Weather & Climate- British Isles Climate Case Study

The Great Storm, Southern England, 1987

Causes

• October 1987 started off fine and dry but quickly became unsettled and wet. In the days before the storm low pressure lingered off the west of Ireland, producing spells of wet weather across Britain. 
• Warm air from Africa met cold air from the Atlantic Ocean, causing an intense depression.
• The depression developed over the Bay of Biscay on 15th October and moved northwards.
• The deepening of the depression to 958mb was believed to be the result of a very strong jet stream and warming over the Bay of Biscay which together probably released latent heat energy warming the air even more and reducing pressure even further. 
• Weather forecasters thought it wouldn’t reach England, but by midnight it had changed course and moved towards the south coast.
• It was in fact not a hurricane, but a depression.
• Winds were over 100 km/hour and on the coast and winds reached gale force 11.
• The central pressure was 953 mb.
• There were rapid changes in temperature as the warm front passed over eg. in Farnborough 8.5°C to 17.6°C in 20 minutes.

Impact

Social

• 18 people died in the UK
• Many houses suffered damage leading to homelessness
• Communications were broken with trees falling on railway tracks and roads, and damage to power lines leading to blackouts.
• 5 million homes were without electricity.

Economic

• Numerous small boats were wrecked or blown away, with one ship being blown over and a Channel ferry was blown ashore
• Caravan parks were wrecked
• Cost £2 billion in insurance claims, so premiums went up for everyone next year
• Fire brigade had 6000 calls in 24 hours
• Buildings collapsed
• Losses from storm totalled £1.4 billion in the UK. 1 in 6 households in SE England submitted insurance claims.

Environmental

• 15 million trees were uprooted, including 6 of the famous oaks trees in Sevenoaks
• Loss of habitats and biodiversity but fallen trees provided new habitats for some animals
• Some plants benefited as there was more light on the forest floor allowing them to grow

Prediction

• The storm of 1987 gained an almost mythical status as the storm that proved the weathers forecasters wrong. 
• In reality this ‘1 in a 100 years’ event was very difficult to predict due to the speed of the drop in pressure. 
• An evening weather forecast by the MET office correctly described the current state of the depression & its likely path. 
• The veering of the storm to a more northerly track was noticed too late to allow for effective warning. 
• Most people were asleep so wouldn't have heard the additional warnings.
• Warnings of severe weather had been issued, to various agencies and emergency authorities, including the London Fire Brigade. 
• Perhaps the most important warning was issued by the Met Office to the Ministry of Defence at 0135 UTC, 16 October. It warned that the anticipated consequences of the storm were such that civil authorities might need to call on assistance from the military.

Criticism of the MET Office

• Media reports accused the Met Office of failing to forecast the storm correctly. 
• Repeatedly, they returned to the statement by Michael Fish that there would be no hurricane - which there hadn't been. 
• It did not matter that the Met Office forecasters had, for several days before the storm, been warning of severe weather. 
• The Met Office had performed no worse than any other European forecasters when faced with this exceptional weather event.

• This storm wasn't officially a hurricane as it did not originate in the tropics - but it was certainly exceptional. In the Beaufort scale of wind force, Hurricane Force (Force 12) is defined as a wind of 64 knots or more, sustained over a period of at least 10 minutes. 
• By this definition, Hurricane Force winds occurred locally but were not widespread.

Responses

• Clear up took considerable time with emergency crews being drafted in from Northern regions where damage had been more slight.
• Losses from storm totalled £1.4 billion in the UK. 1 in 6 households in SE England submitted insurance claims.
• MET Office enquiry recommended that observational coverage of the atmosphere over the ocean to the S and W of the UK was improved by increasing the quality and quantity of observations along with refinements made to computer models used in forecasting.
• A significant clean up of fallen trees was criticised by ecologists for removing damaged broad leaf trees that would have recovered with time. 

