A. Volcanoes Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Java’s population density is over ___ people per km2

A

Java’s population density is over 800 people per km2

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How many people live on the slopes of Mount Merapi?

A

1.1 million

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How many people live in Yogyakarta city, and how far is it from Mt Merapi?

A

3 million people live there, just 25km away from the volcano

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Why is Merapi active?

A
  • On a volcanic island arc
  • Destructive plate boundary - Australian Plate subducting under Eurasian (Sunda) palte
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

When did Merapi erupt?

A

26th October 2010

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What were the primary ground-based hazards of the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • Earthquakes preceding eruption - averaging about 10 a day, up to magnitude 2.5 on Richter scale
  • Pyroclastic flows from the summit on eruption day (travelled 8km), later followed by over 35 further pyroclastic flows (travelled up to 18km).
  • Over the first five days of eruption, explosions were felt more than 20km from the volcano
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What were the primary aerial hazards of Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • Ash plumes up to 18km high in altitude; ash fall in towns over 240km away, heavily in towns within 26km.
  • Thunderstorms from ash clouds - St Elmo’s Fire
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What were the primary social impacts of Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • December 2010 death toll - 353 people
  • Additional 487 people hospitalised and 800 recorded as suffering psychological effects from the loss of family and livelihood.
  • Kinahrejo village destroyed, killing 35 people including Merapi gatekeeper Mbah Maridjan.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What were the primary economic impacts of Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • 870 hectares of forest and farmland destroyed, costing an estimated $3.6 million
  • Villages of Selo, Magelang and Muntilan were covered in 4cm of ash
  • Merapi Response Radio reported that all schools within 120km of the volcano were to close due to concerns over ash fall.
  • Flights from Yogyakarta and Solo airports were cancelled for two weeks - one plane had to make an emergency landing due to ash and tephra.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What were the secondary hazards of the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • November-April rainy season caused heavy rainfall to mix with earlier pyroclastic flow material, forming lahars, which often flowed down river valleys, affecting villages up to 26km from the volcano.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What were the secondary impacts of the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • Lahars damaged houses and farms in the Magelang district up to 26km from the volcano, affecting around 3,000 people.
  • 21 January lahar ran down the Amat river valley: villages of Rangkah and Kinahrejo obliterated, killing a further 33 people and all the local cattle, making farming impossible.
    It also destroyed 44 houses and a number of businesses in Jumoyo, but there were no casualties.
  • New industry of mining and selling the material emerged - volcanic debris makes excellent building material when mixed with water.
  • Some members of the community took to selling drinks and pictures to tourists who came to see the lahar and the stone spirits.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How did the Indonesian government respond to the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • US$2.6 million of support allocated for disaster, managed through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency
  • Military used to build makeshift hospitals and public kitchens in the safe zone and serve evacuated persons
  • Merapi Response Radio reported that all schools within 120km of the volcano were to close due to concerns over ash fall.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How did NGOs react to the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • Further assistance granted from NGOs including Action on Hunger, Indonesian Red Cross and the Red Crescent Authority
  • World Health Organisation provided support alongside Indonesian Ministry of Health - distributed blankets, 6 tons of emergency energy biscuits across shelters and over 100,000 face masks prioritised for shelters closest to the volcano.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How did Indonesia recover from the Mt Merapi eruption?

A
  • 15,000 earthquake resistant houses built
  • Housing assistance grants to ‘build back better’ - 48% of households who received housing assistance reported an increase in quality of life post-disaster
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What were the total damages and losses from the eruption which Indonesia needed to recover from?

A

Total damages and losses from the eruption were over $600 million; this was due to the decline of tourism, lost livestock and damage to manufacturing and agricultural centres.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How did Indonesia seek to mitigate the effects of future eruptions?

A
  • 2,500 families have moved to government built houses in relocation sites away from the volcano - 81 now live in Karang Kendal, several kilometres further down from their previous village
17
Q

How did Indonesia seek to prepare for the next disaster?

A
  • Three-tier warning system established in 2010 - government monitoring centres regularly inform appointed community representatives of the threat level so they can disseminate information to those around them
  • Use of hand-held radios set to the same frequency allowing for consistent updates and interchanges about conditions on the volcano
  • Road and bridge infrastructure leading off Mt Merapi was improved to make evacuation more efficient
  • Governmental and non-governmental groups have conducted a number of training sessions in communities - evacuation preparation
18
Q

When did Eyafjallajökull erupt?

A

March 2010

19
Q

Why type of plate boundary is Eyafjallajökull on?

A
  • Constructive (divergent) plate boundary with a magma plume
20
Q

What were the primary impacts of the 2010 Eyafjallajökull eruption in Iceland?

