Natural Catastrophes in the Caribbean
The Caribbean often include the Caribbean Sea together with its island and coast. These regions are among the globe’s sailing and boating that offers a variety of activities with warm weather and beautiful scenery. Tourists from all around the world often find the Caribbean great to explore for their many islands and sailing water that is usually calm. As the saying goes, all with merits have their demerits; the Caribbean is not out. The Caribbean faces a lot of catastrophes that the residents there find hard to cope up with. Hurricanes and earthquakes are the main catastrophes in the Caribbean, while others include tsunami, volcanic activities and storm surge. These catastrophes have a lot of effects on the Caribbean people, and there is a way they deal with them.
Earthquakes
An earthquake is a natural disaster that occurs when energy from the crust of the earth, which often causes seismic wave gets released suddenly. Generally terming the word “earthquake” would only be describing seismic events. Causes of earthquakes can either be natural or human events. In the Caribbean, earthquake is a universal catastrophe and residents in those places have history about it. There are numerous examples of massive earthquakes that have occurred in the Caribbean. This phenomenon has a lot of effects that it causes to countries in the Caribbean. Cases of earthquakes that have happened in the Caribbean include Dominican Republic earthquakes in 2003,1984, and 1946, earthquakes in Jamaica in 1692, 1907, and 2020, and Puerto Rico earthquake in 2020, 1918 and 1787.
The Caribbean often experience earthquakes that originate from either tectonic or volcanic forces. Even though the occurrence of earthquakes at time differ in the Caribbean, no island is out of danger of experiencing earthquakes. The tectonic setting of the Caribbean shows that these forces originate from the boundaries of the Caribbean plates. The stored energy causes plates of the Caribbean to push away from each other or towards the other. After the plates have pushed towards each other or away from each other, a force builds up. The force between the plates increases pressure which results in a line of weakness. Waves then travel to the center of the plates and cause a shake of the ground. Volcanic earthquakes in the Caribbean on the other is an earthquake of weak magnitude. These shaking of the grounds are due to injection or withdrawal of magma. In the Caribbean, there exist a lot of tectonic forces which trigger earthquakes.
The earthquakes have a lot of effects on the Caribbean, which include, the shaking of the ground that significantly gets notable. Ground shaking has a lot of result to human life, crop growing and infrastructures. The earthquake’s magnitude solely depends on the intensity of the causative forces and its distance from the epicenter. A severe earthquake would cause tremendous shaking of the ground, which would result in massive destruction on a lot of things on the ground.
Shaking of the ground due to earthquake causes destruction of buildings. In 1964, the Alaskan earthquake had seven minutes of ground shake. Buildings got destroyed, the shaking gave difficulties to people and animals that hindered them from standing up and moving around. The strong shaking of the grounds often causes objects to toss around. People’s death in the Caribbean are usually not directly from earthquakes but indirectly. The chances of direct mortality due to earthquakes are almost to zero even though people often get terrified.
The people who often fall on the wrong side of luck the ones that persist in building and highways are the ones who die; this is one’s responsibility, not the earthquakes. Building in the Caribbean often falls when a severe earthquake takes place, and those in the structure often succumb to death. An example of an earthquake that occurred in Puerto Rico left two-level buildings down onto the lower level caused by unsupported columns. These columns got affected by a previous earthquake, but no actions were taken in leading to forty-one deaths. Another example is one in Jamaica in 1907, where several buildings collapsed due to poor constructions.
Ground rapture is another effect caused by earthquakes. Ground rupture often occurs when seismic waves move along a line of weakness which breaks the earth surface. During an earthquake, active ground rarely gets to happen, but some cases have happened in California. For instance, an earthquake in 1906 in California, there was offsetting of fences next to Pt. Reyes up to six meters.
Ground rapture though rare, their effects seem more massive compare to ground shake. In a given example of an earthquake that happened in Owens Valley in 1872, there was a massive ground rapture that happened. A ground rapture caused by an earthquake often impacts a lot of issues to human beings in the Caribbean. A lot of things often get rapture, for instance, tunnels, railway lines not forgetting roads and airports in case they exist where ground rapture occurs.
