Contrasting Case Studies Assignment

Two contemporary contrasting case studies each for:

a) Volcanic hazards
b) Earthquake hazards
c) Mass movement hazards

Volcanic hazards

Volcano: a mountain or hill which has a vent through which lava(previously magma), rock fragments,
hot vapour, and gas are ejected from the earth's crust during an eruption.
How volcanoes are formed:
In the lower regions of the mantle, there is so much heat and pressure that some rocks melt and
become magma. Since it is lighter than the solid rock around it, magma rises and cluster together to
form magma chambers. Over time, the pressure increases in the magma chamber due to the
accumulation of volcanic gases and magma. Eventually, once the pressure becomes too high, some of
the magma pushes through vents and fissures to the Earth's surface. Volcanic eruptions may also
happen due to magma reaching the Earth’s surface through a hotspot in the Earth’s crust.

NB: Similarly to the Richter Scale, there is a scale for volcanic eruptions called the Volcanic Explosivity
Index(VEI), which determines the size of explosive volcanic eruptions based on magnitude and
intensity(among other factors). It is an open-ended scale, with the highest value ever recorded being 8.
Like the Richter scale, the values are logarithmic(i.e. each succeeding interval represents a tenfold
increase in magnitude and intensity).

Case studies:
● Mount Merapi, Indonesia(2010)
● Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland (2010)
Mount Merapi

Volcano Type: Strato/composite volcano

Location: Central Java, Indonesia, South East Asia
Plate boundary: Sumatran Subduction Trench(destructive plate boundary)
Cause of eruption: the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate underneath the Eurasian plate
Date of eruption: 25th October - 30th November 2010
Magnitude: VEI 4

NB:
● Mount Merapi has been erupting since the 16th century. Since 1548, the volcano has had 68
historic eruptions. The volcano tends to erupt every five to ten years.
● After the eruption, the volcano became 38m shorter(due to the sheer force of the eruption
destroying the summit.

Primary hazards of eruption:

● Lava flows
● Pyroclastic flows
● Release of poisonous gas
○ A sulphur dioxide cloud 12-15 km above the Indian Ocean was observed on 9 November
2010, roughly 2 weeks after the first eruptions.

Secondary hazards of eruption:

● Lahars
● Food shortages(due to damage to crops)

Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● 353 deaths
● More than 500 people injured
● Epidemic disease(e.g. sulphur dioxide gas caused skin irritation and breathing problems)
● Damage to over 19,000 homes and properties
● Displacement of 350,000 people(mainly to other places in Indonesia, especially Jakarta)
● Economic losses of £450 million(due mainly to impact on farming, tourism and manufacturing)
● Destruction of property and infrastructure(e.g. 30 bridges were damaged)
● Disruption of trade and economic activity(e.g. about 2500 flights cancelled)
● Destruction of habitats and ecosystems and loss of biodiversity(e.g. About 200 hectares, or 2
million square metres of forest were damaged).
 ● Disruptions to aviation
● Long-term pollution of land(e.g. From volcanic ash and debris)

Ways to prepare for a volcanic eruption:

● Monitoring volcanic activity(to predict when eruptions may occur)
● Establishing emergency procedures for residents
● Creating efficient evacuation systems
● Limiting where infrastructure can be developed(to prevent people from building too close to
volcanoes)

Was Indonesia prepared for the eruption?

● While the impacts of the eruption were great and the deaths were very devastating, the
outcome would have been even worse if not for the accurate warnings issued by scientists of
Indonesia's Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
○ These scientists were able to predict that an eruption(and a much greater one than the
smaller but more frequent eruptions) would occur by interpreting “warning signs” a
few days before the eruption.
○ They raised the alert to the highest level”Beware") at 18:00 on 25 October. The warning
indicated imminent eruption and called for evacuation of about 40,000 people within 10
km of the summit.
○ The eruption began 23 hours later on 26 October at 17:02.
○ They later extended the evacuation to 15 km on November 3 and to 20 km on
November 5, saving tens of thousands of lives.
○ The scientists relied on a mechanical seismograph(instrument that makes a record of
seismic waves caused by earthquakes) that was installed 9km from Mount Merapi in
1924.
■ They also used a tiltmeter(a device that measures small variations in the
vertical level).
● Police and the military were prepared to provide trucks and buses ordering people to leave.
● Temporary shelters were also ready for evacuees(although there were not enough to
accommodate all of them).
● Notably, the communication regarding the dangers of the eruption was slow and
ineffective(Indonesia’s government improved this by giving handheld radios to residents near
the area and improving the efficiency of their warning systems in general).
● People had become accustomed to the frequent small eruptions, and had forgotten the
dangers of living next to a volcano. This led many of them to ignore the warnings sent out.
Particularly vulnerable groups:
● Children
● The elderly
● Spiritual people(many people relied on their spiritual connection to the volcano to determine if
the volcano would erupt, and hence refused to leave even after the evacuations began because
of their confidence that the scientific monitoring was wrong)

