Living with earthquakes in the developing world

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• Professor James Jackson, Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
• Tuesday 16 October 2012, 13:00-14:00
• Latimer Room, Clare College (Old Court on Trinity Lane, behind Kings College Chapel).

If you have a question about this talk, please contact cambridgepublicpolicy.

Many more people die in moderate-sized earthquakes in continental interiors than in massive earthquakes on the ocean margins, such as in Japan and Chile in recent years. This is partly because geological circumstances within the continents are different, and more challenging, than those on oceanic plate boundaries.

But it is also because the link between the appropriate geological knowledge and those who need to take account of it, such as planners, architects and politicians, is much more robust in developed than non-developed countries. Corruption and wealth also play a big role in resilience to earthquakes. A particularly significant factor is that the geological circumstances on continents concentrate populations into megacities in hazardous locations, making them especially vulnerable.

This seminar will illustrate how these processes have led to contrasting experiences in the modern world, in which earthquakes in rich developed countries are (relatively) stories about money, whereas in poor undeveloped or corrupt countries they involve (again relatively) a massive loss of life.

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This talk is part of the Cambridge Public Policy Seminar Series series.

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• Cambridge Infectious Diseases
• Cambridge Public Policy Events
• Cambridge Public Policy Seminar Series
• Latimer Room, Clare College (Old Court on Trinity Lane, behind Kings College Chapel)

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