Landslides at the Caribbean are also other effects of earthquakes. Landslides are often as a result of ground rapture and sustained ground shaking that causes slope instability. Landslides cause massive destructions on the surface of the earth like the destruction of buildings, blocking of roads and rails, and sweeping hilltop homes down the ally. An example of a landslide is one that occurred in 1959 in Montana where a river got dammed. Another example is a large landslide that occurred in Loma Pieta, where landslide led occurred in a highway.
Tsunamis are also effects of earthquakes. Tsunamis are tidal waves that have massive effects on not only in the Caribbean but also in the world. Earthquakes cause these water waves on the seafloors. Tsunamis move at a higher speed in oceans of up to seven hundred kilometers in an hour. Tsunamis often cause a lot of deaths and sweep off a building at the Caribbean next to the sea or ocean. An earthquake of a magnitude up to seven earthquakes causes a tsunami, for instance in 1946 in Aleutian Island.
Earthquakes cause liquefaction, subsidence and other related impacts. Much destructions from earthquakes of higher magnitude often result in liquefaction and subsidence. Liquefaction is a scenario where the broken rocks get to float in water in the ground hence resulting from loss of solidity by ground. Once liquefaction has happened, it is often followed by subsidence since the soil is still recompacting. All these cause adverse effects to buildings, roads, rails at the Caribbean. Historically, a lot of building has subsided in the Caribbean due to liquefied soils.
The Last effects caused by an earthquake in the Caribbean is fire. Fire often gets triggered by ground rapture and liquefaction, which rapture natural gas production and water underground which contribute to ignition of a massive fire that is hard to control. The ground also often triggers fire when it tampers with power lines in the ground and the splitting burning liquids like petroleum.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are massive storms that hover and swirl over long miles. Hurricane seasons in the Caribbean are often from June to December but peaks in September. Luckily, when hurricanes form, forecasters can predict the path it will follow. The Caribbean tends to experience a lot of hurricanes. There are five examples that have occurred in the Caribbean in the last forty years. These hurricanes happened between 1979, and they are the deadliest ever felt in the Caribbean. September and partly August are the peak months for the fatal storms in the Caribbean.
The first example is Hurricane Gordon. The deadly storm of Hurricane Gordon occurred in from 8th to 21st November 1994. The dangerous storm affected a lot of countries; these countries include Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas and Caicos. The hurricane then resulted to a landfall in the southern part of the US. Hurricane Gordon’s significant destruction was intense in the Sothern US. The Tropical Storm Gordon lead to one thousand one hundred and fifty-two deaths as it was moving at a speed of one hundred and forty kilometers in an hour. Its damages were up to approximately six hundred million dollars. Hurricane Gordon was a category one hurricane.
Hurricane Katrina is the second example of deadly hurricanes in the Caribbean, and it occurred between 23rd and 30th August in 2005. The storm affected the Gulf Coast of the US. It also led to the development of depression in the Bahamas. The hurricane leads to one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six deaths as it was moving at a wind speed of two hundred and eighty kilometers in an hour. It caused damages in the US that were approximately one hundred and twenty-five billion dollars. Hurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane.
Hurricane David that caused two thousand and sixty-eight deaths is another example of deadly tropical storms in the Caribbean. The hurricane was one of the worst hurricanes to ever happen in the history of the Caribbean. Hurricane David occurred between 25th August and September in 1979. The tropical storm caused damages ranging to one and half billion dollars, and it was travelling at a wind speed of two hundred and eighty. Hurricane David affected the Caribbean Sea, Dominica, Santo Domingo, the Bahama, the United States and the Dominican Republic. Hurricane David was a category five hurricane.
The fourth example of the deadly tropical storm was Hurricane Jeanne. The Hurricane Jeanne occurred between 13th and 28th September in 2004. The category five hurricane led to three thousand and thirty-seven deaths, and its windspeed was one hundred and ninety-five kilometer in an hour. Hurricane Jeanne did damages ranging to approximately eight billion dollars; it affected Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Maria is the last example of a deadly tropical storm in the Caribbean that occurred between 16th September and 2nd October in 2017. The hurricane affected Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles, and the Bahamas. Hurricane Maria is one of the tropical storms that led to massive impacts that got left on the Dominican Island. The wind speed of Hurricane Mania was two hundred and eighty kilometers in an hour leading to three thousand and fifty-nine deaths with damages approximate to ninety-six billion dollars. The Tropical storm left a lot of areas without water and electricity for long.
