Geoscience Reference
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of the town of Sanriku on the east coast of Japan, which
has been struck repeatedly by large tsunami, have
always returned because they know the fishing condi-
tions along that section of coast. The latter example also
illustrates that, in some cases, people return to the same
place because there may be nowhere less hazardous
for them to go. The citizens of Managua, Nicaragua,
also found themselves in that situation after the 1972
earthquake. The whole country is seismic and no other
location is necessarily safer. In Nicaragua or Japan,
movement from one area of the country to another does
not necessarily increase a person's sense of security.
Evacuation can also mean loss of assets. By
returning, people can at least salvage something.
Residents at Terrigal, north of Sydney, were caught in
that predicament following the Australian coastal
storms of 1974. The value of houses, perched precipi-
tously at the edge of dunes eroded by storm waves,
collapsed. Residents returned to these homes to try to
protect them from further erosion. Fortunately, for
some, housing prices climbed back to normal and they
were able to sell out with minimal loss. Unfortunately,
for others, storms in 1978 encroached further upon
properties, and land had to be resumed for token sums
by the local council. Change after a disaster also raises
legal complications, especially if governments attempt
to restructure cities and cut across existing private or
commercial property boundaries. For traditional
peoples, a high value is placed upon traditional land
rights. All of these examples show that humans are
territorial, and may not want to surrender property no
matter what has happened to it.
There are also psychological benefits in reconstruct-
ing at the site of a disaster. By rebuilding as fast as
possible, people can forget the actual event. They also
keep busy at something they are familiar with, and can
master. This keeps their minds off the disaster, builds
up self-esteem, and overcomes the feelings of hope-
lessness and despair. It has already been pointed out
that the city of San Francisco was rebuilt almost exactly
as it had been before the 1906 earthquake and, after
the 1983 bushfires in Victoria, some home-owners
rebuilt exact replicas of their original home. In the case
of San Francisco, the decision to rebuild in a hazardous
area leads to outright denial of the hazard. Residents of
San Francisco will point out that San Francisco is as
safe as any other area in southern California.
A loyalty to local history, and a commitment to a
locality, also draws people back to a disaster scene.
Rebuilding signals a loyalty to friends or relatives who
might have been killed. Their lives were not lost in
vain, and they will be remembered. For example,
following the Colombian lahar tragedy, the whole
affected area was declared a national shrine by the
government in memory of the 20 000 people buried
beneath the mud. Within months, survivors were
resettling the area. This sense of loyalty also includes
the concept of ancestor attachments. Many people
want to return to their homeland. In some cases, this
relates to ethnicity, in other cases, to respect for
ancestor links. Indian tribes in the Americas and the
Aboriginal groups in Australia have equally strong
attachments to the land. To be removed and then not
be allowed to return to an ancestral homeland makes
life meaningless.
Religious beliefs or morals are sometimes used to
dismiss the hazardousness of an area. Many people
believe that disasters are due to the wrath of a vengeful
or angry god. Disasters do not occur because areas are
hazardous, but because the people living there did
something wrong. For instance, the Lisbon earthquake
of 1755 was perceived at the time to be punishment for
the wickedness of its citizens, to be God's answer to
the cruelty of the Portuguese Inquisition. Accounts of
the destruction of the town of St Pierre, Martinique,
after Mt Pelée erupted, mention the fact that the town
had a reputation for being permissive. Prophets of
doom have predicted the imminent destruction of
San Francisco by an earthquake because of its large
homosexual population. In Papua New Guinea, some
members of the Orokaivan group rationalized the 1951
Mt Lamington eruption as payback for the killing
of missionaries. Hymns, gifts, offerings, and prayers
can placate an angry god who can cause disaster.
Hazardous environments in Indonesia and the
Philippines are often viewed as being imbued with a
divine spirit that can be quietened in this fashion.
Similarly, such beliefs can also dictate against
resettlement. For example, Maoris in New Zealand
attributed the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera to an act
of revenge by an alleged sorcerer. This supposed
sorcerer was, in fact, Tuhoto, the same man referred to
earlier who was found alive after being buried for four
days. Tuhoto had visited some friends close to the site
of the eruption earlier in the year and, following his
visit, the child of a chief had died. The child's grand-
mother accused Tuhoto of bewitching the child. When
Tuhoto heard about the accusation, he was so angered
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