Natural Hazards

- 3 Main Processes:
1) INTERNAL FORCES
o Driven by internal energy of Earth
o Plate tectonics (earthquakes, tsunamis)
2) EXTERNAL FORCES
o Driven by energy of Sun
o Atmospheric effects
3) GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION
o Driven by force of Gravity
o Downslope movement (avalanche, landslides)

Definitions:
- Natural Hazard natural process that poses potential threat to people
Magnitude and Frequency
- Impact of hazard is a function of both magnitude (energy released) and frequency
- Magnitude-Frequency Concept: Inverse relationship between magnitude and frequency
(higher magnitude = less frequent)

Geological Cycle:
Materials over 4.6 billion year history are created/modified by physical/chemicalprocesses. 3
Types:
1) Tectonic Cycle
- Creation/movement/destruction of tectonic plates
- There are 14 plates (7 major and 7 minor)
- Driven by Earths internal energy
- New land is formed at mid-ocean ridges

2) The Rock Cycle

- Interrelated processes that produce 3 different rock types:
o Igneous (formed by cooling of magma)
o Sedimentary (magma cooling water lithification)
o Metamorphic (chemical changes)
- Rock gives clues to geological events of past

3) The Hyrdologic Cycle

- Movement and exchange of water water cycle
- Residence Time Length of time that substance spends in a specific part of natural
system (water molecule ranges from days to thousand years)

Understanding Hazards:
- Observe Hazardous Event Form Explanation
 - Form Hyothesis Collect Data to Test Hypothesis
- Natural processes only become hazardous when they interrupt human activity
- We cannot prevent them, but we can respond to them

Mitigating Loss
- Prediction = SPECIFIC time/date/location hurricane
- Forecast = RANGE of probability of event (more general) earthquakes
- Risk = Probability x Consequences
- Consequences = Damage to people/environment/economy
- Acceptable Risk =amount of risk society is willing to take

The Human Footprint

- risks associated with hazards change as human development expands
- economic losses greater in developed countries
- Deaths higher in DEVELOPING countries
- Disaster Trends in Canada
o Geological disasters staying same (earthquaes/volcanoes
o Weather disasters are increasing (warming temperatures)

Reducing Consequences:
- Direct Effects = deaths, injuries, displacement
- Indirect Effects = crop failure, starvation, emotional distress
- Reactive what we do right after a disaster
- Proactive prevention!

Earths Internal Structure

- Inner core is hot and solid
- Asthenosphere = upper mantle = hot magma and some flow
- Lithosphere = thin brittle crust
- Tectonics = upper part of lithosphere broken into fragments (2 TYPES)
1) Oceanic = dense, thin (avg 7 km)
2) Continental = Releatively Buoyant (Less dense)

- Volcanoes
o Oceanic plate sinks beneath continental rock is melting, currents carry melted
rock up to create volcanoes

Plate Boundary Types:

1) Divergent
- Plates move away from each other creates new land
- Seafloor spreading ocean ridges form (ex. Atlantic getting wider, sea floor spreading)
- Earthquakes happen here
2) Convergent
- Plates move toward each other
 - Collisions of oceanic and continental= subductionzones
o Dense ocean plates sink and melt
o Melted magma rises to form volcanoes
- Collisions with 2 continental = collision boundaries
o Neither plate sinks
o Tall mountains form
o Dont sink India pushing into Asia
3) Transform
o Plates slide horizontally past each other
o The zone of this movementis called a transform fault
o Most faultslocated beneath oceans
o Ex. San Andreas Fault
Famous for earthquakes (SanFran is right on the line)
Largest in North America

Hot Spots
- Areas found away from boundaries spots where magma rises from mantle
- Magma erupting at surface = formation of volcanoes
- String of islands = indicative of hot spot
- In the middle of plate boundaries, stronger current areas
- Plates move across hotspots
- Oahu = only island on top of hot spot
- Himalayas = continent-continent collision

Earthquakes
- Result from reupture of rocks along fault
- Energy released in form of seismic waves
- Mapped according to the epicenter measured by seismographs and compared by
magnitude
- Richter Scale = measure of strength of wave at distance of 100km from epicenter

