Impacts of Natural Hazards (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

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Impacts of Natural Hazards

  • Natural hazards are when they affect people; they have both short and long-term impacts

Short & Long Term Impacts of Hazard Events

Short Term Impacts Long Term Impacts

Damage to properties from high wind, heavy rain and storm surges, power cables and telephone lines

Rebuilding of homes, schools, infrastructure and businesses can take time 

Impact on businesses, tourism and transport

The cost of rebuilding affects the economy, increases unemployment

Landslides

Stricter building codes introduced

Deaths and injuries, decrease in quality of life

Mental health, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Crops destroyed, impacting on farmers incomes and increasing food prices

Risk assessment and hazard mapping reviewed

Habitat destruction

 

Exam Tip

In the exam you may be asked to analyse the short and long term impacts of an earthquake event. In your answer you need to consider:

  • Why short and long term impacts vary - the size and magnitude of the event
  • What are the main short and long term impacts
  • How the impacts are affected by the level of development, location and accessibility of the area
  • What are the knock-on effects of some impacts e.g. water supplies being contaminated can lead to disease

Case Study: Impacts of Tropical Cyclones

  • Name - Haiyan (Yolanda)
  • Location - Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan
  • Date - November 2013
  • Magnitude - Category 5
  • Highest wind speed - 315km/h 
  • Storm surge - up to 6m
  • Rainfall - 282mm in 12 hours

path-of-haiyan

  Path of Tropical Cyclone Haiyan (Yolanda)

Short Term Impacts Long Term Impacts

Estimated 6400 deaths

Cost US$5.8 billion

4.1 million people made homeless

Build Back Better launched in 2014 to upgrade buildings to reduce the damage from future tropical cyclones. However, by 2016 only 1% of target of 200,000 homes had been achieved

90% Tacloban destroyed

No build zone along the Eastern Visayas coastline

Roads blocked by debris and landslides

Storm surge warning system 

Electricity supply down in some areas for six weeks

Mangroves replanted

Airport at Tacloban badly damaged

Tropical storm shelters built inland

1.1 million tonnes of crops destroyed

One year on 4 million people still in temporary shelters

33 million coconut trees destroyed 

Six months after in Tacloban access to clean water was still limited

1.1 million homes damaged or destroyed

 

14 million people affected

 

Landslides

 

Case Study: Impacts of Earthquakes

  • Name  - Gorkha 
  • Location - Nepal
  • Date - 25th April 2015
  • Epicentre - Barpak village, 60km north-west of Kathmandu (capital)
  • Depth - 15km
  • Magnitude - 7.8
  • Plate boundary - Collision plate where Indian plate collides with the Eurasian plate

lanslides-triggered-by-the-earthquake

Landslides triggered by the Gorkha earthquake

Short Term Impacts Longer Term Impacts

Approximately 8600 deaths

Cost US$10 billion

19,000 injuries

7000 schools rebuilt

Avalanches on Mount Everest and in the Langtang valley

Two years later 70% of displaced people still in temporary shelters

Roads blocked due to landslides

Stricter building codes introduced - but not always enforced

Landslides - village of Ghodatabela covered, leading to 250 deaths

Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided US$3 million grant 

Over 600,000 houses destroyed and over 250,000 damaged

Grants of US$3000 for people to rebuild homes - Many have not re-paid this 5 years later

UNESCO World Heritage sites destroyed - Changu Narayan Temple and Dharahara Tower

 

8,300 Schools damaged or destroyed

 

1,000 health centres destroyed

 

Case Study: Impact of Volcanoes

  • Name - Mount Merapi
  • Location - Java, Indonesia
  • Date - 25th October -30th November 2010
  • Magnitude - VEI 4
  • Plate boundary - Destructive plate boundary where the Indo-Australian plate is subducting below the Eurasian plate
  • Type of volcano - Stratovolcano or composite

62cae8ab-1f82-4ed6-8f38-6e8671626ec8

Ash fall on village near to Mount Merapi

Short Term Impacts Long Term Impacts

353 deaths

Hazard map updated and exclusion zone expanded permanently to 2.5km

577 injuries

0ver 2,500 residents moved to permanent new homes 

Pyroclastic flow travelled 3km 

Money given to farmers by the government to replace livestock and crops

Volcanic ash fell up to 480km away

Improved monitoring 

30cm of ash covered nearby villages including Bronggang 15km from the volcano and Yogyakarta

Increased education to inform people of what to do and where to go in the event of another eruption

Exclusion zone extended to 20km 

Dams built to hold back lahars

Roads blocked 

Soils will be more fertile due to the minerals contained in the falling ash

Food prices increase

 

350,000 people evacuated

 

Schools and airports closed

 

Lahars

 

Decrease in tourism income

 

Exam Tip

Remember, whether you use the case studies here or ones you have completed in class, in the exam you will be expected to know some facts and figures from case studies. These are place specific details and is what the examiner will be looking for in higher level answers.

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Bridgette

Author: Bridgette

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 25 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.