CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS Risk or Opportunity?

CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS In this Chapter, you will explore three key questions: Why are some areas more prone to tectonic hazards? What landforms and associated tectonic phenomena are found at plate boundaries? How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?

What to do in the event of an earthquake? Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes? What to do in the event of an earthquake? Suggested activity: Trigger students’ interest by identifying the appliances at home that they should secure to ensure that damage during an earthquake is minimised. Prompt students to explain why is there a need to secure or to ensure the careful management of such appliances. This activity will allow them to understand that 1) earthquakes can have many indirect impacts 2) different people respond differently to earthquakes. You may refer to the website http://www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/steps.html for the list of precautionary measures that people could take to minimise earthquake damage. Ask students the following questions. 1. What are other ways people living in earthquake-prone areas might respond? 2. How do people cope with earthquakes? 3. What are some possible reasons for people to continue living in areas prone to earthquakes? Identify the items at home that you should secure to minimise earthquake damage.

CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes? Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes? How do people respond to natural hazards like earthquakes?

a. Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquake? They continue to live there because they can respond in various ways: Fatalistic approach Accept and resist evacuation. Typical for less developed countries who have limited access and knowledge Acceptance approach Live with the risk due to the potential benefits offered in the area. Adaptation approach Well prepared for earthquakes. Suggested activity Prompt students to state which they think is the best approach and why. Help students understand that the different approaches are formed because of people’s varied socio-economic status and the environments they live in.

CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes? Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes? How do people respond to earthquakes?

b. How do people respond to earthquakes? The preparedness measures that people put in place to cope with earthquakes and its associated hazards include: • Land use regulations; • Building design; • Infrastructure development; • Emergency drills; and • Use of technology.

Land use regulations Building restrictions on areas demarcated as high unsafe. Prohibition of building development along coast. Regulations for the construction of protective measures along such high risk areas. Costly as government acquire over unsafe land. Existing owners might be reluctant to give up land.

Building design Reduce collapse and minimise damage. Structural reinforcements and buffers to absorb seismic energy included in the building design. Expensive Not cost effective to retrofit existing buildings.

Infrastructural development Supporting infrastructures in the area requires reinforcements from earthquake damage. For example, reinforcements on bridge, trip switches at home. Costly and untested until earthquakes occur.

Emergency drills Creates awareness , reduces panic. Ensure that people know what to do in the event of an emergency. Based on scale and magnitude of past events and therefore emergency scenario might not be realistic.

Use of technology Advanced technology such as seismic risk map, earthquake sensor and tsunami monitoring systems help to detect earthquakes earlier. Costly False alarm Subjected to interference Little time for response Tsunami warning system

Short-term responses Response Success Limitation Rescue and recovery To save people who are still trapped in the buildings Only have limited time to save people Providing medical aid, food and water Helps survivors cope with the disaster May not be sufficient, countries may not have the means to provide extensive aid Setting up emergency shelters Provide shelter for the homeless Maybe be subjected to cramped and unhygienic conditions Humanitarian aid Financial support to rebuild devastated areas Aid might be looted

Long-term responses Response Success Limitation Improve infrastructure Stricter building codes ensures higher safety levels Not fully protected from all kinds of hazard Compensation To allow victims to cope with losses and restore their livelihoods Insufficient funds Recovery of economy To stimulate economy and to restore the normal functions of the society Recovery may take a long time Improving health options To help injured victims or psychologically disturbed victims restore their livelihoods May be challenging

Case study: Earthquake in Tōhoku, Japan What are the effects of the earthquake on people and the environment? Occurred in 2011 Generated large tsunami Destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant Suggested activity Show students satellite images of the impact of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami from the website: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Gallery/tsunami.php

Case study: Earthquake in Tōhoku, Japan How have people responded to the earthquake ? Sent out 100,000 members of the Self-Defence Forces Set up rescue centres The bank of Japan pumped US$183 billion into the economy. Trained personnel dealt with post anxiety and depression.

What can be done to reduce the risks associated with earthquakes? Mitigation measures Explanation Implementation Continue the enforcement Buildings swayed but did not collapse Achieve even higher standards to ensure maximum protection Provide coastal protection Scale and location of coastal barriers need to reconsidered as they proved inadequate Continuous improvements due to the extensive coastal activities Research on monitoring and warning systems Widespread use of computers to identify areas of risk Seismic survey and use of technology to enhance earthquake and tsunami detection Rethink the future of nuclear power stations When damaged by earthquakes, could cause great health risk to people More reliable and safer source of energy needs to be sourced Begin dialogues with authorities and people of Japan Increase people’s awareness in the event of an emergency Active involvement of various stakeholders as well as continuous research into earthquake mitigation measures

CHAPTER 2 LIVING WITH TECTONIC HAZARDS Gateway 3: How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes? Why do people continue to live in areas prone to earthquakes? How do people respond to natural hazards like earthquakes? Help students understand that different people respond to earthquake differently. It is therefore important to understand their perspectives and the environments they live in to put into place effective earthquake mitigation measures.