Plate Tectonics- Vulcanicity Case Study

Mt Etna, Sicily, Italy, 1991-1993

Location

• Mt Etna is located on the island of Sicily in Italy. Italy is an MEDC and had a GDP per capita of over $20,000 in 1991.
• More than 25% of the population of Sicily live on the flanks of Mt Etna.
• The lava from previous eruptions provide fertile soil for growing citrus fruit and vines, Mt Etna itself is a tourist attraction and has ski slopes. 
• Mt Etna is the largest volcano in Europe – it is a stratovolcano which has formed on top of an ancient shield volcano which creates a wide variety of eruption types.

Causes

• Mt Etna is located on a destructive plate margin between the African and Eurasian plates. 
• The northern edge of the African plate is being subducted.
• The eruption in 1991 started on 14th December and lasted for 473 days which was the most voluminous eruption from Etna in over 300 years (250 million m³)
• The lava flowed down the SE flank of the volcano into the Valle del Bove.
• The acidic lava had a low effusion rate (rate and volume of lava emitted in m³/sec) which posed very little threat to human life.

Impacts

Social:

• There were NO deaths as a result of the eruption.
• The lava destroyed the springs which provided the water supply to the town of Zafferana with a population of 8,000 people.
• Several people who lost homes and farm land in the Val del Bove blamed the government for not acting soon enough.
• In interviews made during the late 1990s with people from the Zafferana area,when asked about their fear of a future eruption, many of them expressed that they had no fear because "when there will be a lava flow it will be diverted anyway".

Economic:

• The total cost of the management and responses as well as insurance claims for damage to property ran into millions of Lira.

Environmental:

• Vineyards and Chestnut orchards were destroyed

Management & Response

Immediate/short term:

• During 1992 the Italian authorities built an earth barrier over 400 metres long and 20 metres high in order to stop the lava reaching the town of Zafferana – this contained the lava for about a month before overflowing. 3 smaller embankments were then built.
• The US marines then became involved in ‘Operation volcano buster’ in which they used explosives to blast a hole in the lava tube and then used helicopters to drop concrete blocks into the main lava flow in order to slow down the lava. 
• Finally, a diversion channel was dug and explosives were used to divert the lava onto an adjacent flank of the volcano. 
• The overall outcome of these interventions resulted in the lava flow stopping 850 metres from Zafferana but some geologist argued that the eruption was ending anyway.

Long term:

The Institute of volcanology in Sicily (INGV) has continued to improve methods of monitoring since the 1992 eruption by:

• Measuring radon gas to detect lava movements within the volcano
• Using GPS to examine changes in slope angle of the volcano 
• Using highly sensitive seismometers to measure minute tremors which might indicate lava being forced into the volcano
• The responses involved many different organisations including the police, fire brigade, the civil defence department, the local council, geologists, volcanologists, the Italian army, Italian Red Cross and the US army.

Plate Tectonics- Vulcanicity Case Study

Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat 1995/7+

Location

• The Soufriere Hills volcano lies in the small Caribbean Island of Montserrat in the Antilles Islands. 
• The Island is a British Protectorate and lies to the SW of Antigua. 
• The Island at its largest is no more that 12km by 8km and before the eruption had a population of 11,000.

When?

• The current eruptive phase began on 18th July 1995 when large billowing clouds of ash and steam erupted from Soufriere Hills volcano in the south of the island. 
• The eruption has left the southern two thirds of the island uninhabitable and it remains so to this day. Pyroclastic Flows still pour down the slopes of the volcano. 

Causes

• The Soufriere Hills volcano is situated above a destructive plate margin, or subduction zone which forms the Puerto Rico Trench. 
• Oceanic crust from the North American plate is sinking under the Caribbean plate, forming the Antilles volcanic island arc. As the slab of crust descends, sediments, water and the heat of the mantle cause the wedge of mantle above the slab to melt. The molten rock is less dense than the surrounding crust and rises to the surface. The magma formed at a depth of around 6km, with a temperature of 820–885°C, and then partially crystallised before a new injection of deep magma boosted it towards the surface. 
• The volcano is a strato volcano, composed mainly of consolidated ash layers from previous eruptions. Initially pyroclastic flows flowed eastwards from the open crater down the Tar River valley, but as the dome grew, eventually flows were able to come down any side of the volcano. 

