why do we build near Hazard area ?

Subject: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: skarpi
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 08:06 AM

Hallo all , I have often wander why we people like to build
near Hazard ares , like here in Iceland , the Capital is
very near lot big faults in the earth , not far from volcanos
one is in about 10 -20 km away ? and in South Iceland we have a lot of earthquakes just a week ago a big one and about 2000 somthing others
we also around my town about five volcanic areas and then its Hekla
and Katla both very Big Volcanos .

in Other places we build up in hills of the mountains where
we get avelances and other mudfloods . We build so near the shore that
when bad weather are and high floods the sea will a shore .

We here have learened to live with and knowing the Hazard but there
are generations coming up that dont know this and we must teach and
tell about the things that might happen .

and I know that this is a like in many places around the world .

So , if we choise to live near this, how can we prevent the things that we already know , that will happen?

For examble always have a box with first aid kit , water , food
clothes , blankets and if you can a tent or if you have a caravan ? :>)
I do not have this but after the last week of the earthquakes
I will get this right , they now tell us to be ready for
for another big or bigger quake than last time and its gonna be nearer
Reykjavik and my home town , that mean I could get in trouble .
So I´ll be ready :>) as ready I can be ........ but live goes on
and I and people around me are starten to live again and try to
forget this for now .

So , What do you thing ?

All the best Skarpi Iceland

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 09:22 AM

Probably a lot to do with convenience in the past , before they were actualy doing Seismic research ! Most towns of any importance were either ports , controlled Trade Routes or river crossings !

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 09:52 AM

Often times the same things that make an area hazardous also make it a natural place for building a city. New Orleans is a perfect example. It rew up on the spot where the largest river in North America, a virtual water highway, empties into the Gulf of Mexico an arm of the Atlantic making it the ideal setting for a major seaport and it has been one for over 300 years. But its proximity to the gulf puts in at risk for hurricanes and being a delta region at or even below sea level in places means a major storm can be devastating. This is what happened with Hurricane Katrina. In some cases cities may grow up in times past when people may have been unaware of the dangers (I'm sure that when San Francisco grew up around its natural harbor during the 1848 gold rush that people were unaware of the San Andreas fault that caused the devastating earthquake and subsequent fire of 1906). But in the case of New Orleans, its location ensures that there will always be a major port there and we can only hope that the levees will be bigger and better the next time a hurricane comes their way.
   I'm sure that you know the geography of your native land better than I do, but are there any habitable areas of Iceland that are not near volcanoes or faults. Is not Reykjavik located on the most ideal harbor for a seaport? Would your ancestors of over a thousand years ago have been aware of the faults when they first settled there?
   All interesting questions for a geographic historian.
                                              Neil

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 09:53 AM

John Warner (aka occasional Mudcatter Jack Halyard) wrote Yarri of Wiradjuri a collection of songs & poems about the great flood of Gundagai in 1852.

In 1838 the British settlers settled on the floodplain next to the river even tho the local Wiradjuri people told them it was dangerous as the river regularly flooded. Naturally they ignored them & each time their town was flooded they just climbed into the rafters & later dried stuff out.

The Great Flood of 1852 killed hundreds as it rose well above the rafters - one surviving 2 storey stone building shows damage from tree-trunks & boulders near it's roof.

After this flood the township was moved up the hill & the flood plain not used for buildings.

sandra

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 10:06 AM

In Juneau, Alaska, there are six known avalanche chutes in town or just outside. Most of them are clearly indicated by the lack of large vegetation on their slopes. In the past snow slides have come down and pushed houses off foundations and taken off roofs of others. Homes, a hotel and a couple of schools are in their paths.

The town on occasion talks about buying out the owners and forbidding rebuilding below the chutes but it has not yet been done.

The homeowners, who in all likelihood acquired their homes at bargain rates, tend to be stuck once they get in once it becomes known that the hazard is there. That is why realtors resist having the city list affected properties.

My daughter lives in southern California. She lives there despite the known hazards as do millions of others. I expect they tell themselves that they are more likely to be hit by a truck.

