Disaster Management Definitions

WHO defines Disaster as "any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant area?" .Disasters can be defined in different ways.

an

extraordinary

response from outside the affected community or

disaster

is

an

overwhelming

ecological

disruption occurring on a scale sufficient to require outside assistance.

A disaster is an event located in time and space which produces conditions whereby the continuity of structure and process of social units becomes problematic.

It is an event or series of events which seriously disrupts normal activities

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The magnitude of the effects of the event will be viewed differently.

Disasters are classified in various ways. Natural disasters. Example earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc. Man made disasters. Example war, bomb blasts, chemical leaks, etc. A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard (e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, or landslide) which affects human activities. Human vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or lack of appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, environmental or 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

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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. CYCLONES EARTHQUAKES TSUNAMIS

CYCLONES What is a Cyclone?

Cyclones are huge revolving storms caused by winds blowing around a central area of low atmospheric

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pressure. In the northern hemisphere, cyclones are called hurricanes or typhoons and their winds blow in an anti-clockwise circle. In the southern hemisphere, these tropical storms are known as cyclones, whose winds blow in a clockwise circle. How do Cyclones occur? Cyclones develop over warm seas near the Equator. Air heated by the sun rises very swiftly, which creates areas of very low pressure. As the warm air rises, it becomes loaded with moisture which condenses into massive thunderclouds. Cool air rushes in to fill the void that is left, but because of the constant turning of the Earth on its axis, the air is bent inwards and then spirals upwards with great force. The swirling winds rotate faster and faster, forming a huge circle which can be up to 2,000 km

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across. At the centre of the storm is a calm, cloudless area called the eye, where there is no rain, and the winds are fairly light. As the cyclone builds up it begins to move. It is sustained by a steady flow of warm, moist air. The strongest winds and heaviest rains are found in the towering clouds which merge into a wall about 20-30 km from the storm's centre. Winds around the eye can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h, and a fully developed cyclone pumps out about two million tonnes of air per second. This results in more rain being released in a day than falls in a year in a city like London. When and where do Cyclones occur? Cyclones begin in tropical regions, such as northern Australia, South-East Asia and many Pacific islands. They sometimes drift into the temperate coastal areas, threatening more heavily populated regions to the South. Northern Australia has about four or five tropical cyclones every year during the summertime

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wet season. For a cyclone to develop, the sea surface must have a temperature of at least 26C.

Why do Cyclones occur? When warm air rises from the seas and condenses into clouds, massive amounts of heat are released. The result of this mixture of heat and moisture is

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often a collection of thunderstorms, from which a tropical storm can develop. The trigger for most Atlantic hurricanes is an easterly wave, a band of low pressure moving westwards, which may have begun as an African thunderstorm. Vigorous thunderstorms and high winds combine to create a cluster of thunderstorms which can become the seedling for a tropical storm. Typhoons in the Far East and Cyclones in the Indian Ocean often develop from a thunderstorm in the equatorial trough. During the hurricane season, the Carioles effect of the Earth's rotation starts the winds in the thunderstorm spinning in a circular motion.

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Why do Cyclones occur?

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Cyclone Danger: Cyclones create several dangers for people living around tropical areas. The most destructive force of a cyclone comes from the fierce winds. These winds are strong enough to easily topple fences, sheds,

trees, power poles and caravans, while hurling helpless people through the air. Many people are killed when the cyclone's winds cause buildings to collapse and houses to completely blow away. A cyclone typically churns up the sea, causing giant waves and surges of water known as storm surges.

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The water of a storm surge rushes inland with deadly power, flooding low-lying coastal areas. The rains from cyclones are also heavy enough to cause serious flooding, especially along river areas. Long after a cyclone has passed, road and rail transport can still be blocked by floodwaters. Safe lighting of homes and proper refrigeration of food may be impossible because of failing power supplies. Water often becomes contaminated from dead animals or rotting food, and people are threatened with diseases like gastroenteritis.

