Volcanoes Flashcards
(24 cards)
Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991
- Event details
- Social impacts
- Econ impacts
Mag: VEI 6
- Only 50 miles from capital, Manila
- Primary hazards: tephra & pyroclastic flows
Secondary: Lahars which cont. to affect the area for up to 6 years after the event (killed 100)
Social impacts:
- 874 dead
- 1.2 mil homeless - initially only 8000, worsened by lahars
- disease broke out i.e measles & diarrhoea
Econ:
- 760 mil USD in damages
- GDP fell by over 3%
What factors may have increased the vulnerability of the population - Mt Pinatubo
Very high mag event - VEI 6
- LIC = unable to invest in management and adaption strategies
- 12th most pop. country = increases risk of casualties
How did the govt attempt to manage the hazard & how did they respond - Mt pinatubo
ST response:
Volcanic Prediction = accurate, evacuated 75,000 which reduced casualties
LT:
- Pres. created a commission to raise 10 bil pesos in aid
- Invested 5 million pesos into building dykes to protect people from lahars
Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, 2010
Primary hazards:
- massive ash/tephra clouds = acc blocked out the sun
Secondary hazards:
jokulhalps
Econ:
- Europe’s GDP dropped by $2.6 bn
- Kenya lost $38 mil due to flowers perishing
Social:
- ash contaminated drinking water supplies
- 10 mil stranded due to largest closure of airspace since WW2
Enviro:
- CO2 emissions dropped by 2.8 million tonnes
- jokulhalps caused flooding
What factors reduced vulnerability & increased cap. to cope - Iceland, 2010
- HIC(4th most devt. country according to UN’s HDI) with 45% of wealth coming from high taxes
= wealthy govt. & good education system - Very able to invest in hi-tech management strategies and so on
- Educated pop. = reduces casualties bc people well aware of how to respond
What were the key management & response strategies - Iceland 2010
ST:
- 700 evacuated
- Cancelled many flights
- Immediate response from Icelandic red cross
LT:
- Rebuilt river banks higher than before to mitigate impacts of jokulhalps
- Developed infrared sensores for planes to detect & avoid ash clouds
Lake Nyos, 1986
Eruption = limnic, triggering a landslide which disturbed lake water causing CO2 in water to be released.
Social:
1700 dead = asphixiated
- many survivors developed respiratory issues, paralysis and so on.
Econ:
- 3000 cattle dead, many crops lost = decline in income & food production
Enviro:
- 15% conc of CO2 in the air
What factors may have increased vulnerability & reduced cap to cope - Lake Nyos
- Approx 44% of the pop. are multidimensionally poor = unable to afford better housing, healthcare or education
- poor education = unaware of how to manage CO2
What were the key management & response strategies - Lake Nyos
ST:
- 90% pop. evacuated
- Tents used as temp accom & many temp. hospitals established.
LT:
- installation of degassing systems to drain the lake of gas
- Devt warning systems in which an alarm goes off in CO2 lvls too high
Montserrat 1997 - key facts &figures
PB: convergent
- 19 died
- as 90% of pop had evacuated the dt sig. reduced
- 2/3 of the area covered in ash, v. hard for aid to get through
- hospitals destroyed
- 50% of water supply destroyed
Econ:
volcanic ash drowned the capital city
- airport in the direct path of pyro flows = completely destroyed
- 1 bn in losses
What factors may have increased vulnerability & reduced cap to cope - Montserrat 1997
Essentially a MHZ bc it is hurricane prone
- has 3 mountainous regions which increases the likelihood of landslides and so on
- had had an eruption in 1995 - not that much long after so the pop. still likely recovering BUT they had time to evac.
