Main Natural Hazard

In New Zealand many natural hazards can be linked to its location. Though many different natural hazards occur I believe that earth quakes are the most important to address. Natural hazards have shaped the country's beautiful landscape, but also caused loss of life and devastation.

Why It Happens 

New Zealand lies on the boundary between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. Along these plates there are many faults. Two of which are called the Alpine Fault and the Wellington Fault. Blocks of rock on the faults sometimes move upward or sideways, causing earthquakes.

GNS science locates every year over 15,000 earthquakes in New Zealand and can expect several magnitude 6 earthquakes every year, one magnitude 7 every 10 years and a magnitude 8 every century. About 200 of the earthquakes are big enough to be felt. Since 1840 more than 450 people have died in a large earthquake.

Reason for Importance

Earthquakes cause other natural hazards like tsunamis, flooding and landslides which is why I address it as a priority. With all of these different natural hazards comes possible damage to citizens housing. In worst case scenarios there have been reports of deaths as well. This is an important factor and gives reason to look more into how we can prevent these natural hazards.

Recommendations 

Some recommendations would be to have a good evacuation plan for people living there as well as having buildings to be up to date to withstand earthquakes. I think that people living there should always be researching the conditions of the weather to stay up to date with what is going on so you can be prepared if a natural hazard occurs. 

Target Help First

Most earthquakes occur along the main ranges running from Fiordland in the southwest to East Cape in the northeast which follows the boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates so I would target help first in these areas due to it being the most occurring areas of earthquakes.

    Construct House

Nestled inland, Hamilton is where I would construct my house because it is tucked away from the coast which will cancel out any risk of tsunamis as well as a safe distance from known fault lines.

References 

"Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand." Earthquakes –. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2016. 

"Where Do Earthquakes Happen in New Zealand?" Where Do Earthquakes Happen in NZ? / New Zealand Earthquakes / Earthquakes / Science Topics / Learning / Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2016.

"Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand." Natural Hazards – Overview –. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2016. 

Costal erosion happens when wind and water currents wear away the shoreline. Depending on whether they are sandy or rocky they will erode in different ways.  

Costal erosion can be a big problem if houses are built on low lying sand, or on cliffs. A zoning system has been set up to prevent  buildings being put up in areas which are likely to flood or erode. 

New Zealanders love to love by the sea but this is something they have to put into mind. One way people have tried to make coast stable and protect buildings is to build sea walls. You can find many around Waitemata Harbour in Auckland and the Wellington waterfront. Beaches can be restored by bring in sand from somewhere else. Planting native grasses that trap sand can stop sand dunes from being blown or washed away.

"Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand." Collapsed Cliff - Costal Erosion -. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016.

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Heavy rainfall is one of the most frequent and widespread hazards to affect New Zealand. It is defined a rainfall greater than 100mm in 24 hours. 

NIWA scientists are working on improving hazard mitigation and increasing society's resilience to hazards such as heavy rainfall. They are developing and applying improved weather prediction models to accurately forecast severe events in New Zealand. 

"Extreme Weather - Heavy Rainfall." Extreme Weather. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016

"Storm Brings 100-year Flood to Christchurch, New Zealand - ImaGeo." ImaGeo. N.p., 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2016

Mass wasting also known as slope movement or mass movement occurs in New Zealand which ranges from massive rock avalanches, to rock slides, rock falls and debris flows. These became very serious due to a recent case that occurred from mass wasting happened at Mount Ruapehu in 2007. A crater lake that was being blocked by the tephra dam broke, which caused a lahar to run down the mountain. An abundance of mud, rock, and water traveled down the Whangaehu River and ended up forming a lahar and in an emergency situation, all major roads in the area were shut down, which trapped thousands of people trying to pass through, but no injuries or deaths occurred. I couldn't find any information about how New Zealand warns people and prevention for mass wasting but the information provided in this weeks lessons had a landslide preparedness page which had helpful information which many countries could benefit from doing.

Volcanic Activity

New Zealand has three different types of volcanos (volcanic fields, cone volcanoes, caldera volcanoes) and the activity occurs in six areas, five in the North Island and one off shore in the Kermadec Islands. The Taupo Volcanic Zone is highly active and most of New Zealand volcanism in the the last 1.6 million years has occurred there. The active cone volcanoes in that area are Ruapehu, Tongariro/Ngauruhoe, White Island. Two of the most productive calderas in the world are Okataina and Taupo. If a life-threatening eruption occurs, a civil defence emergency will be declared and people in at-risk areas will be evacuated.

Resources

"New Zealand Volcanoes." / Volcanoes / Science Topics / Learning / Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. 

"Volcanic Eruption." Volcanic Eruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Seismicity

Seismicity is the frequency or number of earthquakes in a region. From 1960 to 2015 New Zealand has had 28,180 earthquakes. Many of these are small but around 250 are big enough to be felt. To prevent earthquake catastrophe they have strict building codes. In 2015 funding began for Natural Hazards Research Platform created by the Government for natural hazard research. Which encompasses five themes – building geological hazard models; predicting weather flood and coastal hazards; developing regional and national risk evaluation models; improving societal resilience; and improving the resilience of buildings and infrastructure. They do not have warning systems due to they think population will react with such warning. 

Resources

"Earthquake FAQ." - Earthquake. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

"Earthquake Facts and Statistics." - Earthquake. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

"New Zealand: Christchurch Earthquakes 2010-2011." - News. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

"Strict Building Codes Limit New Zealand Quake Damage - Business Insurance." Business Insurance. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

"Time to Invest in Quake Warning System?" Stuff. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Plate Tectonics

New Zealand falls on the edge of both the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which are two of the major plate tectonics. Subduction occurs as result of the North Island of New Zealand which is located in the Pacific place pushing towards the Australian Plate. The Australian Plate is being subjected under the Pacific Plate as well because the two plates underneath Fiordland are moving towards each other in south of New Zealand. The Alpine fault is also found running across almost the whole length of New Zealand. This makes major earthquakes very prone in New Zealand while being on a transform boundary.

Resources

"Tectonic Setting of New Zealand: Astride a Plate Boundary Which Includes the Alpine Fault, Alpine Fault, Department of Geology, University of Otago, New Zealand." Tectonic Setting of New Zealand: Astride a Plate Boundary Which Includes the Alpine Fault, Alpine Fault, Department of Geology, University of Otago, New Zealand. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

"Plate Collision in NZ." / Earthquakes at a Plate Boundary / Earthquakes / Science Topics / Learning / Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

Catastrophe, Disaster and Hazard

A catastrophe is a disaster which would take many years to recover from because it is so large. Hurrican Katrina is an example of a catastrophe. A disaster is a dangerous event that develops over limited time span. There is a certain criteria which would be considered a natural disaster. A natural hazard is a event that could be a threat to life and property, examples of a natural hazard are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides.