Last Day of Natural Disasters!

1. Last Day of Natural Disasters! • Earthquakes (Video and Slides) • Relief Efforts for Natural Disasters • Animals and Natural Disasters

2. Earthquakes!

3. What is an Earthquake Anyway? • Sudden release of stored elastic energy caused by the sudden fracture and movement of rocks along a fault.

4. Fault lines • What is a fault? • An area of stress in the crust • When slippage or displacement occurs in fractures in the earth’s crust • Faults range in length from a few centimetres to many hundreds of kilometres

5. Normal and Reverse Faults • rock masses slip vertically past each other.

6. Transform and Thrust Faults • The rock masses slip past each other horizontally

7. Richter Scale • based on the energy release and is a measure of the intensity of ground motion as recorded on seismographs • Every increase of one number in magnitude means the ground motion is 10 times greater

8. Other Keywords • Aftershock • Result of readjustment of the plates along the fault zones • Epicentre • Point on the earth’s suface directly above the focus

9. Impact of Earthquakes • Most people killed in earthquakes are killed by collapsed buildings • Can destroy electrical transmission lines and gas and sewage lines. • Fires also cause major damage to regions effected by earthquake

10. Tsunami • Tsunami is a Japanese word for meaning “harbour wave”. • Tsunamis are actually caused by mudflows, landslides, earthquakes or volcanoes that take place on the ocean floor • The most common cause of tsunamis are earthquakes.

11. The earthquake tremor can set off a giant wave that travels at tremendous speeds across the ocean surface. • In open waters, these waves may not be very large, but their height increases as they approach the shore and their length decreased.

13. Case Studies • 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean • By the end of the day more than 150,000 people were dead or missing and millions more were homeless in 11 countries, making it perhaps the most destructive tsunami in history.

14. 9.0 Earthquake in the Indian Ocean • Witnesses say wave was 50 metres high with speeds of more than 600 km/h

15. Case Studies • In 1946 a series of four tsunami waves triggered by an earthquake struck the island of Hawaii, killing 160 people and smashing ships, harbour facilities and buildings to splinters. • A 1964 earthquake in Alaska killed 114, as ten tsunamis struck the coastline in quick succession. The most powerful wave was estimated to be nearly 10 m high and traveling more than 300km/h

16. Relief Efforts and Natural Disasters • Organizations • Brad Pitt • How they deliver assistance

17. Examples of Organizations • Red Cross • Oxfam • Save the Children • Unicef • CARE

18. How they Help… • “works with governments and other humanitarian organizations to provide for people's basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, first aid, emotional support and family reunification.”

19. “Children are particularly vulnerable in emergencies because they are physically weaker than adults and risk being separated from their families..” • At an international level we lobby for more money to be spent on protecting children in emergencies

20. “CARE Canada's mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global diversity, resources and experience, we promote innovative solutions and are advocates for global responsibility. “

21. “Imagine going through the trauma of this, of watching everything you own be swept away, maybe loss of life, and then sitting in this limbo for a year. Wanting to get your life back. But not knowing whether it's even possible.” • Brad Pitt on re-building New Orleans

22. Animals and Natural Disasters • Can animals sense natural disasters? • Article and discussion questions • Animals and the 2004 Tsunami • no evidence of widespread animal deaths from the tsunami • Elephants breaking chains to get up hill