Tectonics Topic 3 (Disaster Risk Management) examples for AO3 essays

Examples for AO3 Essay Questions Topic 3 | Disaster Risk Management 3.1 Sustainable development through disaster risk management a. Earthquakes 1. 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami ( M w 9.3) ● Environmental: The earthquake and tsunami destroyed coastal ecosystems and habitats. In Indonesia, it was estimated that 30% of coral reefs and 35% of wetlands were damaged. ● Economic: The earthquake and tsunami resulted in $13 billion in damage, as tourist destinations like Maldives, Thailand and Sri Lanka experienced a downturn of visitors due to the damage (tourism). In Aceh, Indonesia, over 600,000 people lost their fishing-related jobs.

● Social: - The disaster resulted in the death of 227,000 people and millions homeless across 14 countries (spread of disaster). - Many survivors experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). - It pushed the proportion of people living below the poverty line in Aceh, Indonesia from 30% to 50% . ● Evacuation: in Patong, Phuket , a 10 years old girl, Tilly Smith , having learnt about signs of tsunami at school, recognised the receding sea and alerted the security guard, saving hundreds of lives. ● Prevention: after the earthquake, Thailand implemented a comprehensive earthquake and tsunami warning system (to assure tourists) including tsunami buoys in Andaman Sea, 130 warning towers across 6 southern provinces , and a network of seismic stations and sea-level monitoring stations . 2. 2010 Haiti earthquake ( M w 7.0)

● Challenge: - Haiti lacked the finances to invest in earthquake-resistant buildings, hence many buildings collapsed and most of the city was destroyed (compared to Chile’s stronger earthquake of M w 8.8 but only 500 people died due to having earthquake-resistant buildings) . - The community in Haiti was not able to organise itself for disasters as there were no measures or education . No network of community healthcare workers. Poor law enforcement and corruption. - Lack of resources (financial and technological resources) led to critical shortage of ambulances and heavy machinery to remove rubble from collapsed buildings. The rescue team had to remove tons of rubble manually with hammers or rods to pull the trapped people. - Lack of community resilience as people couldn’t organise themselves for disasters, hence there was unrest and chaos as survivors found it hard to take care of themselves and recover from the disaster. ● Vulnerability: - Many buildings in Haiti are made of poor-quality materials , hence 90% of buildings near to the epicentre were destroyed in the earthquake. - Large areas of Port-au-Prince lie on layers of soft soil -> seismic waves were amplified. - Distance from the epicentre: the epicentre was only 25km away from the west of Port-au-prince (with high population density of 24,912 people per square km). ● Environmental: landslides bury and destroy trees and forest, exacerbating deforestation . The debris also entered waterways and rivers , polluting them. ● Economic: the total economic damage of $7.8 billion , and GDP growth rate decreased by 3.8% . ● Social: 220,000 people died. 1.5 million people became homeless. The destruction of homes and infrastructure led to widespread job losses and food shortages.

● Disaster Management: As water supply was disrupted in the capital city Port-au-Prince, the International Committee of the Red Cross provided water supply for 12,000 people by trucking water daily. 3. 2011 Tohoku Earthquake ( M w 9.0) ● Nature of earthquake: The earthquake lasted for 6 minutes , causing massive damage to buildings. (usually an earthquake only lasts for less than 1 minute). ● Vulnerability: - As a developed country, Japan had more earthquake-resistant buildings -> lower death toll, and recovered more easily due to available resources . - During the earthquake, nearly all 3000 students of Kamaishi city survived the earthquake and tsunami, as schools have disaster prevention education programmes with evacuation drills -> They were able to respond quickly and evacuate to higher ground , away from the tsunami. (community resilience)

● Environmental: - In Sendai Plain, over 11,000 hectares of farmland was flooded with seawater -> killed vegetation and hindered agriculture. - Over 561 square km of coastal land was inundated by the tsunami. - The earthquake and tsunami triggered nuclear meltdown of reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant . Radioactive water leaked into the Pacific Ocean, causing water pollution . ● Economic: - An estimated $361 billion in property damage, and total recovery cost was about $122 billion. - With insurance payout (prevention strategy) , over $47 billion was incurred. ● Social: - Over 160,000 people lost their jobs in sectors like fishing and agriculture. - 19,000 people died and 450,000 people became homeless. Survivors suffered from mental illnesses due to trauma, losing their loved ones, or unemployment. ● Disaster Management: - Search and Rescue efforts: Following the earthquake, the Japanese Self-defense forces mobilised approximately 100,000 personnel , including around 500 specialists from countries like The UK, USA and Germany. - Recovery: + About 500,000 people were displaced after the earthquake and tsunami. By 2016 , the majority have been rehoused in settlements with enhanced tsunami-proof features . + In the port town of Rikuzentakata , the ground level of sites for new houses was raised by 10 metres . + Two more protective seawalls that are 3 metres and 12.5 metres high were built ● Community Resilience: - Reducing exposure through Land Use Planning: After the 1993 tsunami, residential land use on coastal areas, such as the Touni-hongo village , were

shifted to higher ground -> During the 2011 earthquake, the houses on higher ground were not destroyed by tsunami . - Reducing vulnerability through early warning systems: + The monitoring and warning system saved thousands of passengers in 19 bullet trains which were running at top speeds . All trains were able to stop before the earthquake struck. + Just 3 minutes after the first earthquake, tsunami warnings were announced, which allowed people to have sufficient time to evacuate, as the tsunami only struck about 20 minutes after the earthquake. 4. 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, Japan (M w 6.9) ● Nature of hazard (time of shaking): The earthquake occurred in the early morning at around 6 am . As many people were asleep, they were trapped at home (compared to the 2000 Tottori Earthquake (M w 6