Moment Magnitude Scale

- More accurate! Determined by:
o Area reuptured along fault
o Amount of movement along fault
o Elasticity of crust at focus
o Logarithmic (M7 earthquake = 10 times the amount of ground motion as a M6)

Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

- qualitative scale based on structures and effect on people
- 12 categories
Earthquake Processes
- when rock stress exceeds strength of rocks, there is sudden movement along a fault
- faults= seismicsources
o must identify faults to evaluate risk of earthquake in area
Distribution
- Pacific Ring of Fire
Fault Types:
1) Strike-slip Faults displacements are HORIZONTAL
- San Andreas fault = strike-slip
2) Dip-Slip Faults displacements are VERTICAL
- 3 Types: Reverse, Thrust, Normal
o Reverse hanging wall has moved up relative to footwall at angle STEEPER than
45 deg
o Thrust hanging moves up footwall by LESS than 45 deg
o Normal Hanging wall has moved DOWN footwall
- Comprised of 2 walls: Footwall (where miners stand) and Hanging Wall (where lamps
are hung)
Activity:
- Active = movement in 11600 years
- Potential = 2.6 million
- Inactive = NO movement in 2.6 million
Tectonic Creep
- Slow movement of rock along fracture caused by stress (so slow, cant really see)
- How Do We Know? clues, damage roads, infrastructure damage
Seismic Waves
- Body Waves include P and S waves
- P Waves primary/compressional move fast, push-pull motion, travel through
solids/liquids
- S Waves called secondary waves, move more slowly, in Up and down
motions(wavy!)
 -

- Diference between arrival times of first P and S waves at different locations determine
distance to epicenter

o Distance is calculated at 3 different seismic stations

o Circle with radius equal to that distanceis drawn around station
o Epicenter is located where all 3 circles intersect!
o Deeper earthquakes = less severe attenuation= reduction of energy
o East feels larger area effects
Seismic energy slows down in areas with heterogenous folded fault crust
- Shake Maps = widespread variation of shaking felt in area 12 categories

Earthquake Cycle
- Hypothesis that explains successive earthquakes on a fault
- Foreshock, Mainshock, Aftershock
Plate Boundary Earthquakes
1) Strike-Slip
- At transform faults where plates slide horizontally
- Common in California
2) Thrust
- Occur at faults that separate converging plates
- Subduction earthquakes
- Strongeston Earth can produce tsunamis
- Thrust = displacement (oceanic is sinking)
3) Normal Fault
- Occurs on divergentplate boundaries
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge located under oceans, smaller
- Hanging wall slides down the footwall
 - Thats why tsunamis are more common in Indian Ocean

Intraplate Earthquakes
- Earthquake on fault in interior of continent
- Smaller than plate boundary
- Damage considerable due to lack of preparedness seen in southern Ontario
- Recurrence Interval = (time between successive events) several hundred years

Effects:
Primary Ground shaking, surface rupture
Secondary liquefaction, tsunamis, landslides, fire, etc

Ground Rupture
- Displacement causes cracks in surface
- Scarp face of vertical cliff
- Fault Scarp linear escarpment at Earths surface formed by movement along fault

Liquefaction
- Transformation of water-saturated sediment from SOLID to liquid
- Occurs during strong earthquakes water pressure becomeshigh
- Mainly happens in tropical areas must have water in soil
- Watery sand and slit flows along fractures causes extensive damage

Landslides
- Ground motion can cause rock and sediment to move downslope
Fires
- Ground shaking and rupture can sever power and gas lines
- 80% of damage in 1906 San Fran earthquake = fire
Haiti Earthquake
- M7.0 Earthquake occurred on Jan 2010 death toll 220 0
- Epicenter was 25 km from Port au Prince
- Occurred along a transform fault

Natural Service Functions

- Faults provide pathways for downward flow of surface water can channel
groundwater
Earthwaukes caused by Human Activity
- Weight of water reservoirs produced by dams can create new faults
- Testing nuclear weapons puts strain on area
Planning
- Trans-Alaska oil pipeline crossed denali fault construction withstood earthquake!
o Pipeline was on stilts that can move
Earthquake Pre-cursors
- Pattern and frequency of earthquakes
 - Land-level change GPS stations can detect changes
- Seismic Gaps Along Faults areas that havent seen earathquakes are more likely to
experience one
- Physical and Chemical Changes

