1. CHAPTER 2
LIVING WITH
TECTONIC HAZARDS
Risk or Opportunity?

2. CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS
In this Chapter, you will explore three key questions:
Why are some areas more prone to tectonic hazards?
What landforms and associated tectonic phenomena are found at plate boundaries?
How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?

3. What to do in the event of an earthquake?
Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?
What to do in the event of an earthquake?
Suggested activity:
Trigger students’ interest by identifying the appliances at home that they should secure to ensure that damage during an earthquake is minimised.
Prompt students to explain why is there a need to secure or to ensure the careful management of such appliances.
This activity will allow them to understand that 1) earthquakes can have many indirect impacts 2) different people respond differently to earthquakes.
You may refer to the website for the list of precautionary measures that people could take to minimise earthquake damage.
Ask students the following questions.
1. What are other ways people living in earthquake-prone areas might respond?
2. How do people cope with earthquakes?
3. What are some possible reasons for people to continue living in areas prone to earthquakes?
Identify the items at home that you should secure to minimise earthquake damage.

4. CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS
Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?
Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes?
How do people respond to natural hazards like earthquakes?

5. a. Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquake?
They continue to live there because they can respond in various ways:
Fatalistic approach
Accept and resist evacuation. Typical for less developed countries who have limited access and knowledge
Acceptance approach
Live with the risk due to the potential benefits offered in the area.
Adaptation approach
Well prepared for earthquakes.
Suggested activity
Prompt students to state which they think is the best approach and why.
Help students understand that the different approaches are formed because of people’s varied socio-economic status and the environments they live in.

6. CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS
Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?
Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes?
How do people respond to earthquakes?

7. b. How do people respond to earthquakes?
The preparedness measures that people put in place to cope with earthquakes and its associated hazards include: • Land use regulations; • Building design; • Infrastructure development; • Emergency drills; and • Use of technology.

8. Land use regulations
Building restrictions on areas demarcated as high unsafe.
Prohibition of building development along coast.
Regulations for the construction of protective measures along such high risk areas.
Costly as government acquire over unsafe land.
Existing owners might be reluctant to give up land.

9. Building design Reduce collapse and minimise damage.
Structural reinforcements and buffers to absorb seismic energy included in the building design.
Expensive
Not cost effective to retrofit existing buildings.

10. Infrastructural development
Supporting infrastructures in the area requires reinforcements from earthquake damage.
For example, reinforcements on bridge, trip switches at home.
Costly and untested until earthquakes occur.

11. Emergency drills Creates awareness , reduces panic.
Ensure that people know what to do in the event of an emergency.
Based on scale and magnitude of past events and therefore emergency scenario might not be realistic.

12. Use of technology
Advanced technology such as seismic risk map, earthquake sensor and tsunami monitoring systems help to detect earthquakes earlier.
Costly
False alarm
Subjected to interference
Little time for response
Tsunami warning system

13. Short-term responses Response Success Limitation Rescue and recovery
To save people who are still trapped in the buildings
Only have limited time to save people
Providing medical aid, food and water
Helps survivors cope with the disaster
May not be sufficient, countries may not have the means to provide extensive aid
Setting up emergency shelters
Provide shelter for the homeless
Maybe be subjected to cramped and unhygienic conditions
Humanitarian aid
Financial support to rebuild devastated areas
Aid might be looted

14. Long-term responses Response Success Limitation Improve infrastructure
Stricter building codes ensures higher safety levels
Not fully protected from all kinds of hazard
Compensation
To allow victims to cope with losses and restore their livelihoods
Insufficient funds
Recovery of economy
To stimulate economy and to restore the normal functions of the society
Recovery may take a long time
Improving health options
To help injured victims or psychologically disturbed victims restore their livelihoods
May be challenging

15. Case study: Earthquake in Tōhoku, Japan
What are the effects of the earthquake on people and the environment?
Occurred in 2011
Generated large tsunami
Destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant
Suggested activity
Show students satellite images of the impact of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami from the website:

16. Case study: Earthquake in Tōhoku, Japan
How have people responded to the earthquake ?
Sent out 100,000 members of the Self-Defence Forces
Set up rescue centres
The bank of Japan pumped US$183 billion into the economy.
Trained personnel dealt with post anxiety and depression.

17. What can be done to reduce the risks associated with earthquakes?
Mitigation measures
Explanation
Implementation
Continue the enforcement
Buildings swayed but did not collapse
Achieve even higher standards to ensure maximum protection
Provide coastal protection
Scale and location of coastal barriers need to reconsidered as they proved inadequate
Continuous improvements due to the extensive coastal activities
Research on monitoring and warning systems
Widespread use of computers to identify areas of risk
Seismic survey and use of technology to enhance earthquake and tsunami detection
Rethink the future of nuclear power stations
When damaged by earthquakes, could cause great health risk to people
More reliable and safer source of energy needs to be sourced
Begin dialogues with authorities and people of Japan
Increase people’s awareness in the event of an emergency
Active involvement of various stakeholders as well as continuous research into earthquake mitigation measures

18. CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS
Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?
Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes?
How do people respond to natural hazards like earthquakes?
Help students understand that different people respond to earthquake differently. It is therefore important to understand their perspectives and the environments they live in to put into place effective earthquake mitigation measures.