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 Final Blog: Natural Disasters in Madagascar Madagascar, an island country off the coast of Africa, is settled in a region that leaves it vulnerable to many natural disasters. The two most frequent, however, and with the most devasting lasting results come from cyclones and, as an aftermath/ couples with these cyclones, flooding. Madagascar experiences heavy rainfall during the months of November to April annually. This rain, coupled with poor land practice and increasing deforestation leads to both cyclones and flooding in the country during this wet season. This leads to a devastating aftermath for multiple reasons. In a study conducted by World Population Review in 2022, Madagascar ranks at being 3 rd among countries with the highest poverty rate. Because of this severe poverty they experience, inhabitants of the island often are living in houses with poor infrastructure and lack of coding laws that could otherwise assist in prevailing through these natural disasters. According
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Week 8: Mass Wasting in Madagascar

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  According to ThinkHazard.org, Madagascar is ranked high for mass wasting/ landslides. Madagascar is an island country, with high terrain slopes and inclining dunes/hills formed around the country, which often trigger these natural disasters to occur. Although gravity is the main instigator of these mass wastings, rather than there needing to be a preceding disaster to occur, Madagascar does experience a relatively high amount of earthquakes and heavy rainfall that can contribute to these landslides, in conjunction with natural force of gravity. Many houses in regions of the country are built upon unstable hills as well, which often leave infrastructure hurt due to these heavy rainfalls, especially. One of these particular post-storm events led to the destruction of many homes in February 2018 in the capital city, Antananarivo, and unfortunately took the lives of 7 civilians in the area.   https://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-floods-antananarivo-january-2019 https://thinkhaza
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Madagascar and Earthquake Activity

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 Madagascar is a country that is at a high risk for frequent natural disasters, earthquakes being no exception. With an average total of 500 earthquakes a year, the government of Madagascar has improved their current risk management plans in an effort to reduce the loss of infrastructure as well as prepare their people for when disaster strikes. This plan, implemented initially in 2003, has been consistently updating its policies and encouraging new laws since, in order to effectively plan for an after-quake mediation. It seems that the Malagasy government has taken more of a reactive, rather than proactive approach when it comes to the risk management strategy, but helpful nonetheless. This strategy has so far included planting numerous excavators, wheel loaders, dump trucks, ambulances, and firetrucks around the entirety of country but focusing on its most seismically active region- below the Ankaratra Plateau in the center of the island. Here, the country has seen its biggest earthq
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Madagascar and Tectonic Plates

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Madagascar resides between two tectonic plates, being the Somali minor-plate in the north, and the Lwandle micro-plate that runs below the south-most part of the country. Madagascar "is thought to be sitting in the middle of an old tectonic plate, and so, by the rules of plate tectonics, should be tectonically quiet: few earthquakes and no volcanoes" (Lutz). Therefore, research has shown that the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that occur in this country appear to be an anomaly.  Despite the distance, between plates Madagascar has 5 documented Holocene volcanoes and around 500 earthquakes per year. These earthquakes mainly occur in the central region of the country, ranging in magnitude anywhere from 2.0 to 6.0.  It has been documented that due to the divergent boundaries that surround the country, Madagascar has been breaking apart slowly; with the Eastern/Central region shifting toward the Somali plate, and Southern Madagascar moving with the Lwandle plate.  Sources: htt
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Madagascar Intro Post

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Madagascar, Africa's largest island, is located in the Indian Ocean having a population of over 27 million people. The toppgraphy of the land varies from elevated plateaus running centrally through the island, to coastal low-lands. These peaks range in height, with the highest being anywhere between 8,270-9,468 ft in altitude. Due to these differences in landscapes, the country expereinces multiple types of tempareatures and climates- with winters in the mountains getting to below freezing tempartures, while the coastal regions remain hot and sunny all year-round.  Madagascar is most known for its wildlife, as its home to more than 100,000 native species of plants, 90% of which are found only in this country. The most notable and famous of these plants include the baobab tree, a bottle-neck shaped plant that are considered sacred to the country's people. Along with housing a wide array of plants, Madagascar is also home to 70 different species of lemurs, and an estimated 55 end
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