The Primary Effects of the Eruption

• 2/3 of the island was covered in ash
• 50% of the population were evacuated to the north of the island to live in makeshift shelters
• 23 people died in 1997
• Plymouth - the capital became a ghost town
• The airport and port were closed
• Farmland was destroyed
• Many schools and hospitals were destroyed

The Secondary effects of the Eruption

• As most of the southern area was destroyed any remaining inhabitants have had to endure harsh living conditions in the North.
• Transport remains a problem for people travelling to the island as the port and airport remain closed.
• The tourist industry is still suffering with few visitors except for cruise ships looking at the volcano
• Over half the population left the island and have not returned
• Floods as valleys were blocked with ash
• Forest fires caused by pyroclastic flows

Response

• £41 million was given in aid by the British Government.
• Money was given to individuals to help them move to other countries.
• Riots occurred as locals complained that the British were not doing enough to help the island
• The MVO (Montserrat Volcano Observatory) was set up to study the volcano and provide warnings for the future
• A Risk assessment was done to help islanders understand which areas are at risk and reduce problems for the future.

Hazard Management

Once the volcano was deemed dangerous to life, evacuations plans and Hazard maps were put into place. As the eruption progressed the zones were modified until the southern two thirds of the island were declared an exclusion zone.

Monitoring

• An extensive seismograph network was established around the volcano to measure earthquake strength and depth. 
• Earth deformation meters and tilt meters were also put in place to show any signs of the ground swelling or deflating as magma rose within the volcano.
• A satellite location GPS (global positioning system) was also used to check ground movements.
• An instrument called COSPEC was used to measure gas emissions from the volcano, particularly sulphur dioxide which is a good indicator of magma type and movement.
• The pH of rainwater was monitored as it gives an indication of the magmatic gas content.

Plate Tectonics- Vulcanicity Case Study

Mt St Helens, USA 1980

Location

• Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Washington, in the Pacific North West region of the United States. 
• It is a composite volcano. It is located 96 miles South of the city of Seattle, and 53 miles North East of Oregon.
• It is close to the subduction boundary of the North American and Juan de Fuca (oceanic) tectonic plates.

Causes

• Mount St. Helens is part of the Pacific Ring Of Fire that includes over 600 active volcanoes.
• Mt St Helens erupted after many months of build-up activity including a massive bulge growth on the side of the mountain.
• The first indications of a major problem came on March 20, when a 4.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded beneath Mt. St. Helens. Three days later another 4.0 M was recorded, and that evening the earthquakes began occurring in swarms centred directly beneath the volcano, at a rate of about 15 per hour. By March 25, magnitude 4 events were shaking Mt. St. Helens at a rate of about 3 per hour. 
• The eruption began during a relatively quiet period in which no steam explosions had occurred for four days. On May 18, at 8:32 a.m., a 5.0-M earthquake triggered a very rapid series of events. 
• The entire northern slope above the bulge failed and the north flank of the volcano
  
  began to slide downward from almost the exact site of the east-west fracture at the summit. This gigantic landslide released a tremendous mass from above the hydrothermal system that had driven the precursor steam eruptions. 
• The abrupt loss of confining pressure above the heated groundwater caused a massive flashing to steam, which initiated a hydrothermal blast that was directed laterally through the landslide scarp. The lateral hydrothermal blast rapidly overtook the avalanche and devastated a fan-shaped area to the north, which was nearly 30 km wide over a distance of 20 kilometers. Trees were blown down like matchsticks.

Impacts

Social:

• Power supplies were cut off and that ash got into water supplies. Consequently, it led to contamination of the water and the spread of disease. 
• Loss of jobs in logging industry.
• 57 people were killed, 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.

