Natural Disaster

Mount Pinatubo eruption, 1991A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard (e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide) which moves from potential in to an active phase, and as a result affects human activities. Human vulnerability, caused by the lack of planning or lack of appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, structural, and human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, their resilience.^[1] This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: “disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability“.^[2] A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.^[3] The degree of potential loss can also depend on the nature of the hazard itself, ranging from a single lightning strike, which threatens a very small area, to impact events, which have the potential to end civilization. For lists of natural disasters, see the list of disasters or the list of deadliest natural disasters.

Natural Hazards

A natural hazard is a situation which has the potential to create an event that has an effect on people. They result from natural processes in the environment and some natural hazards are related - earthquakes can result in tsunamis, drought can lead directly to famine and disease, and so on.

Geological

Avalanche Avalanche on the backside (East) of Mt. Timpanogos, Utah at Aspen Grove trailAn avalanche is a geophysical hazard involving a slide of a large snow (or rock) mass down a mountainside, caused when a buildup of snow is released down a slope, it is one of the major dangers faced in the mountains in winter. An avalanche is an example of a gravity current consisting of granular material. In an avalanche, lots of material or mixtures of different types of material fall or slide rapidly under the force of gravity. Avalanches are often classified by what they are made of. Notable avalanches include: ·         The 1970 Ancash earthquake ·         The 1954 Blons avalanches ·         The 1999 Galtür Avalanche ·         The 2002 Kolka-Karmadon rock ice slide ·         The 1910 Wellington avalanche Earthquake An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. At the Earth’s surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis. 90% of all earthquakes - and 81% of the largest - occur around the 40,000km long Pacific Ring of Fire, which roughly bounds the Pacific Plate. Many earthquakes happen each day, few of which are large enough to cause significant damage. Some of the most significant earthquakes in recent times include: ·         The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the second largest earthquake in recorded history, registering a moment magnitude of 9.3. The huge tsunamis triggered by this earthquake cost the lives of at least 229,000 people. ·         The 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which cost 79,000 lives in Pakistan. The 7.7 magnitude July 2006 Java earthquake, which also triggered tsunamis.

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