Tectonic Processes and a Hazard Essays

Tectonic Processes and a Hazard Essays Tectonic Processes and a Hazard Essay Tectonic Processes and a Hazard Essay The extent to which tectonic processes represent a hazard depends upon when and where they are experienced (40) A hazard can best be defined as a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property or the environment. The overall impact of earthquakes as a natural hazard varies greatly from one place and timeframe to another. As do the types of hazards, which are categorised into primary and secondary. Primary hazards are created by the direct seismic energy of an earthquake; this could include liquefaction, slope failure and tsunamis. These primary hazards can in turn trigger secondary hazards uch as floods, fires, disease and destabilisation of infrastructure. A number of factors play a part in determining the severity of these hazards. For me the most influential factor is where the tectonic process occurs in relation to the levels of development of that area. MEDCs tend to cope better with the hazard of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions than LEDCs because they have all the necessary resources to survive the effects of these hazards at their disposal. Such as earthquake proof buildings that are designed to withstand earthquakes by using strong materials such as reinforced concrete or building special foundations that bsorb an earthquakes energy e. g. the Bank Tower in Los Angeles, California. Construction laws in some earthquake-prone counties (e. g. Japan and the US) have become stricter in recent years this means that newer buildings are more likely to be able to withstand earthquakes. Another technique in order to protect people from the effects of volcanoes is diverting lava away from settlements using barriers. For example when Mt. Etna erupted in 1983 a rubble barrier 10m high and 400m long was built on its slopes, which successfully diverted the lava flow. However, this is only ossible where the lava is slow moving and there is sufficient warning, this often requires high tech equipment to monitor where the lava will be and at what speed it will be flowing, this is associated with MEDCs . LEDCs on the other hand do not have these high-tech buildings and laws and therefore the effects are much more detrimental. This has been seen in Montserrat on 25th June 1997 when 19 people died and seven people were injured and this was mostly due to the lack of planning and management. Another influential factor that affects the degree of the hazard is here the epicentre is closer to a rural or urban area. Rural area tend to cope with earthquakes much better as there are less buildings that are likely to collapse and rural areas are typically sparsely populated, therefore a smaller amount of people are likely to be affected by the impacts of the earthquake. However, rural areas are less likely to have the infrastructure that could cope with the impacts of a serious earthquake whereas cities do, e. g. earthquake buildings. Many people in rural areas also have less knowledge of the impacts of earthquakes and may not know how to respond aurlng or arter tne quake. In densely populated uroan areas sucn as LAquila, Italy the effects of earthquakes can be much more detrimental as gas pipes can burst, habitats can be lost and thousands of buildings can be damaged. These in turn can have negative secondary affects for example in LAquila 70,000 people were made homeless and the bursting of gas pipes resulted in the spread of fire across the city, causing more damage. Time of day can also affect the outcome of a tectonic hazard. If a volcanic eruption occurs over night the level of danger is often increased as most people are asleep and react a lot slower. This is similar to if an earthquake occurs overnight, however, this is often worse as houses can collapse on people sleeping and may people are unaware that they are even there. The only benefit of earthquake occurring overnight is that families are often close together and can support one another through the traumatic event. Volcanic eruptions that occur during the day are often dealt with much better as people are out and about and can escape much quicker as escape routes can be planned and emergency services are there to lessen the impacts of the event. Earthquakes are often also safer if they ccur during the day as many people are at work, this is because business in earthquake zones often have rules set in place to deal with the event, therefore reducing the risk of injury to the members of the business. Although many would say that the day time is the best time for an earthquake to take place this cannot always be the case. For example in 1989 an earthquake hit San Francisco at 17:04 local time. The earthquake measured 6. 9 on the Richter scale and caused devastation to many. The main reasoning behind why the earthquake was so bad was because it occurred during rush hour, and before a major American football game. The earthquake caused damage to a lot of infrastructure with collapsed bridges and freeways, fires, shattered buildings, gaping cracks in roads and landslides. Due to the collapsed two tier freeway it resulted in many people being trapped under debris and a huge scale rescue undergone by the emergency team and locals. This ended in 9 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Overall you can see it takes a variety of factors to influence the risk of a tectonic hazard and the level of risk cannot be simple worked about by where or when the earthquake, volcanic eruption or tsunami occurs.

