's largest seismometer network, tsunami barriers and earthquake early-warning system (Cyranoski, 2011).