Tsunamis

Question 1

Boxing Day Tsunami 2004
- Event details
- Social impacts
- Economic impacts

Answer 1

• Magnitude 9.1
• triggered a 30m tsunami wave
• Affected a multitude of countries e.g. Thailand, Sumatra, Sri Lanka
• Banda Aceh = 100ft tsunami waves

Social:
18 countries affected
230k dead
1.7 million homeless

Economic:
est. cost of 1.53 bn in USD
visitor numbers dropped by 90% => 100k lost jobs as result

Enviro:
- saltwater made teh land infertile
- vast amounts of coral reefs were entirely destroyed, impoacting marine diversity.

Question 2

What made the hazard so impactful? - BD T 2004

Answer 2

• This was an exceptionally large magnitude event at 9.1 mag, thus its impacts were far more likely to be greater devastating bc more destructive force.
• Areal extent = Very large areal extent as affected 18+ countries so the death toll and combined economic cost much more likely to have a devastating impact/higher total than if a hazard impacted just 1 country

Question 3

What are some examples of teh st & lt responses utilised for teh BDT 2004

Answer 3

ST: Oxfam provided shelter, blankets etc to 40k
- built & improved 11,000 wells & water system for 10k in Banda Aceh.

LT:
- 56 k mangroves planted
- 27 hc clinics estab.
- Mitigation methods put in place e.g warning systems such as DART.

Question 4

Japanese Tsunami 2011
- Event details
- Social impacts
- Economic impacts
- Enviro impacts

Answer 4

Details:
a large eq displaced a water column = megathrust eq caused a 11-12 ft high wave.

Social:
16k dead
450k homeless, by 2017 50k still in homeless shelters

Econ.:
56 bridges destroyed
over 235 bn worth of damage = valued as teh most expensive disaster to date

Enviro:
Fukushima meltdown => contamination of sea water & destroyed fish catches.
Triggered a worldwide movement against nuclear power resources.

Question 5

What made teh event more/less damaging?

Answer 5

MORE:
- Approx. mag of 9.1 = highly damaging
-pre-existing defences couldn’t withstand the height & power of the waves as jap’s 10m high sea wall was overtopped by the tsunami waves.

LESS:
- Japan was able to somewhat? minimise the social costs of teh disaster bc it has experienced a multitude of hazard events, educates its population well (Sept 1st annual disaster prevention day) and had the financial capacity to implement many sea defences etc.

Question 6

What are some examples of teh short term and long term responses/management & recovery strategies put in place after teh 2011 Japan tsunami.

Answer 6

• ST:
  Warning systems in place sent soem text messages out to evacuate teh public (may have minimise the death toll).
• implemented a 20km evac zone around the Fukushima power plant

LT:
Repaired Sendai airport & Tohoku expressway => crucial to teh long term development of the nation.