LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

THE CARIBBEANPART 3: EARTHQUAKES AND

TSUNAMIS

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

TECTONIC PLATES

Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s heat flow causes lithospheric interactions, which cause EARTHQUAKES

Natural Phenomena that can Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s Restlessness causes subduction of tectonic plates, which can cause

TSUNAMIS

THE NORTH AM. AND CARIBBEAN PLATES: CHARACTERIZED BY SUBDUCTION

THE CARIBBEAN BASIN

The Caribbean: long referred to as the West

Indies, includes more than 7,000 islands; of these, 13

are independent island countries

ISLANDS POSSESSING MINOR VOLCANIC FEATURES

• Aruuba, Barbados, Bahamas, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, and Antigua

ISLANDS POSSESSING RUGGED MOUNTAIN RANGES

• Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, ,Dominica, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Tortola, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Trinidad and Tobago

ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER

HAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF EARTHQUAKE ELEMENTS OF EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI RISK AND TSUNAMI RISK

ELEMENTS OF EARTHQUAKE ELEMENTS OF EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI RISK AND TSUNAMI RISK

EXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISKRISKRISK

EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAZARDS

ARE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS

EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS

SURFACE FAULT RUPTURE, GROUND SHAKING, GROUND

FAILURE (LIQUEFACTION, LANDSLIDES), AFTERSHOCKS

TECTONIC DEFORMATION

EARTHQUAKE

TSUNAMI

GROUND

SHAKING

FAULT RUPTURE

FOUNDATION FAILURE

SITE AMPLIFICATION

LIQUEFACTION

LANDSLIDES

AFTERSHOCKS

SEICHE

DAMAGE/LOSSDAMAGE/LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/ LOSSDAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/LOSSDAMAGE/LOSS

UNREINFO

RCED MASO

NRY, BRIC

K OR S

TONE

REINFORCED C

ONCRETE WIT

H UNREIN

FORCED WALLS

INTENSITYINTENSITY

REINFORCED CONCRETE WITH REINFORCEDWALLS

STEEL FRAME

ALL METAL & WOOD FRAME

VV VIVI VIIVII VIIIVIII IXIX

3535

3030

2525

2020

1515

1010

55

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CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS HAVE DIFFERENT VULNERABILITIES TO GROUND

SHAKING

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS HAVE DIFFERENT VULNERABILITIES TO GROUND

SHAKING

INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING

EARTHQUAKESEARTHQUAKES

SOIL AMPLIFICATION

PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT (SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND

FAILURE)

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN

FIRE FOLLOWING RUPTURE OF UTILITIES

LACK OF DETAILING AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

INATTENTION TO NON-STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

TSUNAMI HAZARDS

TSUNAMI WAVE RUNUP, WAVE REGRESSION, COASTAL EROSION

A TSUNAMI WAVE CAN REACH 10 M OR MORE IN HEIGHT

A TSUNAMI WAVE CAN REACH 10 M OR MORE IN HEIGHT

Tsunamis Are Associated with Subduction Zone Earthquakes

• M 7 or larger earthquakes that occur in oceanic subduction zones can cause:

Tsunamis

HIGH VELOCITY IMPACT OF INCOMING WAVES

TSUNAMIS TSUNAMIS

INLAND DISTANCE OF WAVE RUNUP

VERTICAL HEIGHT OF WAVE RUNUP

INADEQUATE RESISTANCE OF BUILDINGS

FLOODING

INADEQUATE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL EVACUATION

PROXIMITY TO SOURCE OF TSUNAMI

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF AN EARTHQUAKE OR A TSUNAMI INTERACT WITH A

CARIBBEAN NATION’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF AN EARTHQUAKE OR A TSUNAMI INTERACT WITH A

CARIBBEAN NATION’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER is ---

--- the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help  when three continuums: 1)  people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis,…) intersect at a point in space and time.

Disasters are caused by single- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause

extreme levels of mortality, morbidity, homelessness,

joblessness, economic losses, or environmental impacts.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• When it does happen, the functions of the community’s buildings and infrastructure will be LOST because they are UNPROTECTED with the appropriate codes and standards.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community is UN-PREPARED for what will likely happen, not to mention the low-probability of occurrence—high-probability of adverse consequences event.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community has NO DISASTER PLANNING SCENARIO or WARNING SYSTEM in place as a strategic framework for early threat identification and coordinated local, national, regional, and international countermeasures.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community LACKS THE CAPACITY TO RESPOND in a timely and effective manner to the full spectrum of expected and unexpected emergency situations.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community is INEFFICIENT during recovery and reconstruction because it HAS NOT LEARNED from either the current experience or the cumulative prior experiences.

MAJOR EARTHQUAKES—TSUNAMIS IN THE

CARIBBEAN

MAJOR CARIBBEAN EARTHQUAKES--TSUNAMIS

• A major earthquake (some accompanied by tsunamis) occurs on average every 50 years in the Caribbean.

MAJOR CARIBBEAN EARTHQUAKES--TSUNAMIS

• In the past 500 years, a dozen major earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater (some with tsunamis) have occurred in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

MAJOR CARIBBEAN EARTHQUAKES--TSUNAMIS

• Before the March 12, 2010 destructive earthquake in Haiti, the most recent major earthquake was the M8.1 quake that occurred in 1946 off the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic, triggering a tsunami that killed about 1,800 people.

