Sunday, May 29, 2016

Final Hazards report for El Salvador.


 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. 
 

  

              





 

1 comment:

  1. Dear Luis,
    I agree with your chosen hazards. I liked how you chose them and how you explained the train of thought.
    I do not think there was a need to add the volcanoes as well, as they were not your top priority.
    Cuscatlan looks lovely!-great choice for a place in the country!
    -Thank you for sharing with us El Salvador!

    ReplyDelete