In this week’s blog were have the task of
conducting our final assessment on our chosen countries top two Natural
Hazards. Over the course of the semester I have learned that El Salvador is a
very small country in Central America, which is over populated with roughly
6.42 million inhabitants. That is a lot when you consider that the country only
has about 8,000 square miles of land. Furthermore, they are also prone to many
Natural Hazards and Disasters like: Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions, Tropical
Storms, Hurricanes, Floods, Coastal Erosion and Landslides just to name a few.
Further, some of these disasters are very damaging and become catastrophic in
nature; causing a mass death toll, destroying infrastructures and accumulating
to millions of dollars in damage. Consequently, creating a huge emotional and
financial burden on the country and its people.
While analyzing the impact that
Natural disasters have on El Salvador, I had to take into account the
destruction and the financial strain that they generate. The country which does
not lay on a specific tectonic plate but actually is surrounded by a complex
system of plates that override one another is the cause for so much seismic
activity. Additionally, the fact that it has about 20 different Volcanoes just
adds to the possibilities of future natural disasters or potential
catastrophes. They are both a conjunction between the Caribbean plate
overriding the Coco’s plate and vice versa. On the other hand Tropical storms
have been the cause of thousands of deaths. Which lead me to deciding that the
top two Natural Hazards for El Salvador are Earthquakes and tropical storms.
The major cause of Tropical storms in the region is due to the fact that they
sit in an area that is prone to tropical weather, in addition to being exposed
to the Hurricane season on the western hemisphere. This ultimately, produces
low air pressure systems that in return trigger Tropical weather.
In regards to where I would classify the
most dangerous or at risk areas in El Salvador is based on the hazard. For
example, Earthquakes are very prevalent in the country and are known to cause a
huge death toll on the people living in areas near Volcanoes. Additionally,
there are about 20 Volcanoes on the country but only two have been active in
the last 50 years. Furthermore, both the Izalco and the San Miguel Volcanoes
are located on the eastern flank on the country. Primarily, this is where I would
place my suggestion to offer the residents of municipalities such as the ones
in San Miguel to move away from this high risk area. Also, providing them with
new housing more inland. Likewise, Tropical Storms have also caused major flash
floods and mudslides. In this case I would also advise the residents that they
need to relocate inland and away from the shores that are disintegrating
gradually. Furthermore, I would not only create new housing for them but would
also tackle the fact that the country has lost about 90 percent of its forest;
this alone aids the rain in its destruction because there are not trees to
protect the soil form runoffs.
In El Salvador there are a lot of
people as noted above. This in return causes overcrowding in places that are
the most vulnerable like: hillsides, coastal areas, flood plains and urban
areas close to said areas. These areas would be San Salvador, San Miguel, Usulatan,
Sonsonate, Ahuachapan, Santa Ana and La Union. Further, I came to the
conclusion that to build a home that is the least prone to Earthquakes and
Tropical Storms I would have to get away from overpopulated cities and the
coastal shores. Consequently, the best geographical region to build a home
would be in the Southwestern part of the country in a place called Cuscatlan.
Which has a rough estimate of 33 thousand residents. Which is not bad when
taking into account the six plus million people that live in the region.
