Geology 9 Madagascar Blog

 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

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

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