Examples of Regular and Irregular German Verbs

Examples of Regular and Irregular German Verbs Weak (regular) verbs follow a predictable pattern and do not vary in the way strong verbs do. 1. arbeiten (to work) - regular (weak) verb; -tet ending Present: Er arbeitet bei SAP. - He works at SAP. (is working)Past/Preterite: Er arbeitete bei SAP. - He worked at SAP. (was working)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er hat bei SAP gearbeitet. - He worked at SAP. (has worked)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er hatte bei SAP gearbeitet. - He had worked at SAP.Future/Futur: Er wird bei SAP arbeiten. - He will work at SAP. 2. spielen (to play) - regular (weak) verb Present: Sie spielt Karten. - Shes playing cards.Past/Preterite: Sie spielte Karten. - She played cards. (was playing)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Sie hat Karten gespielt. - She played cards. (has played)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Sie hatte Karten gespielt. - She had played cards.Future/Futur: Sie wird Karten spielen. - She will play cards. 3. mitspielen (to play along) - regular (weak) verb - separable prefix Present: Sie spielt mit. - Shes playing along.Past/Preterite: Sie spielte mit. - She played along. (was playing along)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Sie hat mitgespielt. - She played along. (has played along)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Sie hatte mitgespielt. - She had played along.Future/Futur: Sie wird mitspielen. - She will play along. Strong (Irregular) German Verbs: Various Tenses These verbs have irregular forms and must be memorized 1. fahren (to drive, travel) - strong, irregular verb; stem-changing Present: Er fhrt nach Berlin. - Hes driving/traveling to Berlin.Past/Preterite: Er fuhr nach Berlin. - He went/traveled to Berlin.Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er ist nach Berlin gefahren. - He went/traveled to Berlin. (has traveled)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er war nach Berlin gefahren. - He had gone to Berlin.Future/Futur: Er wird nach Berlin fahren. - He will travel to Berlin. 2. sprechen (to speak) - strong, irregular verb Present: Er spricht Deutsch. - He speaks German. (is speaking)Past/Preterite: Er sprach Deutsch. - He spoke German. (was speaking)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Er hat Deutsch gesprochen. - He spoke German. (has spoken)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Er hatte Deutsch gesprochen. - He had spoken German.Future/Futur: Er wird Deutsch sprechen. - He will speak German. 3. abfahren (to depart) - strong verb - separable prefix Present: Wir fahren morgen ab. - We leave/depart tomorrow. (are departing)Past/Preterite: Wir fuhren gestern ab. - We left yesterday. (were leaving)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Wir sind gestern abgefahren. - We left yesterday. (have departed)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Wir waren gestern abgefahren. - We had left yesterday.Future/Futur: Wir werden morgen abfahren. - We will leave/depart tomorrow. 4. besprechen (to discuss) - strong verb - inseparable prefix Present: Wir besprechen dieses Thema. - We are discussing this topic.Past/Preterite: Wir besprachen das gestern. - We discussed that yesterday. (were discussing)Pres. Perfect/Perfekt: Wir haben das gestern besprochen. - We discussed that yesterday. (have discussed)Past Perfect/Plusquamperfekt: Wir hatten das vorgestern besprochen. - We had discussed that the day before yesterday.Future/Futur: Wir werden das morgen besprechen. - We will discuss that tomorrow. Special Verb Examples Past action continuing into the present (present tense): He has been living in Berlin for three years. (and he still is)Er wohnt schon seit drei Jahren in Berlin. Action ending in the past: He lived (used to live) in Berlin for three years. (but no longer does)Er hat drei Jahre lang in Berlin gewohnt.