Fiji

In this weeks blog, I will be discussing the topic of mass wasting. Mass wasting is defined as “a comprehensive term for any type of downslope movement of earth materials”, which can also be referred to as landslides. Landslides have had a great impact on the land of Fiji and it’s inhabitants.  This mass wasting has been seen to occur repetitively in areas near mountains. In these mountainous places, rock and soil move down toward people’s homes. One family had to wake up in the middle of the night in order to alert the others in the house that they needed to evacuate immediately. Thankfully, the parents of the household were able to evacuate their family and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, the family had experienced a landslide like this in the past. However, it was also not in 2003 as it was recently in 2017. In another incident, the  Dreketi Health Centre on Qamea was also destroyed by a landslide. Fortunately, the services provided at the center were still give...

Koro Nabukelevu   Taveuni This week in my blog I will be discussing Fiji’s volcanic activity. There are three main volcanoes located in Fiji which are Koro, Nabukelevu, and Taveuni. Koro is a group of basaltic cinder cones that are located between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Many of these cones are less than 10,000 years old, but are not likely to erupt.  Nabukelevu is an andesitic-dacitic lava dome complex. This volcano is located at the end of Kadavu Island. Nabukelevu has not erupted in over 10,000 years, but is still proposes dangers to Fiji. A main hazard from Nebukelevu is that debris from the complex can cause issues by damaging near by coastlines. Also, earthquakes  can cause avalanches and landslides of debris and volcanic rock to slide into the ocean, disrupting the underwater life. “Three fault lines run through Nabukelevu, making the volcano prone to failure.”(Volcanoes of Fiji).  The Taveuni volcano is so massive that it forms the th...

In my last post I shared with you all that Fiji is very close to the Fiji plate, therefore, it is not to any surprise Fiji's seismicity is very high. According to the USGS website, the most recent earthquake had occurred on February 5, 2018 in Lambasa  which projected a magnitude of 4.2. However, seven hours prior to this earthquake another earthquake, at a magnitude of 4.5, struck Ndoi Island. Even though these magnitudes may seem relatively normal, Fiji has also experienced high magnitude earthquakes. According to Earthquake Track , the largest earthquake to hit Fiji this year had a magnitude of 6.4 in Levuka, Fiji.  With earthquakes always disturbing the islands of Fiji, it is prevalent that action must be taken to ensure the safety of the people. The residents do all that they can to make others aware of the earthquakes that frequently occur. A committee is brought together every year to address procedures on what to do during an earthquake and to discus...

In this weeks blog, I will be focusing on the concept of plate tectonics and the distance from Fiji to the Fiji Plate boundary. According to Natural Hazards:Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes, written by Edward Keller and Duane DeVecchio, Fiji is approximately 100 miles from the Fiji Plate.  However, Fiji is also located near the Indo-Australian and the Pacific Plate boundaries which make for a very complicated plate boundary history.  Within the Keller and DeVecchio's text, they specify that there are there types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform. Divergent boundaries occur when new crust is created because the plates move away from each other. Convergent boundaries occur when crust is destroyed by two plates move toward each other. Transform boundaries occurs when no new crust is created due to the plates sliding past each other in opposite directions. The Fiji Plate has convergent boundaries, which result i...

Many times people believe that hazards, disasters, and catastrophes are terms that can be used interchangeably. However, this is a common misconception. A hazard is an event that is seen as a threat to humanbeings and the property they own. Some examples of a natural hazard would be floods, landslides, expansive soils, and frost because they could do damage to a human’s property. There is no area that is considered hazard free because every country, state, and city is prone to natural events. A disaster is an event that happens in a certain area that occurs over a certain time. One of four aspects have to be met for an event to be classified as a natural disaster—10 or more people are killed, 100 or more people are affected, a state of emergency is declared, and international assistance is requested. Natural disasters cause not only physical damage, but also financial and social loss. A catastrophe is a huge disaster that only occurs when a tremendous amount of money and time is neede...