Earthquakes

<> What Is An Earthquake Earthquakes refer to shaking of earth. There is continuous activity going on below the surface of the earth. There are several large plates (size of continents) below the surface of the earth, which move (at a very slow speed). As a part of this movement, sometimes, they collide against each other. And, after the collision, they might still continue to push each other. As they continually keep pushing each other, there is a pressure building up across these plates below the surface. And, then, at a certain time, one of the plates might slide over another. This causes an earthquake. Some earthquakes might be caused by activity above the surface. For example in a mountainous region, there might be a heavy landslide. Due to a huge mass of land falling, at the point of the fall, there could be a minor shaking of earth, due the impact of fall. However, usually, such earthquakes are not very major. Classifying An Earthquake The impact of an earthquake (at any location) is characterized by two primary characteristics: Intensity This measures the magnitude of the event. Higher is the value, the bigger is the magnitude. The most common scale used for measuring an earthquake is Richter Scale. It should be understood that Richter scale is a logarithmic scale. What this means is an earthquake measuring 6.0 is 10 times more powerful than an earthquake measuring 5.0 Epicenter This denotes the exact location, where the earthquake originated. The deeper it is inside the earth, the lower will be the impact on the surface where human beings reside. There are 100s of earthquakes taking place on a daily basis all around the world. However, most of these earthquakes are really low-intensity, too-low to be noticed. However, sometimes there are some earthquakes which are significantly intense. Some Recent Earthquakes Some of the earthquakes in recent times have been (not in any particular order): El Salvador; In 2001; Magnitude: 7.7 S. Peru; In 2001; Magnitude 7.9 Algeria; In 2003; Magnitude 6.8 Indonesia: In 2004; Magnitude 9.0 India; In 2001; Magnitude 8.1 China - Sichuan Province; In May 2008; Magnitued 8.1; More than 68,000 dead, and, 3,50,000 injured Fault Lines And Earthquakes Usually, areas around fault-lines are more prone to earthquakes. Some of the major fault lines are around: Italy (hit in 1980; magnitude: 7.2) Hayward, San Francisco in California (hit in 1906 at San Francisco; magnitude: 7.8 and again in 1989 at Loma Preita; magnitude: 6.9) Himalayan region (hit several times since 1999, at various places spanning across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India etc.) Nature of Losses And Damages The most common kinds of loss that are caused by an earthquake (depending on the severity) are: Damage to structures Causing partial or total collapse, damage to road and rail network, damage to utility carriers etc. Sea activity

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Water level in the sea could rise suddenly, causing very high waves, several meters in height, which could then flood the coastal areas. These could give rise to tsunamis, causing damage to coastal areas. Landslide As earth shakes, in mountainous regions, huge chunks of land could fall/slide onto lower regions of the mountains. This could have several impacts, including: changed topography, blocked roadways, damage to anything that comes in the way of the landslide, massive damage to the structure which sits on the piece of sliding land and massing damage to the houses and roads where the piece of land finally lands. The landslide could also trigger another set of minor earthquakes.

Volcanos
Volcanoes refer to eruption of hot molten lava from below the surface of the earth. As plates move away from each other, at certain places, the surface might get stretched and thinner. In such a situation, the hot molten lava and gaseous substances below this thinned surface could open up a fissure and come out. Typically, these eruptions are always accompanied by discharge of huge amount of gaseous substances, which are various compounds of high toxicity. All eruptions (gaseous or liquid) from a volcano is at high temperature, and, the mouth of a volcano might look like, as if its spewing fire. The area around Pacific Ocean is characterized by higher volcanic activity. In fact, the entire rim along the Pacific Ocean is called as the Ring Of Fire, because of volcanic activity along this zone. There are a lot of volcanic activities taking place on a continuous basis, across the globe, however, not all of these are serious enough to be termed as disasters. In fact, for most of these just a moderate level of precaution might be sufficient. Some of the most damaging volcanic activities of the past have been: Mount Pinatubo in Phillipines (1991-96) Rabaul in Papua NewGuinea (1994) Lake Nyos in Cameroon (1986) Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia (1985) El Chichon in Mexico (1982) Some of the deadliest volcanoes based upon the book "Volcanic Hazards: A Sourcebook on the Effects of Eruptions by Russell J. Blong (Academic Press, 1984)" are listed below. Click on the title to sort. Place Tambora, Indonesia Krakatau, Indonesia Ruiz Colombia Unzen Japan Laki, Iceland Kelut, Indonesia Vesuvius, Italy Vesuvius, Italy Number year of deaths 1815 92000 1843 36417 1985 25000 1792 14300 1783 9350 1919 5110 1631 3500 79 3360