THE CARIBBEAN: DYNAMIC LABORATORIES FOR LEARNING

• EACH CARIBBEAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TEACHES IMPORTANT TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL LESSONS ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE.

HAITI EARTHQIAKE

THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE: MARCH 12, 2010

NO TSUNAMI: THE M7.0 EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED ON A STRIKE-SLIP FAULT

THE DEADLIEST DISASTER OF 2010: MARCH 12, 2010

• M7.0 Haiti Earthquake that killed 230,000, largely because of the inadequacy of the building code, left survivors stuck in tent cities battling a hurricane (Tomas), cholera outbreak, and health-care problems for the rest of the year.

DEATH TOLL REACHED AN ESTIMATED 230,OOO+

PUERTO RICO EARTHQUAKE (AKA SAN FERMIN QUAKE)

AND TSUNAMI

PUERTO RICAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

• At 10 am on October 11, 1918, the island of Puerto Rico was struck by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, centered in the Mona Passage. approximately 15 kilometers off Puerto Rico’s northwestern coast

PUERTO RICAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

• The earthquake killed 80 and caused widespread destruction rated at $4 million across Puerto Rico.

• The tsunami produced wave run-up as high as 6-12 m (20-35 feet) along the western coast of the island, killing at least 40.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO AN EARTHQUAKE--TSUNAMI

DISASTER ISEARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

DISASTER RESILIENCE

THE ALTERNATIVE TO AN EARTHQUAKE--TSUNAMI

DISASTER ISEARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

DISASTER RESILIENCE

CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN NATION’S NATION’S

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN NATION’S NATION’S

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

DATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

• WINDSTORM HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

EQ-TS RISK EQ-TS RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

EQ-TS DISASTER EQ-TS DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•FORECASTS/SCENARIOS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL EARTHQUAKES-TSUNAMIS

PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL THE LIKELY HAZARDS IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL EARTHQUAKES-TSUNAMIS TECHNOLOGIES THAT FACILITATE THREAT IDENTI-FICATION AND/OR EARLY WARNING AND EVACUATION ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL EARTHQUAKES-TSUNAMIS

TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN ARE INEVITABLE

EARTHQUAKES AND TSUNAMIS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN ARE INEVITABLE

• ---SO, DON’T WAIT FOR ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF BECOMING EARTHQUAKE—TSUNAMI DIS-ASTER RESILIENT.

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION FOR BECOMINMG

WINDSTORM DISASTER RESILIENT

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION FOR BECOMINMG

WINDSTORM DISASTER RESILIENT

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIESEMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER RESILIENCE

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER RESILIENCE

• MEASURMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., GROUND SHAKING; STRAIN)

• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (E.G., GIS)

• RISK MODELING (E.G., HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING)

• MEASURMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., GROUND SHAKING; STRAIN)

• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (E.G., GIS)

• RISK MODELING (E.G., HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING)

• DATABASES • DISASTER

SCENARIOS• ZONATION OF

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS AS A TOOL FOR POLICY DECISIONS

• DATABASES • DISASTER

SCENARIOS• ZONATION OF

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS AS A TOOL FOR POLICY DECISIONS

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER REWILIENCE

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER REWILIENCE

• AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMEMT

• PREFABRICATION AND MODULARIZATION

• ADVANCED MATERIALS (E.G., COMPOSITES)

• COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

• PERFORMANCE BASED CODES AND STANDARDS

• ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ENERGY DISSIPATION DEVICES (E.G., BASE ISOLATION)

• REAL-TIME MONITORING AND WARNING SYSTEMS

• COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

• PERFORMANCE BASED CODES AND STANDARDS

• ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ENERGY DISSIPATION DEVICES (E.G., BASE ISOLATION)

• REAL-TIME MONITORING AND WARNING SYSTEMS

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER RESILIENCE

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EQ—TS DISASTER RESILIENCE

• PROBABILISTIC FORECASTS OF PHYSICAL EFFECTS

• MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., SEISMIC NETWORKS, TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM)

• PROBABILISTIC FORECASTS OF PHYSICAL EFFECTS

• MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., SEISMIC NETWORKS, TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM)

• DATABASES• SEISMIC ENGINEERING • MAPS: GROUND

SHAKING, GTOUND FAILURE, TSUNAMI WAVE RUNIP

• DISASTER SCENARIOS• WARNING SYSTEMS• RISK MODELING (E.G.,

HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING)

• DATABASES• SEISMIC ENGINEERING • MAPS: GROUND

SHAKING, GTOUND FAILURE, TSUNAMI WAVE RUNIP

• DISASTER SCENARIOS• WARNING SYSTEMS• RISK MODELING (E.G.,

HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING)

TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM

• FACILITATES GETTING PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY OF TSUNAMI WAVE RUN UP THROUGH HORIZONAL AND VERTICAL EVACUATION

• FACILITATES GETTING PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY OF TSUNAMI WAVE RUN UP THROUGH HORIZONAL AND VERTICAL EVACUATION