geography - CASE STUDIES global hazards

Primary impacts

impacts happening during or immediately after the disaster

Secondary impacts

impacts that happen after the disaster (after days or weeks)

name a tectonic hazard you have studied

Turkey and Syria earthquake 2023

name 2 weather hazards you have studied

Hurricane Dorian 2019

and UK drought 2022

Assess one technological development used to mitigate the impacts of a tectonic hazard. [4]

→ early warning systems

• automatic texts that are sent to phones when seismometers detect potential earthquakes

• an advantage of the technology is that it gives a few seconds warning for people to go to safety

• a disadvantage of this system is it is very expensive

• In LIDCs, people may not have devices such as phones so may not get the message

Assess the causes of the tectonic hazard

• caused by a conservative plate boundary between the Arabian and Anatolian plate

• caused by a convection current which leads to plates moving and sudden shakes in the ground

• this caused a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and a 7.5 aftershock 9 hours later

• both epicentres were located in the south of Türkiye, where most people are concentrated, causing the most destruction

Explain the consequences of the tectonic hazard

• total of 55,000 people dead and affected a total of 26 million people who were left homeless

• 230,000 buildings destroyed in Türkiye and 10,600 in northwest Syria which caused damage worth $50-80 billion USD

• negatively impacted tourism and businesses such as agriculture in Syria which slowed down economy and food shortages

• open sewers and other bits of damage contaminated water supplies for agriculture and drinking

Explain how the tectonic hazard was responded to

• local people searched for survivors under the rubble along with another 250,000 other volunteers from other parts of Türkiye

• UK provided 77 search and rescue teams with specialist equipment, However it was difficult to reach Syria due to political conflict and ongoing wars

• US donated 185 million USD for buildings to be repaired and improved

• The Red Crescent provided 10 million relief items

• Syrian Arab Red Cross supported 5.3 million people with basic needs

Assess the causes of the UK weather hazard [4]

• A high-pressure belt from Spain called the Azores moved towards north, and increased temperatures in the UK

• This caused average river flow to be below normal even before the summer started as it was being evaporated

• During the first 3 months of 2022, England’s and Wales’ rainfall was below 26%

• In July, rainfall was only ¼ of the normal level, further increasing the water shortages. 

Explain the consequences of the UK weather hazard [5] 

• The drought caused evaporation of water in rivers, leading to freshwater sources to not be replenished, increasing the water shortages

• This meant that people were restricted to the amount of water they could use, including farmers

• so more food had to be imported, contributing to higher food prices.

• Due to the heatwave, 2800 people aged over 65 died. Wildfires also increased by 500, especially in London.

• Flights at Luton airport were delayed or stopped due to the immense heat melting the runways