A
  • Thin layer of ash, often only as thin as 3mm, deposited over Iceland’s coastal sand plain, which became wet and compact from rainfall and smothered Iceland’s crops and pasture
  • This ash fall also forced livestock to be kept indoors, and contained fluoride which could contaminate water supplies - dangerous for animals.
  • Sections of Iceland’s main national circular highway, Route 1, were washed away by a Jökullhlaup due to meltwater surges from lava melting the ice cap from underneath.
21
Q

Which primary hazard of the 2010 Eyafjallajökull eruption caused disruption in the rest of Europe?

A
  • Huge volcanic ash cloud reaching heights of 7km altitude, which was blown over northern Europe by clockwise high-altitude wind, cancelling most flights in northern Europe
22
Q

What were the primary impacts of the 2010 Eyafjallajökull eruption outside Iceland?

A
  • Mass airport closure across all of northern Europe (18 April - 313 Airports forced to close)
  • Airports said to be losing an estimated £130 million a day during mid-April
  • An assesment in September 2010 by the Association of European Airlines estimated that its members lost a total of £709 million, while globally airlines lost an estimated £1.05bn.
  • Demand for jet oil also slumped by 2 million barrels a day
23
Q

What were the negative secondary impacts of the Eyafjallajökull eruption? (Secondary impacts of primary hazard!)

A
  • Freight badly affected - 40% of the world’s goods transported by air, especially high value/low weight goods such as medicinal drugs, ‘time-sensitive’ high-tech items and ‘premium’ goods such as Scottish whisky.
  • Cancellation of flights in Iceland forced fishermen in Westman Islands to use ferry links to transport fish.
  • Losses of £1.7 billion to European Travel Agency
  • Prices of stocks and shares in companies relying on air freight fell steeply
  • Producers of products such as flowers and fruit in Africa and the Carribbean were badly hit - Kenya alone said to be losing £2.4 million a day
24
Q

What were the positive secondary impacts of the Eyafjallajökull eruption? (Secondary impacts of primary hazard!)

A
  • Eurostar rail services from London to France and Germany carried up to 50,000 extra passengers a day.
  • Long-distance rail services between Scotland and England, as well as cross-Channel ferries, also profited.
25
Q

What were the responses to the Eyafjallajökull eruption in Iceland?

A
  • Over 700 people in the immediate surroundings of Eyafjallajökull were evacuated
  • Red Cross opened emergency shelters for evacuees in nearby villages
  • Emergency phase declared by ICP system after a second, larger eruption on April 14th
  • Apri 15th - roads closed and access restrictions enforced around eruption site in response to a glacial outburst flood on ISS slopes.
  • Temporary service centres opened as 1-stop-shops for locals needing assistance
26
Q

What were the responses to the Eyafjallajökull eruption in the rest of the world?

A
  • European flight authorities banned all IFR flights for several days in 2010
  • European Commission gave state aid to airlines / airports badly hit by the flight shut-downs, though full compensation was not given
27
Q

How did Iceland recover from the Eyafjallajökull eruption?

A
  • Representatives from the world’s air industries met at Keflavik airport in September 2010 to discuss future responses to eruptions
  • 2.3 million local insurance claims made in Iceland
  • River banks in Iceland build even higher in response to further Jökullhlaups
28
Q

How did the wider world seek to mitigate future disasters such as Eyjafjallajökull?

A
  • EU developed an integrated air traffic management structure - 9 ‘Functional Airspace Blocks ‘ to replace the existing 27 areas, reducing risk of closing all European airspace in the event of future eruptions
  • Efforts made to include greater scientific opinion in policy making - connections with operation service providers from many VAACs to advance knowledge on ash characterisation, and modelling ash plumes to improve prediction and monitoring.
  • World Meteorological Organisation organised a workshop to do this with London VAAC in 2010

VAAC = Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre

29
Q

Which features did Iceland have to mitigate the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption?

A
  • Iceland’s extensive eruption history means that most locals are aware of risks and know what to do in the event of an eruption.
  • Financial support services already available for farmers affected by eruption
  • 2006 public awareness campaign incorporated evacuation drills for inhabitants of potentially threatened areas
30
Q

How was Iceland prepared for the 2010 Eyafjallajökull eruption?

A
  • Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)
  • Residents received a 30-minute warning before the eruption by text
  • Eyjafjallajökull actively monitored using seismic sensors, observing glacial river runoff and radar at Keflavik Airport.
  • 11 weeks before eruption, one side of E15 was swollen by 15cm.
  • Contingency plans created by Icelandic Department for Civil Protective and Emergency Planning (ICP)
  • Full-scale evacuation exercise in 2006
  • Diggers in position to dam rivers.