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Mount Pelee, Matinique 1902 29025

Galunggung, Indonesia 1882 4011

Papandayan, Indonesia 1772 2957 Lamington, Papua New 1951 Guinea 2942

El Chichon, Mexico Oshima, Japan Asama, Japan

1982 2000 1741 1475 1783 1377

Soufriere, St. Vincent 1902 1680

Taal, Philippines 1911 1335 Volcanoes are classified as Active, Dormant and Extinct. Active volcanoes means those which are showing activity at this time. Dormant volcanoes those which are not showing any activity at this time, but, could show activity at any time. Extinct volcanoes are those which were active at some time, but, have ceased volcanic eruptions now. However, considering that volcanoes have a life of several million years, including dormant period of up to several thousands of years (sometimes), the above classification is mostly academic!!! Usually, if you are staying/visiting in the vicinity of an active volcano, it would do good to be prepared for volcano related disasters. There are several web-sites which give information on current volcanic activities. Some of the popular ones are Global Volcano Report by Smithsonian Institute and Recent Earthquakes & Active Volcanoes list by Virtual Times.

Floods
Floods refer to huge amount of water reaching land in a short span of time, causing land surface to be submerged under water at places, where, land surface is usually not covered with water. Floods could be caused due to natural causes, or, human activities, or, a combination of both. Floods are caused by discharge of huge volume of water in a short span of time, at a rate, such that the water can not be carried away from the scene of discharge. Some of the possible reasons for such huge discharge of water could be: very heavy rainfall (say: due to cyclones, typhoons etc.) in a short span of time. It should be noted that the amount of rainfall itself is not a sufficient cause, the duration within which the rainfall is receive is equally important contributor breach in levy, dams etc very high tidal waves (sometimes in the aftermath of a seismic activity, e.g. earthquakes) etc. also called tsunamis Usually, flooding impacts a large area, wherein entire district or states might be flooded. However, sometimes, flooding is very local, i.e. limited to just one city, or, parts of it. Most often, the localized flooding is caused due to human activities, rather than natural phenomenon. A natural phenomenon might seem like the immediate trigger, but, in reality, this is caused by human activity. There are some places, which get flooded almost every year. One such example is Bangladesh. Some of the other places which had incidents of bad flooding in the recent past include: Florida, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina (2005) Myanmar (2008) Portions of Coastal India get flooded almost each year Among various kinds of disasters, flooding is unique in the sense that it has a very high degree of predictability, both in the short term, as well as long term. In most situations, flood prone areas are quite known in the sense that they have a history of flooding. Only in very rare situations, a place might be flooded without having any past history of flooding. Even in such cases, a careful study of the area could give an indication of possible flooding. Flood Prone Areas The areas, which are prone to flood-risks are: places, which have a history of flooding (most important)

