Shamal's Blog

The Pacific region as a whole is suffering more and more from extreme weather due to climate change aside global warming. They are most definitely the ones who are most vulnerable to it but also contribute the least in terms of global emissions. The average temperatures have already increased about 34 degrees Fahrenheit and are still on the rise. This also causes "ocean acidification" which is continuously increasing further with global warming. This affects reef ecosystems which is an essential part of the communities livelihood. due to this coastal erosion is also being sped up as they act as the "first line of defense against storm surges and strong waves". Global warming is also bringing about a rise in sea level. For example in Tuvalu, the sea level has already increased by around 13.2 cm from 1993 to 2021 with an upwards trend of 4.7mm per year. These alongside storm surges and king tides accelerate coastal inundation which is further affecting their water sec...

Cyclones and Hurricanes are very frequently occurring events in the Fiji Islands. I have lived through many of them even in my 8 years there. As devastating as they already are, it is made much worse due to the infrastructure levels of many peoples houses outside of the main cities. The worst cyclone in history to have ever hit Fiji was "Cyclone Winston", a category 5 storm with winds of 185 mph, which took place during the 2015-2016 cyclone season. It destroyed hundreds of homes and cut electricity lines. There are even reports of entire villages being flattened. The government opened around 750 evacuation centers to aid inhabitants in need help. Power, water, communications, roads, and many other essential utilities and infrastructure had been cut off in many parts of the country, it even rendered many regions as not contactable. "George Dregaso, of Fiji's National Disaster Management Office, told the Associated Press that about 80% of the nation's 900,000 peop...

Despite the many hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and landslides that occur in Fiji. Sinkholes are actually rare to find, as far as areas that are inhabited. They can be caused by the rough waters of strong hurricanes that go through the land or even from the immense floods that could help build up the erosion. One event of a sinkhole took place on the main island of Viti Levu in the Kings Road, which is one of the main highways for the island. The road became closed in order to allow contractors to carry out the repair works more easily and urgently. It was determined that a majority of the wastewater pipe sections at Kings Road had collapsed and deemed unsafe. The repair work became especially complicated due to the repair teams having to safely move through and around buried utility services which were laying above the collapsed wastewater main. Bailing trucks had to be brought in so the wastewater could be diverted from the nearby pumping stations as well as the repair site. Fiji p...

One of the most frequent examples of Mass Wasting in Fiji would be landslides. There are many small and minuscule ones that take place throughout the year, due to earthquakes on just terrain structure on it's own. One of the biggest landslides to have hit Fiji was in December 18, 2016 on Fiji's Qamea island. The landslide swept many houses and structures into the seas. It happened due to the cyclone season dumping heavy rain and causing very severe floods throughout the country. The landslide took place in the Island's Dreketi village. Luckily there were no casualties but "more than half of the village was covered in soil and debris". Even the Village center, health center, and school was pushed out to sea. During the event many older people and children had to be moved into their neighboring villages, many even took boats to stay with relatives on Fiji's Taveuni Island.  Plate_Tectonic.pdf (mrd.gov.fj)

There are countless Cyclones and Hurricanes that take place in Fiji, this brings about many occasions of flooding. The floods can be very severe and widespread in the low-lying areas across the country. They can cause many road closures and casualties due to slips, downed power lines, landslides, and debris. It also tends to occur because of the country's rainy season which is between November and April. Fiji's wet zones are located in the southeast region of the islands, these are typically more prone to experience heavy rains and flooding.  One sever case of flooding in Fiji was in January 2009. After four days of continuous heavy rain on Nadi, Labasa, Sigatoka, and Ba on the main island of Viti Levu, the flood had damaged many roads, bridges, crops, and farmland. "Eight people were reported to have been killed, six from drowning and two killed in a landslide". In order to counter this moving forward, Fiji could adopt an education and research program for disaster p...

  Discuss your country’s volcanic activity (past or present) Fiji has a total of 452 Volcanoes throughout its many islands. The biggest Volcanoe is Taveuni which is about 4071 feet tall. Up until the end of the 20th century it was believed that the volcano had gone utterly extinct. After some research and further studies by scientists its was noted that the last eruption was probably less than 400 years ago which makes it an active volcanoe. Aside from that, the Fiji and Lau Ridge are no longer active volcanic island arcs. Since there is no subduction of rifting in the Fiji Islands, but they formed from a similar process in the past. However, there is still active seafloor spreading that occurs to this day in the Lau Basin. In order to forecast and mitigate possible future eruptions Fiji should incorporate constant and continuous seismic monitoring for activity in their few active volcanic arcs. Plate_Tectonic.pdf (mrd.gov.fj)

One of the biggest Tsunamis to have hit Fiji was in 1953 due to the 6.7 earthquake in Suva. The earthquake had caused a slip in the seabed of the harbor  area which brought about the tsunami in the Suva Peninsula. It dealt major damage to the wharf and caused 3 deaths in Suva, 12 were also reported as drowned in the Fiji Islands Koro and Kadavu. The main source of the tsunami was the result of a "60 million cubic meter submarine landslide at the head of the Suva Canyon". Usually earthquakes near Fiji are the cause of tsunamis, but they can also be caused by "a sudden motion of the ocean floor." This could be due to an underwater landslide or even a powerful volcanic eruption. Tsunamis are a big concern as most population is concentrated in low coastal areas.  One way to further help lower injuries and damages would be to setup a real-time monitoring system of seismic activity and tsunami education and research program to study causes and frequent locations. These co...

The largest and most devastating earthquake to have hit Fiji Islands was the 1953 Suva Earthquake. It took place September 14, 1953 near Suva, Fiji on the main Island Viti Levu. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 6.8, it has triggered a coral reef platform to collapse and also a submarine landslide which in turn caused a tsunami. This event took down many stores and houses within the city.  Fiji is seismically active which means they experiences many earthquakes weekly/monthly, most occur mainly on the edges of the plate and in the ocean. The ones that do occur inland tend to be of low/medium magnitude. Many times earthquakes also bring about a tsunami. Though it is very rare to see another earthquake of similar magnitude to the 1953 Suva Earthquake take place inland.  Two studies of "magnitude-frequency relations" near Fiji have shown that earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher are expected every 15-21 years. While earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or higher are expected ...

Fiji is located on both the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plate. Because of that Fiji is also a part of the Ring of Fire, which is a string of volcanoes that go around the boundary of the Pacific Ocean. The part of the Ring of Fire that Fiji is located in is the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Since there are two plates that are constantly moving towards one another, this is known as a convergent plate boundary. The result of which brings about volcanic mountains such as Mount Tomanivi of Fiji. Previously known as Mount Victoria, Tomanivi is an extinct volcano and also the highest mountain in Fiji. Tectonic History of the Fiji Plateau | GSA Bulletin | GeoScienceWorld Plate_Tectonic.pdf (mrd.gov.fj)