Eyjafjallajökull

Volcano Type: Strato/composite volcano

Location: Southwestern Iceland, Northern Europe
Plate boundary: few tens of kilometres from mid-Atlantic plate boundary(constructive plate boundary)
Cause of eruption: the accumulation and release of magma(increased due to the interaction of magma
with water from the melting glacier, which created more pressure)
Date of eruption: 20 March 2010 - 23 June 2010
Magnitude: VEI 4

NB:
● To be precise, Eyjafjallajokull is located beneath an ice cap in Southern Iceland, and is 125km
south-east of the capital Reykjavik.
● Eyjafjallajökull consists of a volcano completely covered by an ice cap. The ice cap covers an
area of about 100 square kilometres.

Primary hazards of eruption:

● Lava flows
 ● Pyroclastic flows
○ In the mid-April 2010, a cloud of ash that was emitted from the volcano started to
spread south-eastwards toward the rest of Europe.

Secondary hazards of eruption:

● Lahars
● Floods

Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● Risk of suffocation(due to dense clouds of ash)
● Reduced air quality
● Damage to infrastructure
● 800 people evacuated
● Ash cloud emitted in mid-April brought the entire European airspace to a standstill and cost
billions of euros in delays.
○ More than 95,000 flights were cancelled all across Europe during the 6-day airspace
ban, with later figures estimating 107,000 flights were cancelled during eight days. This
accounted for48% of total air traffic and roughly 10 million passengers.
● Industries were halted due to a lack of imported raw materials.
● Local water supplies were contaminated with fluoride.
● Fresh food imports stopped
● Prevented roughly 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
● Increase in biological productivity in the northern region of the Atlantic Ocean(due to
Eyjafjallajökull volcano depositing dissolved iron into the North Atlantic, triggering a plankton
bloom)
● Negative publicity from the press
● Reduced amount of tourism in the months thereafter(negatively affected people’s jobs and
income on a broad scale)

Notably, the eruptions did not cause any deaths. However, some residents did face respiratory
problems and irritation as a result of the earthquake(although this was relatively mild on a national
scale)

Was Iceland prepared for the eruption?

● Iceland was very prepared for the eruption; they had efficient warning and evacuation systems
in place, which prevented anybody near the area from dying.
 ● They were also able to warn the residents about the reduced air quality early thanks to their
well-developed communication systems.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

● Children
● The elderly
● People with respiratory problems

Earthquake hazards

Earthquake: a series of vibrations that emanate from the origin below the surface of the Earth as
tectonic plates experience a sudden release of pressure.

How earthquakes happen:

As tectonic plates move and interact with each other, they can become stuck due to friction. Stress
builds up over time as the plates continue to push against each other. Eventually, when the pressure
becomes too great for the crust to contain, it causes a sudden slip along a fault line(i.e. a fracture in the
Earth's crust) which releases the accumulated energy in the form of seismic waves, resulting in an
earthquake.
Case studies:
● Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2010)
● Christchurch, New Zealand (2011)

NB: The Richter scale is being used.

Port-au-Prince Earthquake

Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Plate boundary: between Caribbean plate and the North American plate(conservative plate boundary)
Cause of earthquake: The release of pressure as a result of the friction between the Caribbean plate
and the North American plate(the former is moving to the east while the latter is moving to the west)
Date of earthquake: 12th February 2010
Magnitude: 7.0

NB:
● The earthquake’s focus was 13 km underground, and the epicentre was only 25 km from Port-
au-Prince.
● Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti

Primary hazards of earthquake:

● Ground shaking
● Surface rupture

Secondary hazards of earthquake:

● Landslides
● Aftershocks

Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● 220,000 deaths
● 300,000 injured
● Around 1.3 million Haitians rendered homeless
● About 100,000 houses were destroyed and 200,000 damaged in Port-au-Prince and the
surrounding area
● Over 2 million Haitians left without food and water
● Eight hospitals or health centres in Port-au-Prince were collapsed or badly damaged.
 ○ Many of those injured had to wait days for treatment(due to the lack of available
healthcare facilities) and some of them tragically died while waiting.
● Many government buildings were destroyed(hindered government attempts to control the
situation)
○ Among other buildings, the country’s electoral headquarters.
○ Some of the UN officials working in concert with the Haitian electoral council also
tragically died.

