What are Natural Disasters?

The World is always changing.

Natural disasters are changes which are so great they may cause damage to the shape of the land or to the lives of people and other living things. Great changes happen deep inside the Earth and on its surface. The changes on the outer part of the Earth happen because of different kinds of weather.

What are Natural Disasters?

Volcanic eruption Earthquake Cyclone or Hurricane Avalanche Flood Drought Forest fire or Bushfire

Volcanoes
A volcanic eruption is the spurting out of gases and hot lava from an opening in the Earths crust. Pressure from deep inside the Earth forces ash, gas and molten rock to the surface.

It Is a giant wave of water that reaches the shore with a height exceeding 15 meters. It comes from the Japanese words for harbor and wave. Tsunamis can be caused by undersea earthquakes as the Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004, or by landslides such as occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska. The tsunami caused by earthquake Indian Ocean in 2004 broke all records, the most deadly history.

Earthquake
An earthquake is a violent shaking of the ground. Sometimes it is so strong that the ground splits apart. When parts of the earth, called plates, move against each other giant shock waves move upwards towards the surface causing the earthquake.

Cyclone, Hurricane, Tornado or Typhoon

A Cyclone is a fierce storm with storm winds that spin around it in a giant circle. During a cyclone trees can be uprooted, buildings can be destroyed and cars can be overturned.

An Avalanche is a movement of snow, ice and rock down a mountainside. Avalanches happen very suddenly and can move as fast as a racing car up to 124mph. Avalanches can be caused by snow melting quickly snow freezing, melting then freezing again someone skiing a loud noise or an earth tremor

Avalanche

Flood
A flood is caused by an overflow of water which covers the land that is usually dry. Floods are caused by heavy rain or by snow melting and the rivers burst their banks and overflow. Costal floods are caused by high tides, a rise in sea level, storm waves or tsunami (earthquakes under the sea).

Drought
A drought is the lack of rain for a long time. In 1968 a drought began in Africa. Children born during this year were five years old before rain fell again.

Forest Fire or Bushfire

Fires can burn out of control in areas of forest or bush land. Fires are caused by lightning, sparks of electricity or careless people. Wind may blow a bushfire to areas where people live.

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with anepicentre near the town of Logne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince,Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.

Floods In Australia
A series of floods hit Australia, beginning in December 2010, primarily in the state of Queensland including its capital city, Brisbane. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around A$1 billion.The estimated reduction in Australia's GDP is about A$30 billion. Head of the Recovery Task Force: Major General Michael Slater, DSC, AM, CSC. MAJGEN Slater was at the time also the Commander of the 1st Division based at the Gallipoli Barracks in Enoggera, Brisbane.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Precautions To Be Taken
Do not panic at the time of the disaster Be prepared to stay in it for the long haul, rather than getting desperate and loosing hope. If possible, try to help others those who are weak, e.g. the aged, small children, people with any special needs, those who are sick etc. Once you have secured your own life, try to help others also depending on your strength both physical and emotional. Just make sure not to put your own life and safety into jeopardy. You could help in one or more of the following: immediate help to the possible victims search and rescue Crowd control