Earthquakes

What is an EARTHQUAKE?

Earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.

ACTIVE FAULTS

• What is a FAULT?

A fault refers to a fracture, fissure, or a zone of weakness where movement or displacement has occurred or may occur again.

• What is an ACTIVE FAULT?

An active fault is a fault that has moved within the last 10,000 years.

Philippines' Geographical Location

The Philippine Archipelago occupies the western rim of the Pacific Ocean (Western Segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire), a most active part of the Earth that is characterized by an ocean-encircling belt of active volcanoes and earthquake generators (fault lines).

HAZARDSCAPE of the Philippines

What are the Earthquake Generators in the Philippines?

• Philippine Trench
• East Luzon Trough
• Manila Trench
• Palawan-Mindoro Collision Zone
• Negros Trench
• Zamboanga-Western Mindanao Collision Zone
• Davao Trench
• Philippine Fault Zone and its many branches
• Many Active Faults (e.g. Lubang, Tablas, Casiguran and Mindanao Faults)

Philippine Seismicity

• An average of 20 earthquakes recorded per day
• 5,000 plotted earthquakes per year
• 200 felt earthquakes per year
• 90 destructive earthquakes for the past 400 years.

Hazards

HAZARDS

Hazards may either be natural or human-made phenomena potentially causing losses to human settlements and economic activities. These are events or physical conditions that has the potential to cause fatalities, injuries, damage to property, or interruption of livelihood.
The physical parameter of the hazard event is that "it causes harm".
Geologic or environmental events become hazards once they threaten to adversely affect society or the environment.
- A physical event like an earthquake that does not affect human beings is termed Natural Phenomenon.
- A natural phenomenon that occurs in a populated area is a Hazardous Event.
- A hazardous event that causes unacceptably large numbers of fatalities and/or overwhelming property damage is a Natural Disaster.



Classification of Hazards (extent to which hazards are natural)

1. NATURAL HAZARDS
2. QUASI-NATURAL HAZARDS
3. TECHNOLOGICAL/ANTHROPOGENIC (MAN-MADE) HAZARDS

Natural hazards arise from purely natural processes like earthquakes and floods.

Quasi-natural hazards arise through the interaction of natural processes and human activities like smog and desertification.

Technological / Anthropogenic (Man-made) hazards arise directly as a result of human activities like toxicity of pesticides to fauna, accidental release of chemicals, and radiation from a nuclear plant.

• includes hazardous materials incidents.
• usually, little or no warning precedes incidents involving these types of hazards
• chemicals are found everywhere (e.g. in purifying drinking water, in increasing crop production, use of household cleaners)
• risks occur during production, storage, transportation, use or disposal
• sources: service stations, hospitals, waste sites

Modern Hazard Terminology

• Secondary Hazards - hazards that follow as a result of other hazard events (earthquake can lead to fires, tsunami, water pollution, and dam failure)
• Chronic Hazards - group of hazards that do not stem from one event but arise from continuous conditions which accumulate overtime (famine and resource degradation)
• Rate of Onset - speed of onset of a hazard is important variable since it conditions warning time (rapid onset and slow onset)
• Spatial Dispersion - pattern of distribution of a hazard over the geographic area in which te hazard can occur.
• Temporal Spacing - refers to the sequencing and seasonality of events (random, seasonal)
• Hazardscape - the landscape of many hazards

Basic Terminologies

HAZARDS
- threatening phenomena, events or occurrences that have the potential for causing injury to life or damage to property and environment.
- Examples: Typhoon, Flood, Drought, Epidemic, Armed Conflict

VULNERABILITY
- weaknesses; physical, social, economic, cultural and environmental factors and conditions which increase the individual, family or community's susceptibility to disaster.
- Examples: Houses made of light materials, attitude of helplessness and dependence, conflict in the community

CAPACITY
- knowledge, skills, resources, abilities, strengths present in individuals, households and the community which enable them to prevent, prepare for, withstand, survive and recover from a disaster.
- Examples: Permanent houses, ownership of land, adequate food and income sources

DISASTER RISK
- the likelihood or probability of a hazard striking a vulnerable community, causing injury, damage and loss.

RISK
- the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environmental damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.

DISASTER
- a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic (assets, goods and services) or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community/society to cope using its own resources (UNISDR).

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR)
- the conceptual framework of elements considered with the possibilities to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development.

DISASTER RESILIENCE
- the capacity of a system, community or society to resist or to change in order that it may obtain an acceptable level in functioning and structure.
- determined by the degree to which the social system is capable of organizing itself, and the ability to increase its capacity for learning and adaptation, including the capacity to recover from a disaster.

Author's Thoughts

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (Philippines) is a broad and interesting topic. I had been interested in this topic starting last year (2014), although I am really into the environment. I finally found something that will help the environment in a more special way than just by throwing my garbage in the right place and planting trees... and that is by blogging.

Many may think that blogging won't actually help the environment, besides I had been using the electricity and that is an additional greenhouse gas for the ozone layer.

But think about the people who might see this blog and change the way they treat the environment. Think about those people who care and might disseminate the information as well. Think about those children who had been surfing the internet and might see this blog and be able to see its worth. Think about the change it can do in raising awareness for those who doesn't know that THE EARTH IS DYING.

Let us all be responsible. Let us save the lives of the vulnerable sectors in our society. Let us act now before it is too late.

  Maria Eloisa Geconcillo

 Freelancer