● The police force and general law enforcement also collapsed

● Several thousands of prisoners took advantage of the situation to escape from the damaged
penitentiary
○ This, in addition to the lack of resources, contributed to the significant increase in
looting(and crime in general) that was observed after the earthquake.
● Significant damage to the port and main roads(so critical aid supplies for immediate help and
longer-term reconstruction were prevented from arriving or being distributed effectively)
● Outbreaks of Cholera(due to hundreds of thousands of displaced people moving into tents and
temporary shelters with inadequate hygiene standards) in November 2010
○ The dead bodies in the streets, and under the rubble, also contributed to this spread of
disease.

Ways to prepare for an earthquake:

● Establishing emergency procedures for residents, hospitals and emergency services(e.g. drills)
● Creating efficient evacuation systems
● Preparing sufficient temporary shelters

Was Haiti prepared for the earthquake?

● Haiti is one of the poorest and overpopulated countries on Earth, and hence was overly
dependent on overseas aid to help it recover.
○ The collapse of the police made it more difficult to organise local rescue efforts.
■ Even before the earthquake, the police were severely understaffed and
underfunded.
● Due to the port being damaged, aid was slow to arrive.
● 235,000 people were moved away from Port-au-Prince to less-damaged cities.
● £20 million was donated by The UK government.
● The USA sent rescue teams and 10,000 troops.
● Bottled water and purification tablets were provided.
 ● There was a severe shortage of doctors and resources(e.g. food and water), which lead to
deaths of more people.
● Rescue teams from around the world took up to 48 hours to arrive in Haiti due to the problems
at the airport. As a result, local people had to use their bare hands to try and dig people out of
the rubble.
○ Haiti only had one airport with one runway, which made it difficult to deliver resources
quickly.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

● Children
● The elderly
● People with disabilities
● Migrant workers

Christchurch Earthquake

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Plate boundary: boundary between Pacific and Australian plates(conservative plate boundary)
Cause of earthquake: The release of pressure as a result of the friction between the Pacific and the
Australian plate(the former is moving northwest while the latter is moving north).
Date of earthquake: 22nd February 2011
Magnitude: 6.3

NB:
● The previous earthquake that New Zealand experienced in Darfield(which had a magnitude of
7.1) and its aftershocks may have reduced the strength of the crust, which might have played a
role in causing the Christchurch earthquake.
● The origin was 5 kilometers deep, and the epicentre was near Lyttelton which is around 10 km
southeast of Christchurch’s central business district.

Primary hazards of earthquake:

● Ground shaking
● Surface rupture

Secondary hazards of earthquake:

● Landslides
● Liquefaction
 ● Aftershocks

Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● 185 deaths
○ 115 people died because the six-storey Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapsed
and caught fire during the earthquake.
● 3129 people injured
● 6800 people received minor injuries
● 100,000 people displaced
● 100,000 properties were damaged, and the earthquake destroyed 10,000 buildings
● $28 billion in damages
● 80% of the water and sewage systems were severely damaged

Was New Zealand prepared for the earthquake?

● New Zealand has strict building codes designed to withstand earthquakes, especially in high-
risk areas.
○ The previous earthquake in 2010 may have weakened the strength of these buildings,
and it didn’t account for buildings which were constructed before those rules were put
in place.
● Earthquake drills were already regularly conducted before the earthquake, which helped to
reduced the number of deaths.
● The government and local authorities had already established emergency services like the New
Zealand Civil Defence, which coordinated rescue and recovery efforts.
● A full emergency management programme was put in place within two hours.
● Around $6 million of aid was provided
● The Red Cross and other charities provided aid workers
● New Zealand was able to restore their water and sewage systems by August 2011
● Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority was created to organise the rebuilding of the
region.
● About 10,000 affordable homes were constructed after the earthquake, and the New Zealand
government provided temporary housing.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

● Children
● The elderly
● People with disabilities
Mass movement hazards

Mass movement: any large-scale movement of the Earth’s surface that are not accompanied by a
moving agent such as a river, glacier or ocean wave. They are primarily caused by gravity, although
weathering, seismic and volcanic activity can trigger them as well.

Examples of mass movements are soil creep, landslides, mudflows, rockfalls and avalanches.

