Natural Disaster

NATURAL DISASTER
A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes

of the Earth; examples include floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis,
and other geologic processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or property
damage,[1] and typically leaves some economic damage in its wake, the severity of
which depends on the affected population's resilience, or ability to recover.
An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without
vulnerable population. In a vulnerable area, however, such as San Francisco in 1906,
an earthquake can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage,
requiring years to repair.
A. Geological disasters
Avalanches and landslides
During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as a result of

avalanches during the mountain campaign in the Alps at the Austrian-Italian front.
Many of the avalanches were caused by artillery fire.[5][6]
 Earthquakes
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that
creates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by
vibration, shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. Earthquakes are
caused mostly by slippage within geological faults, but also by other events such as
volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. The underground point
of origin of the earthquake is called the focus. The point directly above the focus on
the surface is called the epicenter. Earthquakes by themselves rarely kill people or
wildlife. It is usually the secondary events that they trigger, such as building
collapse, fires, tsunamis (seismic sea waves) and volcanoes, that are actually the
human disaster. Many of these could possibly be avoided by better construction,
safety systems, early warning and planning.
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 Sinkholes
When natural erosion or human mining makes the ground too weak to support
the structures built on it, the ground can collapse and produce a sinkhole. For
example, the 2010 Guatemala City sinkhole which killed fifteen people was caused
when heavy rain from Tropical Storm Agatha, diverted by leaking pipes into a
pumice bedrock, led to the sudden collapse of the ground beneath a factory
building.
 Volcanic eruptions
Volcanoes can cause widespread destruction and consequent disaster in

several ways. The effects include the volcanic eruption itself that may cause harm
following the explosion of the volcano or the fall of rock. Second, lava may be
produced during the eruption of a volcano. As it leaves the volcano, the lava
destroys many buildings, plants and animals it encounters. Third, volcanic ash
generally meaning the cooled ash - may form a cloud, and settle thickly in nearby
locations. When mixed with water this forms a concrete-like material. In sufficient
quantity ash may cause roofs to collapse under its weight but even small quantities
will harm humans if inhaled. Since the ash has the consistency of ground glass it
causes abrasion damage to moving parts such as engines. The main killer of humans
in the immediate surroundings of a volcanic eruption is the pyroclastic flows, which
consist of a cloud of hot volcanic ash which builds up in the air above the volcano
and rushes down the slopes when the eruption no longer supports the lifting of the
gases. It is believed that Pompeii was destroyed by a pyroclastic flow. A lahar is a
volcanic mudflow or landslide. The 1953 Tangiwai disaster was caused by a lahar,
as was the 1985 Armero tragedy in which the town of Armero was buried and an
estimated 23,000 people were killed.
A specific type of volcano is the supervolcano. According to the Toba

catastrophe theory, 75,000 to 80,000 years ago a supervolcanic event at Lake Toba
reduced the human population to 10,000 or even 1,000 breeding pairs, creating a
bottleneck in human evolution.[7] It also killed three-quarters of all plant life in the
northern hemisphere. The main danger from a supervolcano is the immense cloud
of ash, which has a disastrous global effect on climate and temperature for many
years.
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B. Hydrological disasters
It is a violent, sudden and destructive change either in quality of earth's water

or in distribution or movement of water on land below the surface or in atmosphere.
 Floods
A flood is an overflow of water that "submerges" land. The EU Floods Directive

defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by
water. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of
the tides. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water,
such as a river or lake, which overflows causing the result that some of the water
escapes its usual boundaries. While the size of a lake or other body of water will
vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a significant
flood unless the water covers land used by man like a village, city or other inhabited
area, roads, expanses of farmland, etc.
 Limnic eruptions
A limnic eruption occurs when a gas, usually CO2, suddenly erupts from deep
lake water, posing the threat of suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an
eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising gas displaces water.
Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions can trigger such an
eruption. To date, only two limnic eruptions have been observed and recorded. In
1984, in Cameroon, a limnic eruption in Lake Monoun caused the deaths of 37
nearby residents, and at nearby Lake Nyos in 1986 a much larger eruption killed
between 1,700 and 1,800 people by asphyxiation.
 Tsunami
A tsunami (plural: tsunamis or tsunami; from Japanese: 津波, lit. "harbour wave";
English pronunciation: /tsuːˈnɑːmi/), also known as a seismic sea wave or as a tidal
wave, is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large
volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Tsunamis can be caused by
undersea earthquakes such as the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, or by landslides such as
the one in 1958 at Lituya Bay, Alaska, or by volcanic eruptions such as the ancient
eruption of Santorini. On March 11, 2011, a tsunami occurred near Fukushima,
Japan and spread through the Pacific.
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All natural disasters cause loss in some way. Depending on the severity, lives
can be lost in any number of disasters. Falling buildings or trees, freezing to death,
being washed away, or heat stroke are just some of the deadly effects. Some
disasters cause more loss of life than others, and population density affects the death
count as well.
Natural disasters such as flood, fire, earthquake, tornado and windstorm affect
thousands of people every year. You should know what your risks are and prepare
to protect yourself, your family and community.
Recognizing an impending hazard and knowing what to do to protect yourself

and your family will help you take effective steps to prepare beforehand and aid
recovery after the event.
Some of the things you can do to prepare for the unexpected, such as assembling
a supply kit and developing a family emergency plan, are the same for all types of
hazards. However each emergency is unique and knowing the actions to take for
each threat will impact the specific decisions and preparations you make. By
learning about these specific threats, you are preparing yourself to react in an
emergency.
Then there is loss of property, which affects people’s living quarters,

transportation, livelihood, and means to live. Fields saturated in salt water after
tsunamis take years to grow crops again. Homes destroyed by floods, hurricanes,
cyclones, landslides and avalanches, a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake are often
beyond repair or take a lot of time to become livable again. Personal effects,
memorabilia, vehicles, and documents also take a hit after many natural disasters.
The natural disasters that really affect people worldwide tend to become more
intense as the years go on. Frequency of earthquakes, mega storms, and heat waves
has gone up considerably in the last few decades. Heavy population in areas that get
hit by floods, cyclones, and hurricanes has meant that more lives are lost. In some
areas, the population has gotten somewhat prepared for the eventuality of disasters
and shelters are built for hurricanes and tornadoes. However, loss of property is still
a problem, and predicting many natural disasters isn’t easy.
However, despite the many natural disasters the world over, mankind has
shown amazing resilience. When an area or country is badly affected by a natural
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disaster, the reaction is always one of solidarity and aid is quick to come. There are
organizations set up with the primary goal of being prepared for natural disasters.
These groups work on global and local scale rescue work. Aside from those who
have chosen to make disaster relief their life-work, when disasters hit, it’s the
individuals who step in who help to make a difference.
Many people talk about when a disaster has hit and their neighbors and
countrymen have come to aid, often to their own loss. People will step in and donate
items, time, and skills in order to help those affected by a natural disaster.
Celebrities will often do what they can to raise money through concerts, phone
marathons, and visiting affected areas with aid. People have also shown that they
can rebuild, lives can be remade or start over. Trauma is a big after effect of natural
disasters and getting counseling has been the focus of aid—to heal emotionally as
well as physically.
It’s clear that natural disasters are a part of life as we know it. However, science
is making it more possible to predict, aid is faster at coming, and people are learning
how to rebuild in safer areas.

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NATURAL DISASTER

A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes

Avalanches and landslides

During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as a result of

Volcanoes can cause widespread destruction and consequent disaster in

A specific type of volcano is the supervolcano. According to the Toba

It is a violent, sudden and destructive change either in quality of earth's water

A flood is an overflow of water that "submerges" land. The EU Floods Directive

Recognizing an impending hazard and knowing what to do to protect yourself

Then there is loss of property, which affects people’s living quarters,

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