40 mark question seismicity
“Natural disasters are not often natural disasters but are often human disasters”
Discuss this statement in relation to seismic events (40marks)
For the purpose of this essay, a natural disaster is an event resulting from the natural process of plate tectonic movement causing a seismic event (an earthquake and/or tsunami). The statement in the question suggests that Natural Disasters impact humans more than the environment. The essay will discuss whether seismic events cause a disaster that impacts humans more than the environment. One aspect which identifies the statement can be identified as the importance of the hazard itself in the impacts of seismic events. If no seismic event occurred, then there would be no secondary impact, for example buildings collapsing, water pipes break or fire, which all lead to a human disaster. An example of this is, in the Kobe earthquake, Japan, on 17th of January 1995, if the earthquake did not occur, then 6,434 people would not have lost their life, it argues that the human disaster in response to the natural disaster would not have occurred if the earthquake did not occur. Another idea is that the vulnerability of an area plays a role in the impacts of seismic events. It is generally accepted that if an earthquake of the same scale occurred in an LEDC and an MEDC, the impacts on human life would be greater in an LEDC. For example, an earthquake occurred in California (MEDC) on October 17th 1989 and an earthquake occurred in Nepal (LEDC) on 18th September 2011, both measuring 6.9Mw. The earthquake in Nepal caused a larger human disaster than in California, as 111 people died in Nepal compared to 63 deaths in California, death is one factor to measure the impact of a seismic event. A likely reason why more died in Nepal is the fact buildings are stronger in California than in Nepal, so when a 6.9Mw earthquake occurred, the effects were greater in Nepal due to the poorer building standards. This idea can be argued by the
Discuss this statement in relation to seismic events (40marks)
For the purpose of this essay, a natural disaster is an event resulting from the natural process of plate tectonic movement causing a seismic event (an earthquake and/or tsunami). The statement in the question suggests that Natural Disasters impact humans more than the environment. The essay will discuss whether seismic events cause a disaster that impacts humans more than the environment. One aspect which identifies the statement can be identified as the importance of the hazard itself in the impacts of seismic events. If no seismic event occurred, then there would be no secondary impact, for example buildings collapsing, water pipes break or fire, which all lead to a human disaster. An example of this is, in the Kobe earthquake, Japan, on 17th of January 1995, if the earthquake did not occur, then 6,434 people would not have lost their life, it argues that the human disaster in response to the natural disaster would not have occurred if the earthquake did not occur. Another idea is that the vulnerability of an area plays a role in the impacts of seismic events. It is generally accepted that if an earthquake of the same scale occurred in an LEDC and an MEDC, the impacts on human life would be greater in an LEDC. For example, an earthquake occurred in California (MEDC) on October 17th 1989 and an earthquake occurred in Nepal (LEDC) on 18th September 2011, both measuring 6.9Mw. The earthquake in Nepal caused a larger human disaster than in California, as 111 people died in Nepal compared to 63 deaths in California, death is one factor to measure the impact of a seismic event. A likely reason why more died in Nepal is the fact buildings are stronger in California than in Nepal, so when a 6.9Mw earthquake occurred, the effects were greater in Nepal due to the poorer building standards. This idea can be argued by the