Tsunamis
Earthquakes must be at least M 7.5 to trigger a tsunami by displacement of seafloor or
triggering a landslide thatenters water

4 Step Process:
1) Displacement of Seafloor sets waves in motionreach surface, spread outward
2) In Deep Ocean, Waves Move Rapidly reach speeds of over 500 km/h
wave crests are very large
height of waves are small
ship passengers would hardly notice (JUST DEEP OCEAN)
3) Water Approaches Land, Piles Up front wave slows down, wave amplitude increases
4) Tsunami lands, Height Increases

TYPES:
1) Distant Tsunami travels across thousands of km across open ocean
2) Local Tsunamiaffects shorelines a few km-100km from source
Risk to subduction zone coasts

Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

- M9.1 3rd strongest in world history
- Small plates, but size dont matter plates locked for 150 years, so strain piled up
- Rupture on plates caused land areas along coastline to subside below sea level

Detecting Tsunamis
- Network of seismographs estimate magnitude
- Elecctronicsensors connected to buoys verify tsunamiproduction
- Seafloor sensors for water pressure change = tsunameters

- As waves approach land, they become more unstable

Spits ridges that extend parallelto the shore

Barrier Islands narrow long isnalnds separated by a bay

Sea Level Change

- Eustasy: sea level changes from melting ice sheets
- Isostasy: forces that elevate or depress Earths crust
- E.when large ice sheet melts reduced weight causes crust to rise ocean rises
 - Maldives most islands less than 1m above sea level

Human Interaction:
- Removal of coastal sand dunes for construction leaves some areas vulnerable
- Minimizingthe damage:
o Hard Stabilization: structures designed to protect the shoreline
Seawalls built parallel to shoreline
Tend to enhance beach erosion, but redirects energy to shore
Groins are built perpendicularto shoreline traps sand
Breakwaters built parallel to shores to protect boats
Jetties perpendicularto shores at mouth o riverbuilt in pairs
Prevents sedment from accumulating at river mouth
o Soft Stabilization: addition of sand to depleted beaches
E-line expected position of shoreline after a specified number of years
E-zone areas between present shoreline and respective E-line
E-60Zone= permanent structures allowed
o Land-Use:avoidance of building in hazardous areas

Volcanoes
- Molten Rock:
o Magma: volcanic rocks are named based on amount of silicon present
Types of Volcanic Rock: basalt, andesite, dacite,rhyolite (low highsilica)
Higher Silicon Content = more viscous, cooler,more gasses Latesto
More explosive eruptions
4 Type of Volcanoes
1) Shield
- Largest,broad arcs
- Balsatic magma (low
2) Composite
- Cone-shaped
3) Volcanic Dome
- Steep-sied,rhyolite (explosive!)
4) Cinder Cone
- Small volcanoes, road to oval shaped

Talasrockallat the en
Tephra fragmented volcanic materialblownout(dried magma)
Pyroclastic Deposits (accumulated tephra)

Caldera circular oval depression, collapse of a volcano

Super Eruptions: magma unable to break the crust eruptions

Andesite Originates from a melting plate

Berm

Volcanic Explosivity Index = 0-8 based on tephra ejected

LandslideVariables:
1)Mechanims of movement
- Fall, slide flow
2) type ofmaterial
3) amount of waterpresent
4) speed of movement

Factor of Safety:
ResistingF/DrivingF

Ratio> 1 = stable,Ration< 1 = unstable

Tilmeters = detectmovementalongslope

Types of Avalanche:
1) Point-Release
a. Begins asinitial failureof heavy snowfall, sliding snow causes morefailure
2) SlabAvalanche
a. Snowpackfracturesalongaweaklayers

3 MajorTests:
1) Compression Test verticalforceplaaced on topof snowback
2) ShovelTEst asses strength byisolating columnofsnow
3) RutschblockTest skier pushesand jumpson columnof snow