The run-off from higher elevation combined with melt water from lower elevation was so forceful it broke levees and caused one of the most damaging floods the region has ever seen. The West Walker River caused extensive damage in Topaz, Coleville, California, Wellington and Nevada. It’s estimated that twelve miles of US Highway 395 have been destroyed and are going to be closed for around seven months! In Yerington and in the Mason Valley nearly 500 homes have been damaged and public and private property damaged substantially. Floodwaters deposited debris on Farmland and Damaged irrigation gates, ditches and canals.
At the same time, supplies water to Kiev's 2.4 million residents. This caused a major problem to the people as now; their drinking water is contaminated with radioactive materials. Other than that, the radioactivity in the seas, lakes and rivers became a threat to aquatic life. Thankfully, the groundwater was slightly affected because the radioactive material fortunately decayed before it could reach the groundwater supplies. Four kilometers of pine trees turned reddish-brown after the accident.
Secondary Effects The secondary effects were much more numerous that the primary effects. These included many systems shutting down, i.e. electricity, gas, plumbing, etc. Fires that were started by broken gas pipes and broken electrical wires, spread through the city, rapidly destroying the many wooden houses (approx. 7500 houses were destroyed).
| 1 in 5 people lost their jobs because many buildings were destroyed, Haiti’s large industry clothing was one of the worst affected, and were a lot of people lost their jobs. | 250,000 homes, 30,000 other building were either destroyed or badly damaged this included the presidents palace and around 60% of the government buildings. | Because of the large number of deaths the hospitals reached their capacity and bodies had to be piled up out on the streets. | Transport and communication links were badly damaged and destroyed, things like bridges. | The amount of bodies out on the street caused a lot of diseases to spread, diseases like, cholera.
The secondary effects include the fires that broke out all over the city of Kobe, the congestion and chaos on the roads, the closure of businesses and the problem of homelessness. Many more people died in the fires that followed the earthquake. Problems were made worse by the large number of aftershocks (over 1,300). Many of the older, wooden houses completely collapsed. Fire, triggered by broken gas pipes and sparks from severed electrical cables, caused a huge amount of damage, destroying at least 7,500 wooden homes.
For the first case, a massive flood displaced nearly eight-hundred graves in Hardin, Missouri in 1993. Authorities found displaced human remains over twenty-six square miles of land; fifty people were killed; 55,000 homes were damaged or destroyed; 58,000 people were displaced. It was a truly atrocious, upsetting scenario in which the likelihood of finding bodies was very low, and the procedures were costly. The public expected a lot from the anthropologists, hoping that they would work quickly and be able to recover all of the bodies of their missing families and friends. (Shows like “CSI” and “FBI” may give people an unrealistic expectation of these sorts of jobs.)
Because over 100,000 people died bodies had to be buried in mass graves. Communication systems and transport routes were damaged by the earthquake so emergency aid was extremely difficult. Workers and survivors alike became angry at this lack of aid and looting and riots broke out in many areas. Aftershocks are still occurring reaching up to 5.9 on the Richter scale. Even though the process is slow Haiti is recovering many charities have been set up to provide emergency housing, food and other areas of the recovery.
a) Suggest reasons why these earthquakes had such varied consequences. The earthquakes had such varied consequences because different countries can respond better then others and are more prepared for disasters. Some countries are more economically developed in such a way they are able to have earthquake resist building to this extent they don’t fall over and cause more damage to the area or kill people. Also timing is a big issue due to if an earthquake occurs at night-time most people are sleeping there are less people are out at night so this will be more save to be in your house. Countries that are more developed are usually prepared for the earthquake to occur because warnings around the area go out to make sure everyone knows that an earthquake is going to occur.
A lot of houses, buildings, cars and other vehicles will be ruined and people can be killed. When a hurricane is done, it rains very hard. Some hurricanes may cause floods or landslides depending on how much water falls. Hurricane Sandy has been one of the most recent hurricanes that have hit the US in the past 15 years. Hurricane Sandy destroyed millions of homes, brought a bunch of sand onto the roads, and killed 209 people.
Why do similar kinds of hazards have different impacts in different places? (10 marks) Hazards affect different places in different ways this is due to certain factors including, economic stability, location, capacity to cope, population density etc. A hazard is an unexpected threat to people and/ or their property, a hazard turns into a disaster when a natural hazard has serious impacts such as a major loss of life or property. A country’s economy is probably the main factor which affects the impact of a hazard. Richer countries are not impacted as badly as poorer countries.