Economic:

• This was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States.
• Forest destroyed- This would have a great effect on the logging industry because there would not be as many trees for them to cut down. 
• Lodges would have had to be closed down. This would have an impact on the economy because if the lodges were closed down then there would be nowhere for tourists to come and stay there for they would lose money. 
• Ash settled 15cm deep this would have an effect because when it rained you would get lots of mud flows and it will but growing trees or crops for next year very hard.

Environmental:

• 1300 feet was blasted off the top of the mountain. This would have a great effect because that would all break up into ash and encircle the Earth, which would stop heat and light from the sun coming into the atmosphere. 
• 230 square miles of forest burned and got destroyed. This it would have a great effect on wildlife as 1000s of animals' homes would have been destroyed.

Response

• An immediate response to the eruption was evacuation. Other residents, who were more on the outer section of the blast zone, were evacuated on several premises such as hotels, campsites and research stations. 
• One man, an 84 year old innkeeper by the name of Harry Truman, became ‘famous’ after solidly refusing to leave. Part of the evacuation team and local authorities were desperately trying to persuade him, but he simply decided not to, claiming that he had lived there since he was 30 years of age.
• Locals witnessing the event called emergency services. The Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived not too long after, once permission had been granted owing to the vast situation. They brought with them helicopters, but unfortunately found them less helpful than they thought they would be. 
• Nevertheless, the emergency services reduced the amount of casualties and with the help of aid agencies, set up temporary rescue centres for those left homeless.
• Volcanic investigators and geologists also fled towards the scene, in order to proceed in as much research as possible. And because of the great amount of settling ash, street plows were called out and whilst on patrol, were advising people to stay indoors.
• Following the 1980 eruption a long-term response took place; the area was left to gradually return to its original state. And in 1982, President Ronald Reagan established the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, with a 100,000 acre area around the mountain.

Plate Tectonics- Vulcanicity Case Study

Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2002

Location

• Mount Nyiragongo is about 20 km north of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda
• Located in the African Rift Valley, where the crust is very brittle along fault the line 
• Mount Nyiragongo’s main crater is 2 km wide and 250m and usually contains a lava lake. 

Causes

• Mt. Nyiragongo’s lava its high temperature, basaltic lava, which is very fluid and is known for running down at speeds greater than 90km/h, which makes it extremely hazardous. 
• Prior to the January 2002 eruption there had been some seismic activity in the area, but the eruption was unexpected. 

Size of eruption

• Fairly small eruption 2-4 VEI the impact was much greater because of the political history between DRC and Rwanda 

Short term effects

• The lava destroyed many homes as well as roads and water pipes, set off explosions in fuel stores and power plants.
• Commercial centre of town destroyed, three healthcare centres and one hospital.
• People walked over the lava to escape Goma, by tying strips of cloth over their feet to protect them from burning. However there were horrific burns to limbs.
• Over 1/3 of Goma destroyed.
• Water and power supplies and many of the medical facilities including three health centres and one hospital as well as lava covering the northern third of the airport runway. 
• 147 people were killed 
• Over 350,000 people fled the area. 

Long term effects

• Those who did flee to Rwanda found that there was a problem with food and shelter provision in the small country there was also the worry of cholera and diarrhoea due to cramped conditions.
• There was also limited drinking water; this meant that many people suffered from dysentery.
• Medical supplies were limited because of the effects of smoke and fumes from the lava which caused eye irritation and respiratory problems as well as burn treatment for those who had crossed the lava. 
• 220,000 homeless refugees crossed into Rwanda 
• Lots of refugees returned to Goma because there was little food and poor shelter in
  Rwanda, so they thought they might have a better chance at returning home.
• Goma had been a tourist resort with hotels overlooking the lake. It suffered an economic downturn for the next 2-3 years as the tourist trade collapsed with few visitors.

Environmental:

• Sulphurous lava entered Lake Kivu polluting the lake- a major source of drinking water in the area 
• It also caused methane gas to be released from the lake – which suffocated many people who were camped on the banks of the lake.