What were the key management & response strategies -
Montserrat 1997
ST: August 1995 - many people were evacuated to the north of the island and an exclusion zone was set up on the south of the island which saved many lives
LT: £41 mil given in aid to develop the north
- volcanic observatory estab. to monitor the volcano
Key facts & figures - Mt St Helens USA
- VEI of 5
- lasted for 9 hrs
Social:
61 dead
300km of roads destroyed = pot. causing complications in terms of delivering aid
Econ:
$3.3 bil estimated cost
What factors may have increased/decreased vuln & increased/decreased capacity to cope - MT St Helens, USA 1980
- USA = v. developed country so able to fund monitoring & prediction systems = monitored frequency of EQS
What were the key management & response strategies - Mt St Helens, USA, 1980
ST: Evacuation orders put in place
- Helicopters mobilised to rescue survivors
- 2 mil masks ordered to protect ppls lungs from inhaling toxic gases
LT:
- drains cleared to prevent floods
- roads rebuilt to allow tourist access to the area
Key facts & Figures - Mt Ontake, Japan, 2014
Social:
63 dead mostly due to ash, tephra and toxic gases
- roads covered in ash & tephra which disrupted transport systems
- ash deposits affected water supplies
Economic:
- tourism industry affected bc many hotels destroyed
- sources of income affected due to destruction of agricultural land
Factors that may have affected vulnerability & cap 2 cope - Mt Ontake, japan 2014
- Ageing population - perhaps some unable to escape which increased the death toll
- Very high GDP of $ 5.3 trillion - able to invest in high quality management and prediction strategies etc & good quality hc system so able to mitigate losses
- a typhoon actually occurred which meant recovery efforts prolonged
What were the key management & response strategies - Mt Ontake, Japan 2014
ST:
- immediate launch of FAST force a rapid aid/recovery team = reduced dt
- 17 helicopters used to scout conditions
LT:
- hiking trails closed
- installed evac shelters & safety ropes
- residents now receive level of risk alerts
Key facts & figures - Nevado Del Ruiz, Columbia, 1985
- Lasted 20 mins
- VEI 3 & composite volc.
Primary hazards: 35 million tonnes of tephra - Pyro flows which melted glaciers and snow causing 4 lahars to form travelling at 60kmph
Social costs:
- 23,000 due to lahars
- damaged water supplies swept through a town killing 3/4 of its residents
Econ costs:
$ 7.7bn in damages
worth 20% of gdp at time
Enviro:
lahars acc made land more fertile
huge air pollution due to tephra
What factors may increase vuln or decrease vuln and increase or decreased cap to cope
- Nevado Del Ruiz, Columbia, 1985
- lies directly on the equator & very mountainous region = prone to landslides
- 3rd largest econ. superpower in SA = but govt v. slow to respond to scientists warnings
What were the key management & response strategies - Nevado Del Ruiz, Columbia, 1985
ST - military sent helicopters to provide medical care
- set up emergency shelters
LT - public education campaign in ‘86 to reduce vulnerability & increase cap to cope = Red Cross distributed flyers w/ info. on evac & warning systems.
White Island, NZ, 2019
- Key facts & figures
Phreatic eruption - hard to predict
VEI 2 - not v. strong
Social:
- 22 dead w. severe burns & resp. damage
- survivors suffering extensive & life changing injuries
Econ:
- Massive decline in tourism industry = feel unsafe
- 3 week long rahui = restrictions banning harvesting of resources & many businesses suffered economically
Enviro:
- Contamination of food sources & the sea as toxic gases & harmful debris released into the ocean
What factors may have reduced vulnerability & increased cap to cope - White Island, NZ, 2019
NZ is an extremely wealthy country = has enough money to fund healthcare services which ensured rapid response times & could provide specialist care for victims
- island = less impact on NZ as a whole - reduced dt?
What were the key management & response strategies - White Island, NZ, 2019
ST:
- immediate launch of rescue services incl. 7 helicopters
- 26 mil no fly zone to reduce air traffic
- military drones used to assess the situation & aid recovery teams in planning best rescue route
LT:
- investigation into 2 govt agencies responsible for monitoring & into tourism companies
- NZ govt = $5 mil business support to lessen financial strain