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Major Cyclones, Hurricanes and Typhoons Year 1900 1906 1963 1964 (May) 1965 (Jun) 1970 1977 1985 1991 Area of Cyclone Galveston, Texas, USA Society and Cook Islands Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh Caribbean coast Honduras South-eastern India Bangladesh Death toll (est.) 10 000 - 12 000 10 000 15 000 35 000 15 000 1 000 000 100 000 15 000 - 100 000 139 000

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EARTHQUAKES
What causes Earthquakes?

Earthquakes are caused when tension is released from the rocks in the Earth's crust and upper mantle. This tension is due to friction between what scientists believe are large 'plates' floating on magma on the Earth's surface. Sometimes earthquakes happen when the rocks in the earth's crust bend and break.

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This causes shock waves to travel on the earth's surface, resulting in widespread destruction.

Plate Tectonics Scientists believe that the earth is made up of four main layers. The outermost layer

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being the crust, then the mantle, the outer core and at the centre of the earth the inner core. The crust is made up of hard rock, mainly granite. The mantle is mainly molten lava on which the crust is floating. The core is mostly iron, with the outer core being liquid and the inner being solid. The mantle is continually moving; this is called convection. It is also believed that the earth is divided into more than a dozen plates, which are floating on the mantle. This theory is called plate tectonics . The plates often rub together, pull apart, collide or dive under one another. These movements cause earthquakes and also volcanoes.

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Where do Earthquakes occur? Earthquakes usually occur in places where two plates meet, called faults. Earthquakes are mostly generated deep within the earth's crust, when the pressure between two plates is too great for them to be held in place. The underground rocks then snap, sending shock waves out in all directions. These are called seismic waves. The underground origin of an

earthquake is called the focus. The point at which an

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earthquake originates on the surface is called the epicenter. Measuring Earthquakes: The Mercalli Scale The original scale for measuring the severity of earthquakes was compiled by the Italian

Seismologist, Guiseppe Mercalli, in1902. It has gone through a number of revisions since then. The

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Mercalli Scale relies on how much damage is caused by an earthquake.

Currently it runs as follows: Only felt by instruments. Felt by people at rest, especially on upper floors. Suspended objects may swing. Felt indoors. Vibrations like passing traffic. Many people feel it indoors, a few outdoors. Crockery and windows rattle. Standing cars rock. Some sleepers awake. Felt by nearly everyone. Tall objects rock. Plaster cracks. Most people run outdoors. Damage to weakly constructed buildings. Felt by people in moving vehicles.

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Most people run outdoors. Damage to weakly constructed buildings. Felt by people in moving vehicles. Considerable damage to most buildings. Heavy furniture overturned. Some sand fluidized. Even well-designed and sturdy buildings badly damaged, moved from their foundations.Ground cracks. Pipes break. Most masonry destroyed. Landslides occur. Water slops from reservoirs and lakes. Railway lines bend. Few structures remain upright. Bridges fall. Extensive fissures in the ground. Underground pipes totally out of action. Prediction and Warning Earthquakes cannot be predicted although areas most at risk can be identified. The buildings in these areas then can be modified to withstand earthquake shocks. For example, buildings constructed near the

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San Andreas. Fault in San Francisco; have to meet extremely strict building regulations.

Earthquake in Chile
An extract from the book 'Sweet Waters' The famous earthquake of 1960 had stuck this part

of Chile with devestating force killing thousands of people in Santiago, some fifty miles away, and turning the city into a mass of rubble. On the farm no lives had been lost, but buildings and houses

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suffered severely. Everyone was very earthquakeconscious. They were classed in two categories: the 'Tremblor' or tremor, and the 'Terramoto' or earth render. They seemed to be cumulative, for a slight on eevery six weeks or so gave us confidence, but as we grew wiser we became more alert than ever if the periods

between them extended to some months. We experienced our first one shortly after our arrival ; our feelings were not unlike those we were to enjoy later in air raids during Hitlers war. To begin with. full of fools' confidence, we rather looked down

