Regional characteristics and Disasters in Myanmarcyclones, storm surge, earthquakes, landslides,...

Regional characteristics and Disasters in MyanmarSaw Htwe ZawMyanmar Earthquake CommitteeMyanmar Engineering Society

100th Anniversary Celebration- International Program

Myanmar Engineering Society



MyanmarWith a population of about 60 million people and abundant natural resources, Myanmar is in the midst of sweeping political and economic reforms that are earning it the title of Asia’s ‘last frontier market’.



Regional CharacteristicsMyanmar is a country exposed to a number of hazards such as floods, cyclones, storm surge, earthquakes, landslides, fires, and tsunamis.

Over the decades, Myanmar has experienced a number of cyclones, floods, earthquakes, and landslides.

Major parts of the country specially the coastal region are mostly affected by the hazards.

The most devastating recent hazard event, cyclone Nargis, hit the country in 2008 and did a significant damage to the lives and properties in the Ayeyarwady delta region.

More than 80,000 people died, thousands of families were homeless and many basic infrastructures were damaged due to this disaster.

Percentage of reported People affected by disaster type

Natural Disasters from 1980 to 2010



CycloneMyanmar is prone to impacts of cyclones.

The months of April, May and October to December are considered to be cyclone months according to historical records.

In the last four decades alone, several major cyclones severely affected Myanmar, notably 2008 Nargis cyclone



Storm SurgeStorm surge is extraordinary flooding due to a storm.

It generally occurs due to waves generated by the strong wind in tropical revolving storms.

The slope of the coastline is considered as one of the important factors controlling the intensity of storm surge.

Myanmar, borders with the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, with its 2400 km long coastline are potentially threatened by the waves, cyclones and associated weather.

significant less than at the luvsides.



FloodFloods in the past, led to loss of lives and properties, damage to critical infrastructure, economic loss and health related problems such as outbreak of water borne diseases when lakes, ponds and reservoirs get contaminated.

Myanmar receives practically all its rainfall between mid-May and October, during which flooding is common.

The riverine floods are common in the river delta while the flash floods and landslides are frequent in upper reaches of the river systems, which are normally the mountainous areas.

In the cities and towns, localized floods occur from time to time.



LandslideMyanmar has experienced many types of geologic hazards including earthquakes, landslides and subsidence in karst area.

Among these, earthquakes and landslides are major hazards affecting the country.

Geomorphologically, Myanmar has two mountainous provinces: namely the Western Ranges and the Eastern Highland.



Wild Fire Although Myanmar is faced with forest fires throughout much of the country, this occurs in rural areas.

Within urban areas of the country, fire is still a major hazard, mainly as a result of dense, unplanned and unregulated settlements that are constructed using unsafe, or flammable material.

Fires are caused by a number of factors including: electricity misuse, electrical surges, and poorly managed wood fires and mosquito coils.



EarthquakeMyanmar rests on one of the world's two main earthquake belts, with one of its many fault lines running 1,000km north to south through the country's agriculturally rich central plain, placing major Burmese cities, including Mandalay, Bago and Yangon, at risk.

During the 20th Century alone, at least 18 large earthquakes had happened along the Central Lowland region where the well-known Sagaing Fault passing through.

The largest measured earthquake in Myanmar is a magnitude 8.0 event, which occurred on the northern segment of this fault on 23 May 1912.



TsunamiMyanmar indeed is earthquake-prone as it lies in one of the two principal earthquake belts of the world-the Alpide Belt.

The historical and seismic records show that in addition to some major historical earthquakes in the distant past, there had been at least 16 large earthquakes with magnitude 7.0 within the territory of Myanmar in the past 170 years.

There were also records of moderate Tsunami generated by two large magnitude earthquakes, which originated in the Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

Thus, it is evident that Myanmar is vulnerable to hazards from moderate and large Tsunami along its long coastline.

In view of these, it is necessary to assess the earthquake and tsunami hazard potential along the Myanmar coastal urbanized areas.



Approaches to Natural Disasters in MyanmarIn the past, Myanmar had been relatively safe from natural disasters.

Its buildings, life style and live environments well synchronized to minimize the risks of natural disaster.

Even in the 2004 Tsunami event, Myanmar was not effected much like the neighboring countries in the region, only 71 casualties were reported in Myanmar compared to more than 8000 in Thailand.

However, in 2008 May, Myanmar was hit by “Nargis” cyclone which brings the biggest losses in term of natural disaster in its recent history.

