What this lesson teaches
I can explain how managing disaster risk supports sustainable development.
Syllabus K329, Topic 4.3, Key Question 1. How does disaster risk management help achieve sustainable development?
Make a guess
Before Mount Pinatubo's main eruption in 1991, scientists spotted warning signs and tens of thousands of people were evacuated. What killed most of the roughly 850 people who still died?
- Roofs collapsing under ash soaked by a typhoon.
- Lava flows that reached the towns people had left.
- People who refused to leave the summit area.
Show the answer
Roofs collapsing under ash soaked by a typhoon.
A passing typhoon soaked the ash, making it heavy enough to collapse roofs. One hazard can be made worse by another arriving at the same time.
A named place with a date or figure, linked to your point, turns a general answer into a developed one.
This lesson collects the 14 named examples from the lessons in this chapter, so you can revise them in one place. Each one is also a recall card below, so you can save the whole set and review it before an exam.
Disaster risk and development: Haiti and Japan.
Why earthquake risk varies: Haiti and Chile, 2010; Kobe, Japan, 1995.
Why volcanic risk varies: Mount Pinatubo, 1991; Nevado del Ruiz, 1985.
Safer land use and buildings: Chile; Taipei 101, Taiwan.
Monitoring and preparedness: Japan's Earthquake Early Warning system; Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System; Disaster drills in Japan.
Disaster response: Operation Lionheart; Haiti, 2010.
Recovery and building back better: Christchurch after 2011; Sendai Framework, 2015.
To use a case, name the place or organisation, give its date or a figure, then say what it shows about the question. One developed case earns more than a list of names.
- Haiti and Japan
- Richer, better-prepared countries such as Japan can afford monitoring, strong buildings and drills. Poorer countries such as Haiti often cannot, so similar hazards cause far more deaths there.
- Haiti and Chile, 2010
- Haiti's magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed over 220,000 people, while Chile's far larger magnitude 8.8 earthquake killed fewer than 800. Chile had strict building codes and experience of earthquakes; Haiti had many weak, poorly built buildings and little preparation.
- Kobe, Japan, 1995
- This magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck at 5.46 am, when many people were asleep in older wooden houses. More than 6,000 people died.
- Mount Pinatubo, 1991
- Scientists spotted warning signs, and tens of thousands of people were evacuated before the main eruption. This saved thousands of lives, though about 850 people died, mostly when wet ash from a passing typhoon collapsed roofs.
- Nevado del Ruiz, 1985
- Scientists warned of lahars, but the warnings were not acted on in time, and about 23,000 people died in Armero.
- Chile
- Strict building codes, updated after past earthquakes, helped most buildings survive the magnitude 8.8 earthquake of 2010.
- Taipei 101, Taiwan
- This skyscraper has a huge steel ball, a tuned mass damper, that swings to reduce the building's sway in earthquakes and typhoons.
- Japan's Earthquake Early Warning system
- In 2011, sensors detected the Tohoku earthquake's first waves and automatically slowed high-speed trains before the strongest shaking arrived.
- Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System
- There was no warning system for the Indian Ocean in 2004. One was set up afterwards and began operating in 2006.
- Disaster drills in Japan
- Japan holds national drills on Disaster Prevention Day, 1 September, the anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake.
- Operation Lionheart
- Singapore's Civil Defence Force sent Operation Lionheart teams to help search for survivors after the Nepal earthquake of 2015 and the Turkey earthquake of 2023.
- Haiti, 2010
- Damage to roads, the port and government buildings slowed the delivery of aid, showing why essential services matter in a response.
- Christchurch after 2011
- Areas where the land had liquefied badly were made a "red zone", and houses there were not rebuilt.
- Sendai Framework, 2015
- This United Nations agreement for 2015-2030 asks countries to "build back better" so that recovery reduces future risk.
Step by step
Name it
The place, event or organisation.
Prove it
A date, number or specific fact.
Link it
Say what it shows about the question.
Worked example: From a name to a developed point
Weak: "There are real examples, such as Haiti and Japan." Strong: "Richer, better-prepared countries such as Japan can afford monitoring, strong buildings and drills. Poorer countries such as Haiti often cannot, so similar hazards cause far more deaths there." The strong version gives the place and the evidence, so it can earn a development mark.
Watch out for this
Naming a famous example is enough to earn the mark.
Examiners credit a developed case: a place, a date or figure, and a clear link to the question.
Check your understanding
Which is the strongest way to use a named example in an answer?
- Describe the example in general terms, without a place or figure.
- List several example names, with no details.
- Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Show the answer
Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Yes. A located, evidenced and linked case is what earns development marks.