Tectonic Hazards & Development (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Inequality & Vulnerability

• Inequality is closely linked vulnerability, the greater the levels of inequality experienced the more vulnerable the population

• People are more vulnerable and less resilient if they lack access to:

  • Education

  • Housing

  • Healthcare 

  • Income

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is used to measure the level of development

• Low HDI is often reflected in:

  • Lower education levels which means that people have a lower awareness of the risk and less perception of the hazard 

  • Poor quality housing, unregulated building and the use of poor construction materials

  • A lack of access to healthcare

  • Poor access to clean water and a healthy diet during 'normal times'

• Other factors linked to inequality which further increase the risk include:

  • High population density

  • Young population 

  • Poor infrastructure

  • Rapid urbanisation

• When a natural hazard event occurs, such as the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the high level of vulnerability and lack of resilience meant there were devastating impacts:
  

  • Buildings were poorly constructed and although there were building regulations these were usually not enforced

  • Search and rescue was difficult due to poor quality infrastructure

  • Government corruption meant that infrastructure and planning lacked investment

  • Many people, particularly in rural areas, were not educated about what to do in the event of an earthquake

  • Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world so there was a lack of funds for preparation and planning

Governance & Vulnerability

Governance

• The way in which a country or region is run is known as governance, this also impacts vulnerability and resilience

  • National governance refers to how the whole country is run

  • Local governance is how local areas are run

• If a place has good governance that means it is well run and the local or national government is effective

  • These areas are more able to cope with hazard events and will have a faster recovery

• Alternatively, weak or poor governance leads to increased vulnerability and impacts the area's ability to cope with a hazard event

• Poor governance impacts on the ability of governments to:

  • Plan for hazard events using techniques such as hazard mapping and land use zoning

  • Educate the population about the risks and how best to protect themselves 

  • Predict events as they do not have the technology and equipment available

  • Prepare by ensuring that stocks of water, food, medical equipment and shelter are available

• Poor governance may also be linked to

  • A lack of openness which means that governments are not held to account 

  • Corruption can have a number of impacts:

    • Money is not spent on preparation

    • Construction companies can get around building regulations or land use zoning by bribing officials 

    • In Turkey corruption related to construction led to increased deaths in the Izmit earthquake (1999) and the more recent Kahramanmaras (2023) earthquake 

Geographical factors

• There are a number of geographical factors which impact the vulnerability of an area:

  • Population density - a higher population density:

    • Makes it harder to evacuate 

    • Buildings are more tightly packed which increases the impact if some collapse

  • Accessibility/isolation - the more inaccessible or isolated an area is:

    • The more difficult it is to reach and supply aid - in Nepal 2015 some of the hardest hit regions were remote rural areas and they were not reached for days

    • The less likely people are to have methods of communication

    • The poorer the infrastructure will be

    • The fewer facilities there are such as medical assistance

  • Urbanisation - the increasing numbers of people living in cities means:

    • There is a higher concentration of people and buildings

    • In developing and emerging countries large numbers of poorly constructed houses on steep slopes are particularly vulnerable 

Context of Hazards

• The overall context of a hazard can have a significant influence on its impacts

Influence of Context on Impacts