hazards case studies

• Camp fire california 2018

  Deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history
• The area of the Camp fire was 240 square miles
• The Camp fire cost $16.65 billion USD
• 83% of Paradise's population was displaced by the Camp fire
• The emissions of the Camp fire were equivalent to 68 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere
• The Camp fire might have been amplified


  Due to the majority of housing being summer homes so were not maintained
• Californians are known for having a faulty perception
• Mt Nyiragongo


  • $15 million in humanitarian aid
  • 17 villages affected
  • 47 health centres destroyed
  • 74 schools destroyed
  • 200,000 without drinking water
  • Livestock died
• Eyjafjallajokull


  • $130 million per day for 6 days as airspace was closed due to ash clouds
  • Supplies contaminated
  • Food imports stopped
  • Ice melting causing even more flooding
  • Ash clouds
  • Pyroclastic flow
  • Tephra
• South Napa


  • Largest earthquake to hit the San Francisco Bay in 25 years
  • Estimated damage of $600 million
  • 2014
  • 6.0 Richter scale
  • San Andreas Fault
  • Destroyed roads
  • Soil destroyed in vineyards due to surface rupture
• Haiti


  • 25 km west of Port-au-Prince (Haiti's capital)
  • 2010
  • 7.0 on the Richter scale
  • Groundshaking
  • Landslides
  • Liquefaction
  • Conservative plate boundary
  • Along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault
• Hurricane Katrina


  • 2005
  • South eastern winds through Florida then to New Orleans
  • 127 mph winds
  • 6m high storm surge
  • $108 billion in damage
  • 95,000 jobs lost
  • 1 million+ homeless
  • Looting broke out and the national guard had to come in
  • Contamination of water for 5 months
  • 1500 deaths
• Typhoon Haiyan


  • One of the most powerful typhoons to affect the Philippines
  • 195 mph
  • 400 mm of rain
  • 7m storm surge
  • $5.8 billion in damage
  • 6190 deaths
• Volcanoes


  • Primarily found along plate boundaries and hot spots
  • Release a lot of energy
  • Eruption can be composite, explosive and shield
• Primary hazards of volcanoes

  • Tephra
  • Lava flows
  • Lahars
  • Pyroclastic flow
• Secondary hazards of volcanoes

  • Acid rain
  • Ash clouds
• Moment magnitude scale


  Measure of volcanic eruptions
• Seismic hazards


  • Found along plate boundaries, especially constructive and destructive
  • Magnitude depends on depth of focus and epicentre
• Primary hazards of seismic events

  • Ground rupture
  • Shaking
• Secondary hazards of seismic events

  • Landslides
  • Liquefaction
  • Tsunamis
• Tropical storms


  • Form when warm, tropical air rises
  • Can only form above 27 degrees
  • Magnitude increasing but not frequency
• Saffir Simpson scale


  Measure of tropical storm intensity based on sustained wind speed
• Wildfires


  • Most commonly found in arid and mediterranean climates
  • Frequency increasing due to climate change
• Climate change causes wildfires to be more frequent and have an increased intensity, tropical storms will have an increased magnitude but not an increased frequency
• Seismic hazards and Volcanic hazards are both due to the tectonic plates and both form at plate boundaries
• Wildfires and tropical storms are atmospheric hazards
• Seismic hazards form at destructive and conservative plate boundaries where Volcanic hazards form at constructive plate boundaries
• Volcanic and Seismic hazards are both geological hazards but tropical storms and wildfires are atmospheric hazards
• Mt nyiragongo


  • $15 million in humanitarian aid
  • 17 villages affected
  • 47 health centres destroyed
  • 74 schools destroyed
  • 200,000 without drinking water
  • Livestock died
• Eyjafjallajokull


  • $130 million per day for 6 days as airspace was closed due to ash clouds
  • Supplies contaminated
  • Food imports stopped
  • Ice melting causing flooding
  • Ash clouds
  • Pyroclastic flow
  • Tephra
• South Napa


  • Largest earthquake to hit the San Francisco bay in 25 years
  • Estimated damage of $600 million
  • 2014
  • 6.0 on the Richter scale
  • Destroyed roads
  • Soil destroyed in vineyards due to surface rupture
• Haiti


  • 25 km west of Port-au-Prince
  • 2010
  • 7.0 on the Richter scale
  • Ground shaking
  • Landslides
  • Liquefaction
  • Conservative plate boundary
• Hurricane Katrina

  • 2005
  • Southeastern winds through Florida then to New Orleans
  • 127 mph winds
  • 6m high storm surge
  • $108 billion in damage
  • 95,000 jobs lost
  • 1 million+ homeless
  • Looting broke out
  • Contamination of water for 5 months
  • 1500 deaths
• Typhoon Haiyan

  • One of the most powerful typhoons to affect the Philippines
  • 195 mph
  • 400 mm of rain
  • 7m storm surge
  • $5.8 billion in damage
  • 6190 deaths
• Camp Fire California 2018

  • Deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history
  • Area of 240 square miles
  • Cost $16.65 billion USD
  • 83% of Paradise's population was displaced
  • Emissions equivalent to 68 million tonnes of CO2
  • Faulty perception of Californians
• Many hazards have the same secondary hazards, with the majority having both flooding and tsunamis as plate margins are often coastal
• There is a great variation between defences for the different hazards, depending on factors such as frequency and how developed the country is
• Preparation for hazards

  • Having emergency responses in place
  • Preventing building and houses in hazardous areas
  • Educating people on the dangers
  • Ensuring houses can withstand hazards
• Protection from hazards


  • Concrete blocks to guide lava
  • Evacuation and exclusion zones
  • Emergency aid
• Mt Nyiragongo

  • 2002
  • Constructive boundary
  • Composite eruption
  • 2 km wide crater and low viscosity
  • Magnitude 5
  • 12,500 homes destroyed
  • 400,000 homes destroyed
  • 200 deaths
  • Spread of cholera
  • Looting broke out