Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Managing impacts of earthquakes:
- PREDICTION:
- Impossible- but clues: e.g.
small tremors, cracks
appearing in rocks, strange
animal behaviour- e.g. rats
abandoning nests.
- Warning systems- detect P waves, but
only AFTER a quake has begun. These
waves travel faster than other types of
seismic waves, causing less damage so
can be used as a warning for stronger
tremors.- e.g. Japans Earthquake Early
warning system- warns people by TV
and radio.
- Possible to predict future quakes using
data patterns from past quakes- so
people can prepare themselves.
- BUILDINGS:
- Life-safe buildings: withstand shaking without killing
inhabitants. Still suffer damage but will not collapse.
- Crossbracing: steel crosses placed internally (often
across windows) with friction dampers on
corners=stops building pancaking.
- Deep foundations: absorb shock lower down so by the
time it reaches the structure it causes minimal
damage.
- Counterbalancing:
weights on the roof to
stabilise the building if it
sways.
- Stepped profile: less
pressure on walls= less
likely to pancake.
- PLANNING AND EDUCATION:
- Training and preparing emergency
services to be prepared to deal with
specific natural disasters prone to the
area.
- Governments establishing
evacuation routes and letting
people know of them.
- Governments and
organisations educating
people about what to
do/how to evacuate, e.g.
drills regularly practised
in Japan.
- Government supplying people with
emergency supplies+information of
emergency shelters in case.
- FACTORS INCREASING SEVERITY OF IMPACTS:
- 1. Development level of country:
- LEDCs- badly affected as do not have the
money for preparation or response, e.g. no
money to train emergency teams.
- LEDCs- poor quality buildings
(no money)= collapse easily.
Also poor infrastructure=
harder for emergency services
to access people.
- LEDCs- poor healthcare=
harder to cope with large
numbers of casualties.
- LEDCs- highly dependent on
agriculture=often badly affected=
livliehood destroyed.
- MEDCs- economic impact greater
as buildings etc worth a lot of
money.
- 2. Population:
- More densely populated= more people affected.
- Densely populated areas= lot of buildings to
potentially collapse= more casualties +
economic impact.
- 3. Timing:
- When in the day/year, i,e. summer= more people, i.e.
tourists, or night time= people asleep so don't evacuate
quickly= more casualties, or winter= if people are made
homeless they could freeze to death.