Anthony's blog on Guyana

Tropical Storm Noel Tropical storm Noel passed through the western Caribbean and claimed the lives of 48 people. The tropical storm hit the caribbean in October of 20017. the storm cut a destructive path across the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Almost 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes and alost 3,00 homes were destroyed by flooding and mudslides. The storm pounded the Caribbean that evening, where damages by flash floods were exacerbated by erosion and stripped hillsides. Tropical Storm Erika Rescue crews jumped off boats and ran through mud, rocks, and uprooted trees Saturday, August 29th 2015 in the small eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. Tropical storm Erika had claimed the lives of at least 20 people and left nearly 50 people missing. Among the people who received care was 51 year old Richard Baron, who was swept away in a flood with his son as they scooped mud out their home. He told reporters “W...

     Although Guyana hasn't had any recent volcano activity, Kick 'em Jenny is a submarine volcano in the Caribbean Sea north of Grenada. The image below shows Grenada, towards the top of the map, right off the coast of Georgetown Guyana.      Kick 'em Jenny is the only live volcano in the Eastern Caribbean and sits about 180m below the surface of the sea. Kick 'em Jenny has erupted a total of 14 times and its most recent eruption was recorded in April 2017. This submarine volcano was discovered in  1939 so it is about 78 years old. As noted earlier, Guyana has not had any recent volcanoes but Kick 'em Jenny can pose a major threat if it erupts, it can cause a massive tsunami that can ruin the communities around Guyana including Georgetown.      If Kick 'em Jenny erupts, the proper steps will be taken to ensure the safe evacuation of anyone in the path of destruction due to The Seismic research Unit. The ...

Guyana's Seismicity           Although Guyana has not experienced any earthquakes directly, the Caribbean region has earthquakes frequently and actually experienced a 5.1 magnitude earthquake this morning, 51 miles from the British Virgin Islands. In the event of an earthquake occurring, the Caribbean Hazard Mitigation Capacity Building Program (CHAMP) is prepared to take action. CHAMP is a three-year project funded by the  Canadian International Development Agency, implemented by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency and executed by the Organization of American States. Their main goal is to enhance regional capacity to reduce vulnerability to the effects of natural hazards. This will be done through the development of natural hazard mitigation policies and implementation programs that promote the wider use of hazard information in development decisions and the strengthening of safe building practices, building training, and cert...

Guyana is apart of the Caribbean Plate which is mainly a oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. The Caribbean  Plate also borders the North American Plate, South American Plate, The Nazca Plate and the Cocos Plate. Of these regions are intense seismic activity, including very frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and even tsunamis. The Greenstone belts of northern Guyana which were formed by volcanoes on the oceanic crust, between 2.3 and 2.2 billion years ago, over a span of over 100 million years ago became part of a large mountain range caused by the pressure of convergent tectonic plates. References: Rosa, Correa. Journal of South America Science. sciencedirect.com. 2014,July https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895981114000170 Admin, Earth Matters: Geology of Guyana. guyanachronical.com. 14 April, 2012 http://guyanachronicle.com/2012/04/14/earth-matters-geology-of-guyana

A natural hazard differs from a catastrophic as well as a natural disaster. before taking this course I thought they all pretty meant the same thing but I was sadly mistaken. A Natural hazard is an event that happens natural but becomes a hazard when human life is affected or loss due to it. A Catastrophe on the other hand is  a violent and tragic even that often leaves a change in a feature of the earth like Hurricane Katrina which also happened to be the most costly catastrophe in history. A natural disaster is a major event caused by the forces of nature like landslides, floods and fires.