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area receiving heavy rainfall, with not much naturally sloping landscape areas at the lower levels of naturally sloping landscape where, the higher areas are receiving heavy rainfall areas around sea-coasts, or, river banks areas downstream of dams etc. As water level upstream of dams might rise, the dam authorities might be forced to release water (to safeguard the dam) which might cause flooding of downstream areas areas on the other side of levies (in case, the levy gets breached) low-lying areas (say: foot of an overbridge etc.) Loss due to Flooding The most common kinds of loss that are caused during flooding include: Lack of water: Its an irony, that a disaster which mean water everywhere, results in lack of water to drink and sanitation. Lack of proper drinking water and sanitation causes widespread outbreak of diseases. Lack of food: Most of the food items get damaged, causing a severe shortage of food. This shortage could be for the food to be consumed in the near future, or, even standing crops could be damaged, causing long-term food shortage. Lack of utilities: Utility services might have to be turned off, for the fear of electrocution, as, there is water everywhere. Widespread damage to structure Drowning: People, livestock, goods etc. might get drowned. Snakes and other creatures: Some of the dangerous creatures which usually stay underground would be forced to come up, as their natural habitat becomes unlivable. These could prove dangerous to human beings and cattle. Submerging of vehicles and other equipments: Vehicles and other equipments might get permanently damaged as they remain submerged under water for prolonged duration.

Tornadoes, Typhoons, Cyclones

These are winds of high-speed, many times accompanied by heavy rainfall. These cause structural damage, snapped overhead wires, and, possibility of floods. Because of damage to structure and overhead wires, utility services could be disrupted. Heavy rainfall could cause flooding also. Many times, these could last for a few days. In such cases, any restoration and relief activities can not even start till these few days when the activities start subsiding. The only thing good about these kinds of natural disasters is that they can be predicted to a reasonable degree thanks to the advancement of metrological sciences. And, in most cases, its possible to get a warning of up to several days. Usually, it is possible to take at least some preventive measures - during these few days of warning. In most cases, the preventive measure would include: Moving into places which are safer, e.g. buildings which are structurally sound, and, are not prone to flooding Not venturing out to sea etc for sports, fishing etc. However, in spite of these warnings, damage to property can not be mitigated much, as, immovable structures can not be relocated. Another important thing about these kinds of strong winds and rainfall is that they dont appear totally at will. There are well-defined geographical areas, which tend to see incidents of typhoons and cyclones. This means that, people inhabiting these areas could take some fundamental care, while, building homes etc. These are: Sturdy home, with very strong foundation and structure. Typically, most people build basements. These basements provide good shelter, and, storage space for food and water to last for a few days for the entire household. Proper embankments to prevent flooding etc. Storage of cement-bags and plastic sheets to prepare additional embankments against flooding, if required. The people who suffer the most are poor people, because:

they dont have the means to build very strong houses, and hence, these houses get blown off/damaged they dont have the means to buy and store food and provisions for several days, causing them to take risks of venturing out during heavy winds/rainfalls to make some money In coastal areas of poor country, fishermen have been known to venture out to sea, even during cyclones etc.

Tsunami
2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami, An aerial view of damage in the Sendai region with black smoke coming from the Nippon Oil Sendai oil refinery A tsunami (plural: tsunamis or tsunami; from Japanese: , lit. "harbour wave";[1] English pronunciation: /sunmi/ soo-NAH-mee or/tsunmi/ tsoo-NAH-mee[2]) is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, generally an ocean or alarge lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.[3] Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train".[4] Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000 people killed in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his late 5th century BC, History of the Peloponnesian War, that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes,[5][6] but the understanding of a tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and much remains unknown. Major areas of current research include trying to determine why some large earthquakes do not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do; trying to accurately forecast the passage of tsunamis across the oceans; and also to forecast how tsunami waves would interact with specific shorelines. The term tsunami comes from the Japanese , composed of the two kanji (tsu) meaning "harbour" and (nami), meaning "wave". (For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable plural as in the Japanese.[7]) Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves, which are unusually high sea waves that are triggered especially by earthquakes. [8] In recent years, this term has fallen out of favor, especially in the scientific community, because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides. The once-popular term derives from their most common appearance, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunami and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling"[9] or "having the form or character of"[10] the tides, and the term tsunamiis no more accurate because tsunami are not limited to harbours, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers. There are only a few other languages that have an equivalent native word. In Acehnese language, the words are i beuna[11] or aln buluk[12](depending on the dialect). In Tamil language, it is aazhi peralai. On Simeulue island, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, in Devayan language the word is smong, while in Sigulai language it is emong.[13] In Singkil (in Aceh province) and surrounding, the people name tsunami with word gloro.[14]