According to ICRC report, 84,500 people were killed and 53,800 went missing.

A total of 37 townships were significantly affected by the cyclone.

The UN estimates that as many as 2.4 million people were affected.



Response in NargisInitially the response of the government was appalling.

A full 6 days after the storm made landfall, the Myanmar government representation from the United States formally asked the United Nations (UN) for help.

On 19 May, Myanmar granted members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations admittance into the country to deliver aid.

On 23 May that other international aid workers would be let into the country - a full 3 weeks after the cyclone struck.

However, during this period, waves of local volunteers and aids from all over the country gave hands for from drinking water to food and shelters.

Based on monasteries and churches, community networks and local NGOs were set up to assist the disaster effected areas and they became key partners when international aids came in.



Preparedness after NargisAfter learning bitter experiences from Nagis event, the government setup a special committee and task force in order to be able to act promptly and effectively at the time of future disaster events.

The necessary legal frameworks and technical frameworks such as Myanmar Disaster Management Law and Myanmar National Building Code have been prepared and instated.

The improvements were clearly visible in the rescue and rehabilitation efforts for Tarlay earthquake (hit in eastern Shan state in the year 2011) and Thabeikkyin earthquake (hit in northern part of the central Ayeyarwaddy river valley in the year 2012) where information, decisions and actions were prompt, actuate and effective.



Tarlay EarthquakeA magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck eastern Myanmar at Tarlay, near the golden triangle area, bordering between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, at a depth of 10 km, at 20:25 local time (13:55 UTC) on Thursday, March 24th, 2011.

The official number of casualties currently stands at 75 deaths and 110 injuries.

About 986 houses were damaged. Among them 333 were total collapsed.



Shwebo EarthquakeThe 2012 Shwebo earthquake occurred at 07:42 local time (01:12 UTC) on 11 November in Myanmar. It had a magnitude of 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale.

The epicenter was near the town of Male, 52 km NNE of the city of Shwebo, 64 km west of Mogok and 120 km north of Mandalay.

Up to 26 people dead and many more injured. Part of a bridge under construction fell into the Irrawaddy River near Shwebo and some gold mine collapsed at Sintku.



Disaster risk reduction and prevention strength and efforts and recommendationsSince, the new Government has been formed in 2010 under the 2008 Constitution and the government encourage Disaster Management Efforts to be done forcefully with full capacities.

For Disaster Risk Reduction as a National Priority, Myanmar endorsed Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) which is the outcome Disaster Reduction Guideline for the next decades and participated by nearly 4000 delegates from 168 countries.

Moreover, Myanmar had adopted ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Respond (AADMER) in July 2005.

In order to implement HFA and AADMER, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the focal Ministry for Disaster Management in Myanmar, developed Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction (MAPDRR) 2009-2015 through a consultative and partnership approach.



Disaster risk reduction and prevention strength and efforts and recommendationsAwareness and public education programs, Trainees of Trainers (TOTs), Disaster Management Courses for Local Government Officials and Community members and the Interdepartmental Capacity Building Programs are being conducted.

The government is seeking for more investment in DRR, such as preparedness and preventions at the grassroots level of the communities to reduce the expenditure of the recovery Sectors working closely with UN agencies and the all International Organizations such as UNDP, UNISDR, UNOCHA, Action Aid, UN-HABITAT, IRC, ADPC, ADRC etc.



Disaster risk reduction and prevention strength and efforts and recommendationsMyanmar Engineering Society (MES) is working closely with the government on DRR policy issues, management, training and studies.

One of the core partner of MES, SEEDS (Asia) has been working for DRR training and awareness programs through out the country since 2008.

Together with different international agencies, MES is conducting research studies such as “Disaster Risk Reduction & Urban Land Use Planning for Mandalay City”, “Seismic Hazard and Risk Assessment-Bago, Taungoo and Sagaing”.

MES has also prepared Myanmar National Building Code recently and distributed to the public and government bodies for provisional use.



Disaster risk reduction and prevention strength and efforts and recommendationsSince Myanmar has been isolated for many years, the technical knowledge and human resources are in need to catch up with the developments in the region.

One of the key issues in Myanmar is scarcity of reasonably reliable baseline data.

Therefore, more international researches, collaborations projects and studies on disaster risk reduction shall be done in Myanmar.

Regional characteristics and Disasters in Myanmarcyclones, storm surge, earthquakes, landslides,...

Documents

Transcript of Regional characteristics and Disasters in Myanmarcyclones, storm surge, earthquakes, landslides,...