04/23/17
Natural Disasters (Geog-1700)
Several natural disasters occurred over the spring semester. Two that stood out to me
were the flood in Lima, Peru that hit in March of 2017, and the eruption of the Poas volcano in
Costa Rica in early April of 2017. I will be discussing different points about both disasters and
how the U.S. and Utah could benefit from these happening. The most interesting thing about the
Poas volcano was that it has erupted seven out of the past eight years, so it is a very active
stratovolcano. Unfortunately there were reports of over 67 people that died from the initial
flooding in Peru. Fortunately no casualties were reported from the eruption at Poas. I will cover
geological attributes, level of preparedness, how humans could make the disaster worse, and how
First I will discuss the events of the flood in Peru. The geological attributes of Lima, Peru
include the center of the city only being 512 ft. above sea level. This makes it very prone to
flooding, because the Lima region of Peru is right on the west coastline of South America with
little protection. The region also has a lot of rivers that can overflow, and did during the worst
flood they have seen in decades. Being close to the ocean along with higher temperatures cause
more rain in the region. Perus level of preparedness is low, like most of South Americas
countries, due to poverty levels, and government funding. When a high level of the population is
facing poverty, they tend to have weaker buildings in that area and the number of deaths can be
catastrophic. If Peru could build a better infrastructure and create stronger buildings, and more
efficient roads we could expect a better level of preparedness. The flood can be linked to any
other extreme weather that happens on the pacific along South America. Some scientists believe
that due to global warming the sea levels rise, creating more floods and landslides. I dont
believe the flood became any worse by any human error. The only way a human could make the
event worse is if they didnt help others in need that were in the water, or trapped.
If the Lima area could build reservoirs in their mountains this could be more of a blessing
than a curse when it rains. They could trench out new water ways and man made rivers to
account for flooding. If they could get enough donations from the flood relief they could build up
Now I will cover the events of the eruption of the Poas volcano. The geological region of
Puerto Rico is surrounded by two oceans and along the ring of fire, making it prone to more
earthquakes and volcanic activity. Costa Rica is prepared for volcanic eruptions. They have
tectonic plates creating earthquakes and volcanoes for a long time. If there were any villages
close by to the Poas volcano they would be affected, but the eruptions in April werent enough to
cause any significant damage. The Poas volcano could be related to earthquakes in the region
setting them off. Costa Rica has several volcanic ranges linking this one eruption to many close
by. Volcanoes couldnt be any worse because of human error, unless there is a situation such as
failure to get people out of the way of hot magma, or getting too close to the volcano, no one
should get hurt. The region that the Poas volcano is located at is a national park, so there isnt
any immediate danger to houses, just tourists and nearby villagers. It would be the park rangers
mitigation. From the floods in Peru we can learn that in the event of a major flood we need to
have surrounding areas equipped with supplies and people ready to help victims. We can also
create a better draining system if the rivers were to overflow. I feel the national guard and other
military groups have helped when our country needs it, and that makes me feel safe to live here.
The U.S. is a lot more prepared than South America due to our resources. Even Utah could
benefit by using some of the events that happened after and use historical data for natural
Following these two disasters helped me appreciate the world news, and made me more
aware of disaster relief organizations. It is unfortunate that both disasters happened, but they
were interesting to learn about. Before taking this class I did not realize how many natural
disasters happen within a short period of time. We can all do our part to help out disasters around
the world and close to home. I know that if the Utah earthquake were to happen our community
would help rebuild and recover, I hope that the people of Peru are able to recover and grow for a
brighter future.