Case studies:
● Sierra Leone mudslides(2017)
● California Mudslides(2018)

Sierra Leone mudslides

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Type of mass movement: mudslide
Cause of mass movement: Torrential rainfall in the area(Freetown experienced 104 cm of rainfall
from July 1, 2017 leading up to the mudslides)
Date of earthquake: 14th August 2017

Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● 1141 people dead or still missing
● 3000 people left homeless and moved to emergency camps.
● Risk of cholera(due to unsanitary waters)
○ Aid workers provided storage tanks, purification tablets, and instructional courses on
hygiene to help prevent an outbreak of waterborne diseases
● Roads, bridges and footpaths blocked or washed away.
○ Total damage to communication routes affected totals $1 million.
● Power outages in many communities(caused by the deliberate cutting off of supplies in order
to avoid electrical accidents)
● Water shortages after the hazard
● Changes to river drainage patterns of the surrounding area.
● Pollution of surface water bodies by mud and sewerage.

Was Sierra Leone prepared for the mudslide?

● UNICEF distributed 26,000 liters of drinking water each day to counter the water shortages.
 ● In a national broadcast on August 15, President Ernest Bai Koroma addressed Sierra
Leone ,declaring a state of emergency and announcing the establishment of a relief center in
Regent. He urged the nation, still recovering from the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak(17th
March 2016), to remain unified.
● Many countries such as China, UK, Spain, Ireland and Israel, provided aid donations.
● The World Food Programme (WFP) provided rations for 7,500 people.
● The European Union authorized €300,000 for humanitarian aid
● Sierra Leone was among the world’s poorest countries.
○ It ranked 179 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index in 2016.
● Local organizations, military personnel, and the Red Cross of Sierra Leone helped with the
immediate excavation and recovery efforts, working amid rainfall.
● By August 16, workers in Regent and Kaningo began constructing emergency latrines and four
10,000-liter water harvesting systems.
● The government of Sierra Leone also launched its first ever cholera vaccination campaign on
September 15 in light of the concerns, targeting over 500,000 citizens in the area.
● Freetown had lost many of its protective natural drainage systems to deforestation.
● Within Freetown, there are many unorganized settlements and municipal works encroached on
to the flood plains, resulting in narrower water passageways.
○ During floods, Freetown's drainage systems are often blocked by discarded waste,
contributing to higher levels of surface runoff.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

● Children
● The elderly
● People with disabilities

California Mudflows(2018)

Location: Montecito, Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America

Type of mass movement: mudflow
Cause of mass movement: torrential rains brought about by a strong low-pressure system and cold
front which developed off the coast of California, eventually moving to Southern California.
Date of earthquake: 9th January 2018

NB: The Thomas Fire(4th December 2017 - 12th January 2018) and the Santa Ana winds that fanned
them, also played a role in causing the mudflors as they destroyed the topsoil of the vegetation which
would otherwise have helped to stabilize the topsoil and increase absorption.
Environmental/economic/social impacts:
● 23 deaths
○ One body, that of two-year-old Lydia Sutthithepa, was never recovered.
● Over 100 homes destroyed and 300 damaged
● Over 150 people hospitalized
● Roads, bridges, and utilities were damaged(e.g. U.S. Route 101)
● Drinking water supplies contaminated by debris, chemicals and other pollutants.
● Power outages(which affected over 20,000 people)

Was California prepared for the mudflows?

● Immediately following the mudflows, local emergency services, including fire and police
departments, conducted search and rescue operations.
● Around 21,000 residents of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in high elevation zones
affected by the Thomas Fire were evacuated(low-lying areas were outside of the mandatory
evacuation area).
○ The mandatory evacuation zone was expanded to cover a majority of Montecito's
estimated 10,000 residents two days later(due to disruptions in electricity, gas, water,
sewage Internet, as well as emergency road works and ongoing search and rescue
operations)
● Warning messages sent by the National Weather Service and the county government arrived
too late to prompt Montecito residents to seek safe areas.
● Many residents in the mandatory evacuation zone, and most residents in the voluntary
evacuation area, ignored warnings and stayed in their homes, probably a result of "evacuation
fatigue" from the recent wildfires.
● Mental health support was provided to residents affected by the trauma of the mudflows.
● After the mudflows, enhanced emergency preparedness and response plans were developed.
○ Local authorities reviewed zoning laws to limit development in high-risk areas.
○ Stricter building regulations were implemented for new constructions in high-risk
areas, requiring more robust materials and design features to withstand potential
mudflows or other mass movements.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

● The elderly
● Children
● People with disabilities