Responses

• Warnings of the lava flows were given and allowed most people to flee their homes. 
• Aid agencies have given bedding, equipment to provide clean water for drinking and sanitation, blankets, tents, food, and cooking utensils 
• UN humanitarian aid 
• Aid was also given in the form of blankets, household utensils, temporary shelter, clean water, sanitation and healthcare which cost the UN over $15 million 
• Rebuilding Goma was much greater and there was high unemployment in the area as many businesses had been destroyed in the lava flows

Plate Tectonics- Vulcanicity Case Study

Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, 2010

Location

• Eyjafjallajokull is a volcano 1660m high in the south of Iceland 200km from the capital of Reykjavik.
• Eyjafjallajökull is a small volcano (about 40km2) within the chain of volcanoes in the SE Rift Zone.
• Situated on top of the Mid-Atlantic ridge and a constructive margin and a hot spot which makes eruptions more common. 

Causes

• On the Mid Atlantic ridge, the convection currents are driving apart the North American plate  and the Eurasian Plate along a constructive plate boundary. This has created a chain of volcanoes along the SE Rift zone of Iceland, which runs from NE to SW across Iceland, even passing underneath some of the countries Ice caps. 
• Ice cap caused the lava to cool quicker creating larger silica particles 
• Melt water from the ice cap flowed back into the crater causing more violent eruptions

Size of eruption

• Fairly small eruption 2-4 VEI the impact was much greater than expected because of the ash cloud.

Impacts

Social:

• The people in rural areas ‘downwind’ of the volcano had to wear goggles and facemasks. 
• 700 people had to be evacuated from the area around the volcano, and many of the roads surrounding the volcano were shut down. 
• Internationally: the winds redistributed the ash that was pumped high into the atmosphere over Northern and western Europe and stopped flights from taking off by clogging their engines. It interrupted not just European flights but also Trans-Atlantic flights. 
• During the main 8 day travel ban around 107,000 flights were cancelled accounting for 48% of total air traffic and roughly 10 million passengers. 

Economic: 

• In total Europe lost $2.6 billion of GDP
• This also has a knock on effect on International flights globally as they could not land or take off from Europe. This is thought to have cost Airlines and associated businesses were losing about £130 million a day (according to the IATA), whilst hundreds of thousands of people were stranded in other countries. 
• Hire car companies and other forms of transport increased their prices, people had paid thousands of pounds to hire a car to get them to Northern France to take a ferry. 
• LEDCs were also badly affected, with Kenya being a great example. 20% of the Kenyan economy is based on the export of vegetables and flowers to Europe. These are perishable goods and they are transported by plane to keep them fresh but the flight ban meant that products returned unsold and destroyed. Over 1 million flower stalks were unsold in the first two days and over 50,000 farmers were temporarily unemployed as their beans and peas could not be sold. 

Environmental:

• The ash contaminated local water supplies and farmers near the volcano were warned not to let their livestock drink from contaminated streams and water sources, as high concentrations of fluoride from the ash mixed with river water can have deadly effects, particularly in sheep. 
• The Eyjafjallajökull eruption put up to a maximum 30000 tonnes per day of CO2 into the air.

Responses

• Responses were entirely DOMESTIC. The countries affected had the capacity to respond without aid. Their legal, technical and infrastructure systems could cope with the eruption, even if there are economic impacts.
• More research has been done in to the effect of ash on airplane engines. It has been discovered that all flights don’t need to be grounded, planes are just required to fly at a lower height.

Plate Tectonics- Seismicity Case Study

L'Aquila Earthquake, 2009

Key Facts

• Date: 6th of April 2009
• Magnitude: 6.3
• Eurasian and African Plates at a destructive plate margin

Location

L’Aquila is historical city located in central Italy. It has a population of 70,000.

Causes

• The earthquake was along the north-south fault line, along the Apennine mountain range and was caused by the Eurasian and African Plates at a destructive plate margin. 
• The African plate is subducted below the continental Eurasian plate. 
• It was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on the Richter scale, with a shallow focus of 5.5 miles. 
• The earthquake struck at 03:32 local time on 6th of April 2009. Buildings in the area were poorly constructed as many were very old and had not been reinforced. 

