Tectonics case studies

Christchurch earthquake

6.3 magnitude earthquake, 185 people were killed and 3129 people were injured, $28 billion of damage was caused

Occurred on the conservative margin, shallow hypocentre

Christchurch earthquake secondary effects

1/5 of the population migrated out of the city

Economists think that it will take 50 to 100 years for New Zealand’s economy to recover.

Liquefaction was a problem.

Haiti earthquake 2010

Cause – strike slip (conservative) plate boundary, caused a build up in friction

The earthquake hit at 4:53 pm, 12^th of January, 15 miles (25 km) southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

The initial shock was a magnitude of 7.0 followed by two aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitudes.

How does Haiti compare to others?

Localised damaged, rock type effects damage - softer rock means houses built on top can collapse

Haiti vulnerability

The most important factor was amplification – as the waves moved out of the hard rock and into the softer rock the waves become amplified (stronger) and cause significant subsidence and damage to properties. Buildings were built badly so they collapsed and killed many people.

Haiti secondary effects

The earthquake caused output to fall by 7% of GDP the GDP per capita now is at US$1694.1 and the GDP per capita was US$1204.86 in 2010

After gaining independence, Haiti’s economy was crippled by repaying debts by spending 80% of its national budget on repayment until 1974. This meant their economy could not grow and they could not have effective governance.

Palu city tsunami

It was caused by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Sulawesi. The tsunami was located in Palu City, Sulawesi, Indonesia on Friday 28^th of September 2018.

The earthquake and the tsunami was caused by the Palu Koro fault which is a conservative plate boundary but is also described as a Strike-slip fault.

4,340 people lost their lives, 23,000 were injured and over 70,000 people were displaced.

Palu city tsunami secondary effects

Overall, 1.5 million people were affected and many survivors were left without food, water or shelter.

The earthquake and tsunami resulted in $1.3 billion USD in economic losses.

This is a mega disaster as it has over 2,00 deaths