The main area hit was San Francisco yet, it did affect almost all of the San Andrea’s Fault. Damage and casualties after the San Francisco earthquake were devastating, 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa and 102 deaths near San Jose. 225,000 from a population of around 400,000 were homeless. 28,188 wood and brick buildings were also destroyed by the
Compare and contrast the causes and impacts of two recent Tsunamis in different parts of the world On Sunday the 26th of December 2004 an earthquake, calculated between 9.1 - 9.3 on the Richter scale erupted. This is the third largest earthquake ever recorded. Its epicenter was located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. This earthquake triggered a Tsunami with maximum wave heights of 30 meters which affected fourteen countries and killed over 230,000 people. 9, 000 of those being foreigners.
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.
Eventually, the friction is overcome and the blocks slip abruptly, releasing pent-up energy with a huge “snap”—an earthquake” (The Plate Tectonic Model – Page 107). Plates diverge at volcanic zones by the ocean basins. These are long huge cracks were lava rises from below and freezes into the Lithosphere (About.com – Geology). In which plates move past each other is call a transform boundary. These are not that common as the converge or diverge plates and the most common one is the San Andreas fault of California [About.com – Geology].
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.
A volcano is a surface landform resulting from the extrusion of magma from underground as lava, ash, rocks, and gasses are erupted in various proportions. A hazard is something that poses a threat to life, the environment or property. Volcanoes can compromise all these things through the many hazards volcanoes presents. These include lahars, flash flooding, landslides, pyroclastic flows, ash clouds and many others. Each year, around 60 major volcanoes erupt globally.
The Eastern side of the county must be accessed by a round-trip through adjacent Skagit County. Risks of potential natural hazards are listed in the above table. Whatcom County has a high vulnerability to earthquakes related to the location of oceanic and continental crusts. The University of Washington seismology lab reports up to 1000 earthquakes per year in Washington and Oregon. With a severe earthquake the county could be at risk for a Tsunami.
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.
The tremendous eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815 was the most powerful volcanic eruption of the 19th century. The eruption and the tsunamis it triggered killed tens of thousands of people. And the magnitude of the explosion is difficult to fathom. It has been estimated that Mount Tambora stood approximately 12,000 feet tall before the 1815 eruption, and the top 4,000 feet of the mountain was completely obliterated. Adding to the disaster's massive scale, the huge amount of dust blasted into the upper atmosphere by the Tambora eruption contributed to a bizarre and highly destructive weather event the following year.
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.