Effects

Economic:

• Cost Italy $15 billion.
• Thousands of buildings destroyed. (Including old tourist attractions such as L’Aquila cathedral.)
• A bridge in Fossa collapsed.
• Fires spread in destroyed/ damaged buildings. 

Environmental:

• 1000km2 affected by surface ruptures, rock falls and landslides.
• Wildlife habitats affected, loss of biodiversity in some areas. 

Social:

• 307 deaths. (Mainly from collapsing buildings)
• 1500 injured.
• 70,000 people made homeless- housed in tent cities but 10,000 accommodated in hotels along the coast.
• Aftershocks (reaching 5 on RS) hampered rescue efforts and lead to more deaths.
• People had to leave the area (young people for work) to find jobs 

Response

"Could 179 lives have been saved? Italian scientist warned of killer earthquake a WEEK ago - but was silenced."

In October, 2012, seven Italian earthquake scientists were found guilty of manslaughter for their role in failing to communicate the risk of a possible earthquake, shortly before a powerful 2009 earthquake killed more than 300 people in the city of L’Aquila, Italy.

Aid

National aid:

• All Italian mobile companies sent free minutes and credit to all their pre-paid customers in Abruzzo, suspended billing to all post-paid customers and extended their coverage with additional mobile base stations to cover homeless camps.
•  In addition, some companies sent free mobile phones, SIM Cards and chargers for those who lost their mobiles, and set up a national unique number to send donations to, by placing a call or sending an SMS. 
• Poste Italiane sent to homeless camps some mobile units acting as Postal Office, to allow people to withdraw money from their accounts as well as their retirement.
• Many companies, such as pay-tv SKY Italia, suspended billing to all customers in Abruzzo, and offered some decoders to homeless camps to allow them to follow the funerals and the news. 
• Ferrovie dello Stato offered railway sleeping carriages to host some homeless people, and offered free tickets to all people and students living in Abruzzo. 
• AISCAT declared that all toll-roads in Abruzzo would be free of charge. 
• All tax billing for all Abruzzo residents has been suspended by the government, as well as mortgage payments. 

International aid:

• Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi refused foreign aid for the emergency, saying that Italians were "proud people" and had sufficient resources to deal with the crisis. However he singled out the United States, announcing that he would accept aid for reconstruction: "If the United States wants to give a tangible sign of its solidarity with Italy, it could take on the responsibility of rebuilding heritage sites and churches. We would be very happy to have this support." and suggested the USA help rebuild "a small district of a town or a suburb".

Plate Tectonics- Seismicity Case Study

Haiti Earthquake, 2010

Key Facts

• Date: 12th January 2010
• The poorest country in the western hemisphere, based on HDI
• Politically unstable
• $GDP per capita = $697
• Magnitude: 7.0 
• Epicentre was 25km west of the capital Port-au-Prince
• Depth: 13km

Location

Haiti is a small Caribbean country, on the island of Hispaniola, South East of the USA and East of Cuba. Its capital city is Port-au-Prince.

Causes

• The earthquake was caused by the North American Plate sliding past the Caribbean Plate at a conservative plate margin. Both plates move in the same direction, but one moves faster than the other. 
• The pressure that was built up because of the friction between the 2 plates was eventually released causing a magnitude 7 earthquake on the Richter Scale with an epicentre 16 miles West of Port-au-Prince and a shallow focus of 5 miles. 
• The earthquake struck at 16:53 local time on Tuesday 12 January 2010. Port-au-Prince is a very densely populated area and is extremely poor.