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 11:15 AM

Sandra, thanks for the link. What great stuff!

Skarpi, my brother wrote a small book, now being expanded, in which he purports a theory that we can prevent earthquakes through the use of certain musical intonations. If he ever gets it finished I'll send you a copy, if you'd like. Through his research, he has found numerous places where high populations reside above major fault lines, etc.

kat

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: skarpi
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 12:54 PM

thanks Kat , I would like that , neil yes there are areas that we can go to
N-West of Iceland and East of Iceland

ATB Skarpi

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Bee
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 04:27 PM

Then there's places like Nova Scotia, where the only serious natural hazard is the 100 year hurricane, which we had several years ago and will tell tales of for the next hundred.

We also have no poisonous snakes, no dangerous insects, no agressive wildlife - unless you count moose.

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 04:52 PM

How's winter there in Nova Scotia, Bee? Ever see the sun?

I love Nova Scotia, but it's not the best place in the world to get a suntan in November...
Oh, and how's the job market there? I think there's a down side to everything. I think I live in paradise here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, but it's frightening in summer when the fire planes are flying overhead, and when the air gets smoky.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 04:55 PM

Name an area free of hazards. It is bound to be too cold, too dry, too wet, too barren, too.....
If it didn't have any, we would create them.

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 07:21 PM

The main reason is overpopulation. Then there is lack of civic planning and zoning. The main question to me is not why do they (we..I live in Tsunamiville)..build there, but why are they allowed to build as they do...stick houses that break apart in hurricanes..houses that burn, or rot from the rain..made out of flimsier wood than in the past and person-made materials...

I am fanatic about not building out of wood, except where the earthquake risk far exceeds other risks of fire, flood, insects, and hurricanes. Even then, I think some reinforced masonry ends up being safer but people will argue with that and I am not going to reserach it again. There are ways to have building codes, made out of proper materials, to really reduce the hazards. There are simple laws that could be made, or maybe are, to reduce the risk to mobile home dwellers..like each park will have a big masonry building..call it a garage or whatever...where people can take shelter. Several masonry shelters (we still need bomb shelters) scattered throughout a town...high structures in tsunami or flood areas.

Better prepared populace..here we right now have students with their feet up on their desks and baseball caps drooping, chewing gum, with glazed eyes and a defiant attitude..train them to be very important responders in a disaster..digging latrines, first aid, cooking skills, practice erecting tents, etc. We don't make use of the resources we have. Wash and shrinkwrap all sorts of used bedding and clothing and have them on hand ready to drop into places. Buy up surplus, grow surplus, and make biscuits to drop down. mg

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 07:27 PM

Also train prisoners and tell them, if we release you, and you can not release all prisoners no matter the danger, because they are more dangerous than the danger, but there is a point where you must release most and hope for the best..well, tell them, you had better do well in this training and if disaster comes you had better make yourselves useful and the more you are useful the more your sentence will be reduced. If you flee, or worse, cause more trouble, you will regret it quite seriously.

Train everyone ahead of time in proper behavior and what the laws are..we will be photographing everything. If you are dying of thirst and Walmart has water..take the water..no more than you need. You do not however need a TV set. You might need minimal clothing..you can make a payment later....you do not need a prom dress, etc. Looting will be discouraged. We don't have the resources to prevent it..they are needed elsewhere...we will just have a photography system in place and after all is said and done, you will be caught, everything will be put out for public review etc. mg

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: kendall
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 07:52 PM

There are no real hazards in Maine. Sure it gets chilly in the winter, but we dress for it, and it keeps the state from being overpopulated.

Subject: RE: why do we build near Hazard area ?
From: Bee
Date: 05 Jun 08 - 08:15 PM

Hey, Joe... in fact, the job market is not too bad and improving, as it has been in Newfoundland. Trade workers are now so in demand on this end of the country that they are now crying out west for more workers, all the Maritimers and Newfoundlanders having gone home for work.

And we've had two 20 degree days in a row, with sun, so I am unable now to recall winter at all! ;-p