Levels of damage from environmental hazards

Title: Levels of damage from environmental hazards.  10/06/2016  Aims:  To look at the different levels of damage caused by environmental hazards.  To find out why some places are affected far more than others.

EarthquakeHaitiTangshanKantoChile Magnitude What does the data below show you? 2.Why is it not usually what you would expect? 3.Can you think of any reasons that less people died in Kanto or Chile?

Task 1  All natural disasters are destructive in one way or another whether it be loss of life or damage to property and the environment.  However the level of damage caused between disasters can vary greatly.

Task 1  You will be put into small groups with the people sitting around you.  You must make up a mind map showing all of the factor that could lead to a disaster being extremely bad.  Example:  Quality of buildings in the country affected. If the buildings are poorly constructed (Haiti) then the damage will be great. If the buildings are earthquake proof (Japan) then the damage will be far less.

Environmental Hazards How rich a country is. How densely populated the area affected is. How prepared the country was. Location of epicentre. If the country has the technology to prepare. (Early warning system) Does the country have earthquake proof buildings. Are the countries emergency services trained on how to react after a disaster.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  How densely populated the area affected is:  If an area is very densely populated then the amount of deaths caused by the disaster will usually be higher. If a place is very sparsely populated then the death rate will be low. High population density also leads to more building being in an area so this could mean the cost of damage could also be higher.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  How prepared the country was.  If a country is very well prepared (people are trained on how to react, emergency services are trained, early warning systems in place etc) then the damaged caused can often be reduced, especially in terms of the number of people that die.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  If the country has the technology to prepare. (Early warning system)  Early warning systems and plate monitoring systems can be used to work out when a disaster may be coming. This could lead to evacuations and also less people dying.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  Location of epicentre.  If the epicentre is very close to a major city then the likelihood of death is far higher. The Haiti earthquake happened very close to the capital city Port au Prince and this meant that the death toll was very high as it is such a densely populated area.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  Does the country have earthquake proof buildings?  Earthquake proof buildings can withstand fairly powerful earthquakes. In poor developing countries the buildings are far more likely to collapse as they are poorly constructed. Many people die from being crushed under falling buildings.

Factors affecting the damage caused by an environmental hazard.  Are the countries emergency services trained on how to react after a disaster?  If the emergency services are properly trained on how to react then the number of deaths can be greatly reduced. In places such as San Francisco emergency teams are very quick to react and get help to the places that need it most.

Why do you think Pakistan suffered so many more deaths and injuries than San Francisco? Pakistan Earthquake October 2005 Richter Scale 7.6 Deaths Injured San Francisco Earthquake October 1989 Richter Scale 7.1 Deaths 63 Injured 3757

Why do you think Pakistan suffered so many more deaths and injuries than San Francisco?  In San Francisco the quake had less effect on landscape as buildings are designed to stand quakes (1), people are prepared for quakes (1), emergency services are quick to respond (1). In Pakistan the houses are not built to stand a quake (1), many people killed under fallen buildings (1), happened in remote area with few emergency services (1), people were not prepared for quake (1).

Exit question:  What factor do you think is most important to the amount of damage caused by an environmental hazard?  Discuss with the people around you and write you answer and reason down in your jotter. (4 mins)

 orld_deaths.php orld_deaths.php

 s/2008/Int2_Geography_all_2008.pdf s/2008/Int2_Geography_all_2008.pdf