Effects

Primary (caused directly by the earthquake)	Secondary (result from primary effects)
316,000 people were killed and 1 million people were made homeless.  3 million people were affected by the earthquake	1 in 5 people lost their jobs because so many buildings were destroyed.  Haiti’s largest industry, clothing was one of the worst affected
250,000 homes and 30,000 other buildings, including the President’s Palace and 60% of government buildings, were either destroyed or badly damaged	The large number of deaths meant that hospitals and morgues became full and bodies then had to be piled up on the streets
Transport and communication links were also badly damaged by the earthquake	The large number of bodies meant that diseases, especially cholera, became a serious problem
Hospitals (50+) and schools (1,300+) were badly damaged, as was the airport’s control tower	It was difficult getting aid into the area because of issues at the airport and generally poor management of the situation
The main prison was destroyed and 4,000 inmates escaped	People were squashed into shanty towns or onto the streets because their homes had been destroyed leading to poor sanitation and health, and looting became a real problem

Development

Development Indicator	Value
GDP per capita (average income)	$1,200 per person each year
People living in poverty	80% of people live on $2 or less per day
Life expectancy	62 years old
People per doctor	0.25 doctors per 1,000 people
Adult literacy rate	53% over 15 years old can read/write
Access to clean water	46% of people have access to clean water

Responses

Short Term	Long Term
$100 million in aid given by the USA and $330 million by the European Union	98% of the rubble on the roads hadn’t been cleared restricting aid access
810,000 people placed in aid camps	1 million people still without houses after 1 year so still have to live in aid camps
115,000 tents and 1,000,000+ tarpaulin shelters provided	Support for people without jobs, which equates to nearly 70% of the population, through cash/food-for-work projects
Healthcare supplies provided to limit disease	Temporary schools created and new teachers trainee
Lack of immediate aid through poor planning, management and access meant that people had to try and rescue each other	Water and sanitation eventually supplied for 1.7 million people
4.3 million people provided with food rations in the weeks following the earthquake

Plate Tectonics- Seismicity Case Study

Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami, 2011

Key Facts

• Date: 11th March 2011
• Magnitude: 9
• Pacific Ocean
• Pacific plate subducted beneath North American Plate

Location 

A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, Friday afternoon, on 11 March 2011. The quake was centred 130 kilometres to the east of the prefecture’s capital, Sendai. A tsunami was sent crashing into the country’s north-eastern coast. It was originally reported at a magnitude of 7.9, but later was upgraded to 8.9 and then to a 9.0. It lasted 6 minutes. 

Causes 

• Japan is located on the east edge of the Eurasian Plate. 
• There was a build-up in strain energy as the Pacific plate subducted under the Eurasian plate. This strain energy eventually overcame the frictional force holding the plates in place, and was released as earthquake waves.
• The tsunami is a secondary consequence of this initial movement. The Eurasian plate was down warped (dragged down) as the Pacific plate descended. When the strain energy was released this section of the Eurasian plate “popped” or bounced back upwards. This displaced the water above in the Pacific Ocean causing a Tsunami wave to ripple radially outwards. This was known as a megathrust earthquake. 
• The aftershocks occurred as the strain energy was passed along the fault, causing further quakes. 

Impact 

• Japan was largely prepared for the earthquake and many buildings remained standing afterwards, but it was not prepared for the subsequent Tsunami. A tsunami warning extended to at least 50 nations and territories, as far away as South America. 
• The tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40 meters in Miyako and which, in the Sendai area of Honshu, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. 
• The island of Honshu was moved 2.4 m east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm and 25 cm. 

Social: 

• Residents within a 20 km radius of the Plant were evacuated. 
• The official death toll report confirmed 15,854 deaths, 26,992 injured and 3,155 people missing across twenty prefectures. 
• Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. 
• All of Japan’s ports had to close at least temporarily during the disaster, and 10% of the fishing ports were damaged. 

Economic: 

• The yen fell sharply but recouped most of its decline several hours later. Tokyo stocks fell. 
• 130,000 buildings totally collapsed and another near 700,000 buildings partially damaged. 
• The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. 
• The economic losses are thought to be huge, given Japan’s highly developed infrastructure and level of development there was a lot to be damaged. The World Bank estimated cost was US$235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history. 
• Estimates of insured losses from the earthquake alone ranged from US$14.5 to $34.6 billion. The Bank of Japan offered 15 trillion Yen (US$183 billion) to the banking system to normalize market conditions. 