The Caribbean tends to experience tropical cyclones that get sustained to a minimum of one minute with at least a windspeed of seventy-four kilometers in an hour. Hurricanes get created when warm air gets to hit the troposphere, causing a high pressure which pushes down dry air. Hurricanes occur more massively at the Caribbean due to the availability of high humidity and warm air. Historically, hurricanes have caused a lot of effects on the Caribbean. When people are talking about the impacts of hurricanes, they often emphasize on the land and people living on it.
The first effect of hurricanes at the Caribbean is the impacts on ecology. The Caribbean has an ecology that is tropical due to its proximity to the equator. The ecosystem of the Caribbean significantly is full of tropical plants, tree and animals. The tropical storm passes of the Caribbean land, and heavy rains accompany it. They then cause debris and end up destroying trees. The most significant effect of hurricanes to vegetation is the falling down of trees and destruction of vegetation structure. For example, in Jamaica, the Cockpit country destruction is as a result of hurricanes. Hurricanes are also a deterrence to animal’s coexistence leading to their physical deaths, destruction of their feeds and affecting their environment.
Hurricanes affect society at large. The numerous impacts of hurricanes to the society is visibility from the lots of deaths, increased social tension and damages imposed to infrastructures. For example, in 1998, when The Great Hurricane of 1780 occurred, twenty thousand deaths got recorded. Hurricanes not only lead to people perishing but also destroy human foods leaving plantains as the only available foods. These incidences often lead people to rely on even the worst sources of food like the roots of plants. A good example happened in Puerto Rico where people died from a plague due to weakening immune system caused by lack of food. Even though hurricanes affect mostly human life, the three causes of these tropical storms are human, divine and science.
Hurricanes often increase social tension in people’s coexistence occurs after a lot of hurricanes. For instance, slave owners in the past would fear that a slave revolt would happen that might otherwise lead to looting. An example of slave rebellion due to hurricane’s aftermath is 1776 that lead to several deaths of slave overseers, and they also burnt plantation fields. Luckily no much records of looting by the slaves after hurricanes are in the record like in San Ciriaco.
The next that hurricanes have on society is the destruction of infrastructures. The tropical storms often cause massive destruction at the Caribbean. For instance, the 1780 Hurricane lead to a storm surge to a height of twenty-five feet; this hurricane destroyed one hundred and fifty homes included a medical center where victims were getting treatment. A similar example also occurred in 1792 in Cuba that had more deaths than the one in 1780 since it also destroyed bridges and roads. Hurricanes also destroy communication lines hence affecting communication, trees fall and block roads hence hindering every sector in society. The tropical storms in the Caribbean often destroy a lot of things leaving people in poverty. Some of the most affected areas in the Caribbean are Florida, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Tsunami
Tsunamis are tidal waves that have massive effects on not only in the Caribbean but also in the world. Even though the occurrence of Tsunamis in the Caribbean is rare, historically Tsunamis have occurred in the Caribbean. In the past five hundred years, there have been ten tsunamis in the Caribbean. In the five hundred of history in Tsunamis in the Caribbean, it has recorded fewer damages as compared to earthquake, hurricanes and volcanic activities. There are four types of tsunamis in the Caribbean.
The first type of tsunami in the Caribbean is teletsunamis. Teletsunamis are a type of tsunamis that come far from the place of occurrence, often up to one thousand kilometers. This type of tsunamis significantly affects Hawaii and the West coast of the US. The benefit behind the tsunamis is that it creates time for people to get a warning about since it occurs long distance away from places of origination. There are only two examples of teletsunamis that are in the record of occurring in the Caribbean; they all occurred in Portugal between 1755 and 1761. The damages from the tsunami were minimal.
