Shamal's Blog

There are 2 dangerous disasters that are more common than the other disasters for Fiji. The first would  be the Earthquakes. Fiji is seismically active which means they experience many earthquakes weekly/monthly, most of them occur mainly on the edges of the plate and in the ocean. Instrumental historical records have existed from the late 19th century up to the present for Fiji. From the numerous data provided in the report, it goes to show that the recurrence intervals "along even the most active seismic belts surrounding the Fiji Islands exceed the historical records." Which says that the repetition of events along the Fiji Fracture Zone can't be resolved. Another study in the report by Everingham goes to say that earthquakes of magnitude of 7 or higher occur every 15-21 years. Earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or higher happens every 2.5-6 years. The second and arguable most dangerous disaster for Fiji would be Cyclones, they are the most common and dangerous occurring eve

The risk of a drought taking place in Fiji is no longer high during this time period but it is still there nonetheless. The driest areas, dry zones, are the "lower islands and leeward areas of the Fiji Islands". They are the ones that are most vulnerable to droughts. Droughts can have a very big impact on agriculture which is a very big part of Fiji's economy. The impacts of the 1997-1998 was a big event in Fiji. In October 1998, the "southeastern coastal belt of Viti Levu began experiencing low stream flows and surface water shortage (hydrologic drought)". This drought caused a "$104 million loss in revenue in the sugarcane industry alone". The regions that got hit the most were the western sides of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, and the Yasawas, in these regions "90% of the population received food and water rations". Natural Disasters in Fiji (go-fiji.com)

Oceans coasts have always been susceptible to coastal erosion and Fiji has a lot of these coasts. There are 2 main reasons as to why coastal erosion may occur, the first is through natural causes and events, the second is through human interference with coastal processes. In general, the beaches and shorelines of Fiji showcase a strong coastal stability. but there are many specific areas which suffer erosion. In Fiji most if not all of coastal erosion is not due to any natural factor but because of human influence. One such case is the erosion at Long Sandy Beach on the island of Matacawa Levu in the resort known as Long Sandy Beach. Jetties were built in order to extend the area of the resort. "This blocked the existing coastal longshore-drift and current direction". This in return led to the reversed circulation hitting the shore and causing the erosion. The jetties had altered and changed the coastal currents which led to erosion over a specific area of the beach. Another