GEOG 210 Natural Hazards PDF

1/10/25 OVERVIEW AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES Ch. 1 Intro...

1/10/25 OVERVIEW AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES Ch. 1 Introducing Natural Disasters On completion of this topic, you will be able to: 1. Explain how natural hazards and disasters are defined; 2. Define the key elements of risk in relation to disaster events; Stephen Marshak et al., 3. Classify natural hazards based on Earth realms and timescales; 2022, Natural Disasters Image: NOAA 4. Explain the relationship between hazard magnitude and frequency; GEOG 210 NATURAL HAZARDS 5. Differentiate primary, secondary and tertiary disaster outcomes; 6. Outline the key stages of disaster prediction, planning and response. Intro to Natural Hazards and Disasters 1 2 WHAT IS A NATURAL HAZARD? NATURAL HAZARD vs. NATURAL DISASTER? A natural process that that poses a potential threat to people or property NATURAL HAZARDS based on the probability of occurrence within a specific timeframe. → Exist independently of people due to natural processes. → Potential to harm people or damage property but do not always. → Contrast with anthropogenic hazards that are generated by human actions. NATURAL DISASTERS → Occur from a natural hazard event but involve interaction with society. → Cause human casualties, property destruction and/ or economic loss. Im ages C opyright © 2022 by W. W. N orton & C om pany, Inc. → Impacts are significant but scales can vary (disastrous vs. catastrophic). 3 4 DEFINING DISASTER NATURAL HAZARDS + SOCIETY = RISK 1. A serious disruption of Geography is uniquely situated the functioning of a to address the complex community or society challenges presented by natural 2. Widespread human, hazards and disasters due to its material, economic, or integrated scientific approach. environmental impact A key objective of disaster 3. Exceeds the ability of a geography is to examine the community to cope using coincidence of natural and human its own resources factors that generate RISK in ** Based on UN Criteria specific spatial settings. Image: Merritt, BC Flooding in 2021 Intersection of hum an-natural system s that create risk, adapted from U SG S, 2018 [Public D om ain] Stepan, C C BY 3.0 via W ikim edia C om m ons https://w w w.usgs.gov/m edia/im ages/venn-diagram -hazards-and-society 5 6 1  1/10/25 NATURAL HAZARD GEOGRAPHY UNDERSTANDING THE DIMENSIONS OF RISK RISK is the probability of loss due to a natural disaster and is dependent Geographers see hazards in their spatial context asking questions such as: on three key factors: Why do hazards result in disastrous impacts in some places but only minor impacts in others? → The probability of a hazardous event occurring within a specific timeframe in a location; → A community’s exposure (potential casualties, economic losses, social disruption due to proximity to hazard); → A community’s vulnerability (structural integrity, social capacity to minimize impacts, resources available). Building collapse, Turkey, 2023 D iagram adapted from : C ova, T. (1999) G IS in Em ergency M anagem ent The means to reduce exposure and vulnerability is community-dependent and depends on factors such as relative wealth/ poverty, geopolitical security and cultural traditions. 7 8 UNDERSTANDING RISK: HAITI EARTHQUAKE, 2010 WORLD’S DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKES (SINCE 1990) Haiti earthquake in 2010 was not the highest magnitude event in recent decades, but it was the deadliest due to several intersecting risk factors. LOCATION DATE MAGNITUDE FATALITIES Haiti 2010 7.0 240,000 Sumatra 2004 9.1 227,898 * * Most from the Tsunami China 2008 7.9 87,587 Pakistan 2005 7.6 80,361 Iran 1990 7.4 50,000 Iran 2003 6.6 31,000 Japan 2011 9.0 20,896 "Downtown Port-au-Prince Ravaged by Quake" Turkey-Syria 2023 7.8 50,000 Source: USGS United Nations Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 9 10 1. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: HAZARD HISTORY WHY WAS THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE SO DISASTROUS? Haiti has a well-documented history of large earthquakes: → Similar 7.5 magnitude event in 1770 near Port-au-Prince (~300 deaths) Many factors produced a high-risk context: → Larger 8.1 magnitude event in 1946 Dominican Republic/ Haiti (~2000 deaths) 1. History of hazards in region 2. Geophysical processes/ setting Port au Prince and surroundings circa 1800 Port au Prince, Jan 2010 3. Population patterns and trends 4. Infrastructural factors 5. Political and economic factors 6. Social and cultural capacity Gary Granger [Public domain] Public Domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vue_de_Port-au- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a Prince_et_ses_environs_ca1800_BPL_m8805.png c/Port-au-Prince_fire_from_air.jpg 11 12 2  1/10/25 2. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: GEOPHYSICAL PROCESS & SETTING 3. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: POPULATION TRENDS Haiti’s population (~10 million people in 2010) had greatly increased in the Two tectonic plates (NA-Caribbean) decades preceding the earthquake with high rates of migration into the urban are sliding past one another along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault areas of Port au Prince (population >2 million) contributing to overcrowding. (Tobin, 2013, Population Density & Housing in Port-au-Prince) system (transform boundary). Tectonic plates have been locked together for ~250 years gradually Population in millions. accumulating stress – sudden release in the 2010 earthquake. Earthquake epicentre was only Years ~25kms from Port-au-Prince and focal depth was only ~13km intensifying ground-level impact. Haiti population (1960-2017). Derived from UN estimates, Source: British Geological Survey World Population Prospects (2017 Revision) 13 14 4. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: INFRASTRUCTURE 5. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: POLITICAL/ ECONOMIC STATUS Infrastructures, services and housing had not kept up with population growth. It was According to the World Bank Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the Western reported that 85% of people in Port-au-Prince lived in poor conditions without access Hemisphere at the time with a very low GDP and HDI ranking of 168/189 countries. to basic services. Impacts were also exacerbated by poor construction standards and Reports of weak governance/ poor response to the disaster indicate that State capacity lack of seismic building codes. (Keller et al., 2015, Natural Hazards) to cope with the earthquake was inadequate. Recovery required a significant international contribution from NGOs and relief organizations (Carlin et al, ‘Trust Shaken’ 2014) Image: Oliver-Smith (2010) Haiti and the Historical Building collapse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 2010 Construction of Tech. Sgt. Jam es L. H arper Jr., U SA F, Public dom ain, via W ikim edia C om m ons Disasters Haiti’s development status cf. to neighbouring Dominican Republic Source: The Economist 15 16 6. HAITI EARTHQUAKE: SOCIAL CAPACITY & PREPAREDNESS UN’s Prevention Web reported that most households in lower-income communities, lived in CONCLUSION: WHY WAS HAITI SO BADLY AFFECTED? areas where communal disaster preparedness was low. Other sources have reported that The Haiti earthquake occurred in a region with a long history of such events many people appeared to be uninformed of the high seismic risk in the region and that indicating the high probability of an event of this magnitude recurring. disaster education and preparedness was limited. (Winthrop, 2010, Brookings Institution Report) While the physical tectonic setting - along a transform fault - was a contributing factor, the disaster was amplified by human factors including a high population density that increased risk exposure, inadequate building practices and poverty leading to high vulnerability and a reported low coping capacity among residents. 17 18 3  1/10/25 AT-HOME ASSIGNMENT: DISASTER RISK ASSESSMENT CLASSIFYING NATURAL HAZARDS & DISASTERS Select a major natural disaster that has occurred in the past two years in a specific geographic location anywhere in the world. Read about the key factors that contributed to this disaster, as reported in news articles or scientific summaries. Write a short summary of your findings (~300 words) that explains how the three dimensions of risk discussed in this lecture - hazard probability, exposure, vulnerability – contributed to this natural disaster based on your selected review of readings about the event. Aim to review at least 2-3 reputable sources of information about the disaster on which to base your findings. Use APA citation style in your summary (see CapU library Cite It for details) You must work independently on this assignment and edit your work carefully. Submit in PDF or Word format to eLearn by Thursday 16 Jan for up to 6 activity points. ** Refer to the handout in the Week 1 folder on eLearn for further details/ useful websites 19 20 ACTIVITY: CLASSIFYING NATURAL HAZARDS CLASSIFYING NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS 1. Work in groups to assign the hazards listed to the relevant Earth system realm. 2. On the back of the worksheet note any challenges in classifying these. → Which hazards did you assign to each category? ** Remember to put your → Which hazards did you find difficult to classify? names and student IDs on all work completed in class to get a grade for this work. 21 22 REFLECTIONS: CHALLENGES IN CLASSIFYING HAZARDS WEEKLY ACTIVITY SUMMARY A slides handout will be posted on eLearn along with a textbook study guide for this chapter outlining the key topics to cover and relevant questions to review. 1. Read Ch. 1 Intro to Natural Disasters. 2. Review the weekly lecture slides. 3. Prepare summary study notes for this topic. 4. Buy textbook from CapU bookstore 5. Register for GLE access on eLearn Some hazards do not easily fit into single realms (e.g., tsunamis, droughts) 6. Complete GLE “Introduction” * Due 23 Jan. Hazard classifications can be time-dependent (e.g., weather vs. climate) Next Week: Ch. 2 Earth 7. Complete Risk Assignment * Due 16 Jan. Systems & Plate Tectonics Many natural hazards are complex and interconnected... ** No quiz this week 23 24 4