How humans from different economic backgropunds cope with different types of tectonic hazards. A2 Geography

1. Coping With Hazards
A2 Geography

2. The varying approaches of individuals and
governments to coping with tectonic
hazards in countries at different stages of
development

3. What approaches exist?
• People cope with natural hazards in very
different ways
• The chosen ways are often related to
wealth and access to technology
• Humans do have a capacity to ignore or
seriously underestimate risk, even when it
seems obvious to others
• Often it may seem obvious that people
should move out of harms way, but in
reality this may be impossible.

4. Move to a
Modify Loss safer
location
Modify
Modify the human
Event Vulnerability

6. Strategies
Modify the event Modify human vulnerability
Modify the loss
(hazard mitigation)
Coastal defences •Warming and prediction systems Loss modification
and engineering •Coastal zone management and involves immediate
Tsunami landuse planning rescue efforts,
•Provision of emergency kits followed by relief
efforts which focus
on food, shelter,
Not possible •Ground shaking and liquefaction risk water and sanitation.
mapping Insurance can help
Earthquakes •A seismic buildings recovery.
•Earthquake education and drills Long term
•Prediction not possible reconstruction is
needed.
Lava diversion •Monitoring, prediction warning and
evacuation systems
Volcanoes •Hazard mapping e.g. lahar risk
•Education
•Shelters

7. Modify Human
Modify Loss burden Modify hazard event
Vulnerability
Land
Hazard Type
Hazard Resistance Community Forecastin and Example
Accept Environment Use
Aid Insurance Preparedne g and
Loss al Control Plannin
ss Warning
Design Retrofitting g
VOLCANO
LEDC
VOLCANO
MEDC
EARTHQUAK
E
LEDC
EARTHQUAKE
MEDC

8. Research
• You should already have some good and
thorough case studies you may be
expected to use in the exam
• The final part of each will be coping with
the event.
• Mitigation and Adaptation

9. Mitigation
• Attempting to stop the effects of the
hazard by trying to planning before hand
• Examples of this will be very few off the
ground
• Explain why

10. Adaptation
• attempting to live with a hazard by altering
lifestyles. This is a longer-term strategy. It
assumes hazards will take place but there
will be time to adapt before each and time
to hopefully reduce the effects on pop’n
• Examples
• Land use zoning near the coast
• Lava channels
• Removal of debris and steepness of
slopes
• Monitoring.

11. Hyogo framework for Action 2005
• Developed by the World Conference on Disaster
Reduction held in Kobe
• Risk reduction to buildings and resilience to damage
• Remove underlying factors to vulnerability
• POVERTY
• Aim is to exploit the Kyoto mechanisms such as
Special Climate Change Funds to allow developed
countries to pay for greenhouse gas cutting projects
in return for carbon credits
• This scheme applies at all scales

12. Tectonic hazards human impacts
• A surprising number of people live in areas of
active tectonic processes
• Major tectonic hazards can strike with devastating
force
• The 2005 Kashmir Earthquakes killed around
85000, the 2008 Sichuan ‘quake over 65,000 and
200,000+ died in the 2004 Asian Tsunami
• It is important to consider why people live, in such
large numbers, in areas of great risk

13. Ignorance of the
risks and / or
underestimation
of risk
Choice e.g.
Living in
fertile areas of Inertia;
always lived
farmland or
tourism
tectonic there
risk?
Nowhere else to
go / lack of
alternatives

14. Impacts - Remember
• Every hazard event is different, and therefore the specific
impacts of disaster vary
• When researching case studies, it is important to be able to
identify specific impacts and be able to explain these
• Some impacts are tangible and can be given a financial
value. Others are intangible, such as the destruction of a
temple or artwork.
• Many losses are direct and immediate such as property
damage, but others are indirect – these come later and are
harder to quantify, such as stress and psychological damage.
• Impacts are often considered as human (death, injury,
illness), economic (property loss, loss of income, cost of
relief effort) and physical (changes to landscape and
topography).

15. Developed versus developing
world
Death Event Location Date
Toll
5,115 Mount Kelut eruption Indonesia 1991 • It is often said that disaster
23,000 Nevado del Ruiz
eruption
Colombia 1985 impacts in the developed world
25,000
Spitak Earthquake Armenia 1988
are largely economic, whereas in
30,000 Bam earthquake Iran 2003
35,000 Manjil Rudbar Iran 1990
the developing world they are
36,000
earthquake
Krakatoa eruption Indonesia 1883
human.
tsunami
66,000 Ancash earthquake Peru 1970 • You should carefully consider if
69,197 Sichuan earthquake China 2008
this generalisation is true.
86,000 Kashmir earthquake Pakistan 2005
100,000 Tsunami Messina, Italy 1908 • The 1995 Kobe earthquake in
105,000 Great Kanto
earthquake
Japan 1923 Japan and 1991 eruption of Mt
230,000
Indian Ocean tsunami Indian Ocean 2004
Pinatubo in the Philippines are
245,000 Tangshan earthquake China 1976
useful examples to consider

16. Impacts over time – Parks Model
• Different hazard events have different impacts, shown
by the speed of the drop in quality of life, the duration of
the decline, and the speed and nature of recovery.
• The differences in the 3 lines might be related to type of
hazard, degree of preparedness, speed of the relief
effort and the nature of recovery and rebuilding.

17. The hazard management cycle
• Successful hazard
management involves a cycle
(see diagram) which focuses
on the 3 types of modification
from the previous slide.
• A focus on modifying loss only,
will not improve survival
chances when the next hazard
strikes
• Long before a natural hazard
event, there needs to be a
focus on mitigation and
prevention (if possible) as well
as human preparedness.

19. Integrated Response to Risk
Management
Sustainable
Communities Triple Dividends
Climate
Disaster
Proofing and
Management
Adaptation

20. Remember
• This report is aimed at several types of
disasters and you only need to concern
yourself with the tectonic hazards
• There is much generalisation but what is
important is what people and governments
are thinking!

21. Finally
• KEY PLAYERS in Hazard response
• Who are they?
• What can they do
• What difference does wealth play in
disaster management?

22. The effectiveness of different
approaches and methods of coping
and the way in which approaches have
changed over time, and possible future
coping strategies

23. Answer
• Much can be found on the internet
• What is important is what you find is
relevant and upto date as well as any
future methods
• Remember future methods will pose a cost
benefit issue for a lot of countries. Have
you done this with your case studies?
• Can you apply these to your case studies?