Tectonics: human imapct and management

Earthquakes impact humans in many different ways and it is probably fair to say that people in LEDC suffer more than MEDC's. Potential impacts include:
1. short-term (immediate) impacts
2. long-term impacts
3. social impacts (the impact on people)
4. economic impacts (the impact on the wealth of an area)
5. environmental impacts (the impact on the landscape)

A way in which the impacts could be studied would be to try to think of the impacts and then consider actual case studies. Students can look at the severity of the impacts comparing LEDC and MEDC's.

The following information is taken from the BBC web site and is a concise summary of the general effects.

Short-term (immediate) impacts People may be killed or injured. Homes may be destroyed. Transport and communication links may be disrupted. Water pipes may burst and water supplies may be contaminated.

Economic impacts:Shops and business may be destroyed. Looting may take place. The damage to transport and communication links can make trade difficult.

Environmental impacts: The built landscape may be destroyed. Fires can spread due to gas pipe explosions. Fires can damage areas of woodland. Landslides may occur. Tsunamis may cause flooding in coastal areas.

Long-term impacts Social impacts:Disease may spread. People may have to be re-housed, sometimes in refugee camps.

Economic impacts:The cost of rebuilding a settlement is high. Investment in the area may be focused only on repairing the damage caused by the earthquake. Income could be lost.

Environmental impacts:Important natural and human landmarks may be lost.

Generally the effects of an earthquake are more keenly felt by a LEDC's than a MEDC's for numerous reasons and the student can try and think about the differences in the 2 that might contribute to the differential. These will include;
1. Communication systems may be underdeveloped, so the population may not be well educated about what to do in the event of a volcanic eruption or an earthquake.
2. Construction standards tend to be poor in LEDCs so building suffer more damage.
3. Buildings collapsing can cause high death tolls.
4. Evacuation and other emergency plans can be difficult to put into action due to limited funds and resources.
5. Clearing up can be difficult. There may not be enough money to rebuild homes quickly and safely. Many people could be forced to live in emergency housing or refugee camps.

Students can apply difficulties to case studies such as the quake in Japan 1995 (MEDC) and the recent quake in the South Pacific (LEDC). Comparisons can be made as to death tolls, building destroyed, those left homeless, the re structuring costs, spread of disease and aid provided to name but a few.