Environmental: 

• The most worrying impact was on Japan’s famed nuclear power industry. There were several nuclear incidents but the most notable was 3 nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant. This cause contamination of the sea and land, and force the evacuation of local residents. A brave team of nuclear power plant workers battled bravely to prevent the nuclear reactors overheating completely and exploding. 

Response 

• Many people got outside during the earthquake and the response to the Earthquake was reasonably good. The warnings from the JMSA also helped save lives. Many people did not react quickly enough to the tsunami alert, and even if they did the 20 minutes or less warning was insufficient for the people to escape. 
• The JMA and government did a good job of monitoring and getting warning to people, and this probably saved many lives. 
• Over 340,000 displaced people in the region needed catering for, and issues included shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine and fuel for survivors. 
• The Japanese government responded by sending in specially trained people such as the Self-Defence Forces, a domestic response. 
• Many countries such as the UK sent search and rescue teams to help search for survivors. NGOs and other Aid agencies helped too, with the Japanese Red Cross reporting $1 billion in donations.

Plate Tectonics- Seismicity Case Study

Indonesian Boxing Day Earthquake & Tsunami, 2004

Key Facts

• Date: 26th December 2004
• Magnitude: 9
• Indian Ocean
• Eurasian and Australian Plates
• Strongest earthquake for 40 years

Location

On 26 December 2004 a tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean. 
Thirteen countries were affected, the worst being Indonesia. Indonesia was hit by the tsunami first. Forty-five minutes later the tsunami reached Thailand.

Causes

• It was the result of the Indio-Australian Plate subducting below the Eurasian Plate. 
• It was caused by an earthquake measuring more than magnitude 9. 
• The earthquake caused the seafloor to uplift, displacing the seawater above.
• In the open ocean the tsunami measured less than 1 metre high.
• The tsunami travelled at speeds up to 800km per hour.
• When the Tsunami reached the shores, the height of the wave increased to 15 metres in some areas.

Economic Impact

• Local economies were devastated, the overall impact to the national economies was minor.
• The two main occupations affected by the tsunami were fishing and tourism. The impact on coastal fishing communities and the people living there, some of the poorest in the region, had been devastating with high losses of income earners as well as boats and fishing gear.
• While the tsunami destroyed many of the boats vital to Sri Lanka's fishing industry, it also created demand for fibreglass reinforced plastic catamarans in boatyards of Tamil Nadu. Since over 51,000 vessels were lost to the tsunami, the industry boomed. However, the huge demand has led to lower quality in the process, and some important materials were sacrificed to cut prices for those who were impoverished by the tsunami.

Environmental impact

• Severe damage on ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, forests, coastal wetlands, vegetation, sand dunes and rock formations, animal and plant biodiversity and groundwater.
• The spread of solid and liquid waste and industrial chemicals caused water pollution and the destruction of sewage collectors and treatment plants threaten the environment.

Social Impact

• 250,000 deaths
• PTSD
• 2 million people were made homeless
• Starvation and disease
• No access to clean water - contamination from sewage and decomposing bodies
• Due to the many deaths and destruction, the people of South East Asia have found it hard to return to a normal way of life.

Responses

• Short-term aid, such as water purification tablets, temporary housing and medical supplies were given from international countries.
• The governments of the affected countries reacted reasonably quickly but were reliant in many cases on OUTSIDE AID due to the magnitude of the disaster and the lower level of economic development of the places affected. Countries sent aid teams immediately.
• An early warning system for Tsunami has now been put in place in the Indian Ocean, through co-operation from many governments.
• The UK government's Disasters and Emergency Committee established an emergency fund almost immediately.
• The DEC Earthquake/Tsunami disaster appeal fund stood at £32 million, up £7 million in one night from the 31st of December. At one point the DEC was receiving around £15,000 a minute in donations via the phone and Web
• MEDCs such as the UK sent dog teams, forensic experts and equipment to help identify bodies and clean up after the Tsunami.