The second example of tsunami in the Caribbean is the landslide tsunami. Landslide tsunamis are often from the occurrence of landslides and not from earthquakes. This kind of tsunami often has massive effects even though it occurs in a particular small area. The place of origination place is usually close to the place of occurrence, and therefore warning time becomes limited. Landslides frequently occur at the Caribbean, making landslide tsunamis possible to occur.
The third type of tsunamis is volcanic tsunamis. Volcanic activities such as an explosion, collapse of caldera and landslides often result in tsunamis. In the Caribbean, eruptions from Nevis mountains have recorded volcanic tsunamis. An example is the one that happened in December 2001; strong tsunami occurred due to strong eruptions in the Caribbean.
The last example of tsunamis is the tectonic tsunamis. This tsunami occurs when earthquakes cause water waves on the seafloors. Tsunamis move at a higher speed in oceans of up to seven hundred kilometers in an hour. Tsunamis often cause a lot of deaths and sweep off a building at the Caribbean next to the sea or ocean. An earthquake of a magnitude up to seven earthquakes causes a tsunami, for instance in 1946 in Aleutian Island.
Tsunamis have a lot of effects on the society and environment. The first effect of tsunamis is destruction. Tsunamis contain a lot of energy as they move, which can cause a lot of destructions in the Caribbean. Waves from tsunamis, even though high, do not cause a lot of damages, but the vast mass of moving water causes massive destructions. Tsunamis often destroy objects and buildings. Buildings, bridges and boats at the Caribbean are at risk of getting damaged. Poorly build houses often face massive destructions from tsunamis.
Tsunamis have a record of causing deaths. The biggest and worst adverse impacts of tsunamis in the whole world are the perishing of people due to tsunamis since it is a hardly inescapable catastrophe. Thousands of people always die as a result of tsunamis. Before tsunamis occur, there is little warning that is still available to people at the Caribbean and therefore gets them unaware. The violent forces from tsunamis cause instant deaths of people, and the damaged object also causes deaths and injuries to people.
Tsunamis also lead to diseases. Tsunamis often get associated with a large mass of moving water and waves. These moving waves destroy structures and end up causing floods at the Caribbean which damage structures such as sewages mixing them with freshwater supply. Flooding and impurification of drinking water cause the emergence of a different illness. Tsunamis then make it difficult for people to stay healthy and also deter treatment hence spreading infections.
Tsunamis have adverse environmental impacts in the Caribbean. Associated tsunamis with the destruction of human life are just a one-sided story as it also causes destructions to insects, animals, plants and natural resources. Trees and plants at the Caribbean get uprooted by tsunamis; hence destroying the habitats of insects and animals like birds. Solid wastes also get swept by the tsunami waves which results in environmental problems.
Volcanic activities
Even though hurricanes often get termed as being very destructive at the Caribbean, the damages resulting from volcanic are more intense. Most of the volcanic activities take place at the Eastern Caribbean since it lies on a plate boundary. The northern plate in America sinks below the Caribbean plate and creates a perfect atmosphere for the production of magma. The produced magma then comes up to the earth surface with pressure hence causing a volcano. Volcanic activities have a lot of effects on the people in the Caribbean.
The first effect of volcanic activities at the Caribbean is the harmful effects of gas evolved during eruptions. Volcanoes often produce water vapor to the atmosphere, which causes few problems. The water vapor often gets mixed with little amounts of sulphur oxide and hydrogen gases. These gasses have a record of causing breathing hazards. Frequent eruptions of such gases at the Caribbean often result in aggravating of existing breathing problems in people.
Other negative impacts of volcanoes include loss of life due to the hot eruptions. Magma erupted during volcanic activities at the Caribbean often flow over a long distance leading to deaths of people. The flowing magma also does destroy not only people’s lives but also destroy infrastructures and vegetation cover, leading to the destruction of the Caribbean landscape. The ash and mud from gases emitted during volcanoes such as sulphur oxide mix with rainwater causing acid rains and mudflows.
Volcanic eruptions at the Caribbean also have positive effects such as the attraction of tourists. The flowing lava at the Caribbean often leads to beautiful that attract tourist. Lava formed during eruptions would break down to provide soil nutrients that are good for tropical vegetations at the Caribbean. The high temperature that causes the eruption can get used sparingly at the Caribbean to produce a geothermal source of energy.