Case study key facts and figures Indian ocean tsunami 2004 Magnitude: 9.

9.1 (USGS) Epicentre: Sumatra, Indonesia 230,000 people killed (mostly coastal regions) Effected Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives and Somalia Third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph Indian Plate subducted by the Burma Plate triggered a series of tsunamis along the coasts Japan tsunami (Tohoku) 2011 Magnitude 9.0 Undersea megathrust earthquake off of coast of Japan Epicentre: approx 70 km east of Oshika Peninsula of Tohoku The most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and the fifth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900 15,883 deaths, 6,150 injured (Japanese National Police agency) Tsunami was up to 40.5m Pacific Plate is subducting under the plate beneath northern Honshu (debated) One minute before the earthquake was felt in Tokyo the Earthquake Early Warning system sent out warnings Haiti earthquake 2010 Magnitude: 7.0 Epicentre Leogane and approx 25 km west of Port au Prince (Haiti capital) 100000 to 316,000 deaths (100,000 figure from USGS, 316,000 figure from gov.) Gov. of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (UNICEF) Occurred on blind thrust faults associated with Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system No evidence of surface rupture. Earthquake is thought to have not involved a lateral slip on the main fault Nevado del Ruiz 1985 Value of 3 on volcanic explosivity index 23,000 total death toll Pyroclastic flows melted the mountain's glaciers, sending four enormous lahars down its slopes at 60 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour). The lahars picked up speed in gullies and coursed into the six major rivers at the base of the volcano the town of Armero was effected , killing more than 20,000 of its almost 29,000 inhabitants. Second-deadliest volcanic disaster of the 20th century.

Iceland eruption of Eyjafjallajkull 2010 Measured 4 on Volcanic explosivity index Many eruptions took place however they are considered to be one divided into phases. Radar stations of the Meteorological Institute of Iceland did not detect any appreciable amount of volcanic ashfall during the first 24 hours of the eruption

Kobe earthquake 1995 Magnitude originally 6.8 (USGS), changed to 7.2 (Japan Meteorological Agency) Second most populated and industrialised area after Tokyo Philippines Plate subducted beneath the lighter continental Eurasian Plate (formed from the molten magma released by the melting of the Philippines Plate) Destructive plate margin Buildings collapsed as well as bridges and roads (primary effects) Fires broke out, congestion & chaos on roads, homelessness (secondary) 300,000 made homeless 6,434 killed (Kobe City Fire Bureau 2008) Mount Pinatubo 1991 Magnitude: 7.8 Occurred 100km northeast of Pinatubo region, 90km northwest of capital city Manila Second largest volcanic eruption of twentieth century 800 people killed 100,000 homeless Milliions of tons of sulphur dioxide was discharged into the atmosphere, resulted in a decrease in global temperatures over a few years following disaster. (temp dropped temporarily between 1991 1993 by 0.5 degrees, USGS factsheet) Eruption was forecast by USGS and PHILVOLCS and consequently saved at least 5,000 lives & at least $250m in property. (USGS factsheet) Sichuan earthquake 2008 Magnitude 8 Epicentre: Wenchuan County, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture 80 km west/northwest of the provincial capital city of Chengdu Occurred as a result of motion on a northeast striking thrust fault that runs along the margin of the basin 69,181 known deaths 18,498 people listed as missing 374,171 injured 5 million people were left without housing (the number could potentially be 11m)