Geography A2-Natural Hazards Case Studies

Volcanic eruption Case study:

Mt Nyriagongo Congo, LEDC.

• January 2002
• Impacts:
• 147 people died.
• 500,000 homeless.
• Goma's Runaway was destroyed.
• 14 nearby villages destroyed.
• Little knowledge created higher casualties.
• Poor infrastructure made distributing aid more difficult.
• Responses:
• 2 days after eruption recieved aid from UN.
• 400,000 evacuated.
• 220,000 people fled to Rwanda.

Volcanic eruption Case study:

Mount Etna Eruption- MEDC Italy.

• Lasted 473 days from 1991, 1993 and 2001+.
• Little threat because of the low effucion rate/speed.
• Strato-volcano.
• Created an ash emission 30km high.
• Impacts:
• Farmland/ houses destroyed.
• Destroyed tourist winter industry.
• Closed runaways at airports.
• Responses:
• Not hazards proof homes, however lava flow was diverted and slowed down.
• Evacuation and warning systems and exclulsion zones.

Tsunami Case Studies:Japansese Tsunami MEDC:

• 2011, March 11.
• Magnitude 9.
• Impacts:
• 6,152 injured.
• 15,000 deaths.
• 120,000 buildings collapsed.
• 10% of fishing ports damaged.
• Responses:
• Red Cross gave $ 1 billion in donations.
• Early warning systems.
• 50,000 Japanese  defence forces.
• 40% of Japan's coastline 10m sea wall.

Tsunami case study:

Sumatra Tsunami/ Boxing day Tsunami.

•  2004.
• 9.2 magnitude.
• Impacts:
• 150,000 deaths.
• 60% fishing fleet destroyed.
• Over 80,000 homes destroyed.
• Disease from lack of clean water led to chlorea.
• Responses:
• Reliance on outside aid- 7 billion from NGO charities.
• 5 million relocated into temporary refugee camps.
• Some permanently migrated.
• Early warning systems were set up to detect any future tsunami's.

Earthquake case study:

Kobe Earthquake- Japanese MEDC.

• Southeast of Japan.
• January 1995.
• Impacts:
• 6434 deaths.
• 40,000 injured.
• 330,000 homeless.
• 102,000 buildings damaged.
• 2 million left without electricity.
• 1 million left without water for 10 days.
• Responses:
• Rescue teams serached fro 10 days.
• Jobs for construction programme as rebuild the damaged/ destroyed homes.

Haiti earthquake- Carribean Island- LEDC.

• Poorest latin Country- Part of the Dominican Republic.
• Impacts:
• 230,000 deaths.
• Chlorea Outbreak.
• 300,000 injured.
• 1.2 million homeless as a result.
• 250,000 buildings damaged.
• Responses:
• Aid is a much slower Process and may have killed 200,000 out of the 230,000 deaths.
• Dominican Republic offered to except refugees.
• $40 million aid from US for a work programme.