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on the locals who were frankly terrified of them, but as soon as we realized what they were capapble of doing, we treated them with great respect. Familiarity bred no contempt whatever, and our ears

would prick to listen to that first unmistakable sound. In this part of Chile earthquakes were progressive in their action. First a rapidly approaching rumble like the sound of a half-loaded heavy lorry bounding along a rough road ; then a slight shake followed by a pause. Another big shake would follow; during which eyes were riveted on the movement of water

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in a bowl of flowers, or pictures on a wall. Pause and shake continued, reaching a climax and then subsiding at the same tempo, during which everyone sat in a sprinting position ready to make for the safety of open country in a split second of time. Once and once only did I actually see an earthquake, when Marie and I were riding through a dried-off field, bare of grass. I had dismounted to fix a spur and as I knelt to adjust it I heard that ominous rumble, and looking towards the sound, at that lowlevel I saw a wave coming at me across the field, just as one travels over the surface of the sea. About one foot in height, it advanced and passed me at great speed, throwing me off balance, while both horses stood with their legs slayed out like milking stools to keep their feet. It was a most alarming experience, I was very frightened indeed. I am very glad I never saw another one ; I can feel my hair rising as I write of it.

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To show what a lifetime in an earthquake country I can do must tell of an aged relative of my uncle's who had never left her bed in the house for more than eighteen months. One afternoon a particularly vicious quake arrived with far less build-up than usual. The old lady, with several years of experience behind her, leapt from her bed, vaulted through the open window and headed the rush for open country and safety. Only when it was all over did she collapse and have to be carried back to bed.

TSUNAMIS
What is a Tsunami? A tsunami is often misnamed a tidal wave, but in fact a tsunami is not just one wave but usually a series of seven or eight, that have nothing to do with the tide. In the open ocean, tsunamis are only about one metre high, but as they approach shallower waters and the shore, they grow to heights as high as eighty-five meters.

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What causes a Tsunami?

The causes of most common are tsunamis -

volcanoes, earthquakes and earthslides undersea. mostly

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Volcanoes that have been erupting continuously for a long time have empty magma chambers. The roof then collapses forming a crater somtimes upto one kilometre in diameter. Water gushes into this crater in a very short amount of time, causing a tsunami. Earthquake originated tsunamis occur when portions of the Earth's crust on either side of a fault jolt past each other. For a tsunami to occur however, there must be some kind of vertical movement along the fault. This vertical movement must be capable of displacing huge amounts of water, thus causing waves. Tsunamis can also be caused by land sliding in to the sea with such great force that it creates a wave. Similar to the effect of throwing a pebble into a puddle of water.

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Where do Tsunamis occur? Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean as it is located on a plate mostly made of water. The Pacific Ocean is also surrounded by the Ring of Fire, a highly active volcano and earthquake zone. The Ring of Fire circles the ocean from Alaska down to the west coasts of North and South America and up along the east coast of Asia, taking in parts of China, Japan and

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Russia. Tsunamis can only occur in coastal regions; islands are the main targets.

MAJOR TSUNAMIS
Death Date Origin Effects T ol l June 1692 7, Puerto Trench, Rico Port Royal, Jamaica 2 000 permanently submerged Lisbon destroyed Concepcin, Chile 60 000 Not Known 10 000 15 000 36 000

Caribbean Novembe Atlantic r 1, 1755 Ocean February Peru-Chile 20, 1835 Trench August 8, Peru-Chile 1868 August 27, 1883 Trench Krakatoa

destroyed Ships washed several miles inland, Town of Africa Destroyed Devastation in Indies East

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Swept the east coast of June 1896 15, Japan Trench Japan, with waves of 100 ft (30.5 m) at Yoshihimama March 1933 April 1946 May 1960 3, 9 000 houses and 8 Japan Trench 000 ships destroyed in 3 000 Sanriku district, Honshu 1, Aleutian Trench Damage to Alaska and Hawaii Coinciding with a week 159 27 122

22, South-central of Chile Hawaii Severe

earthquakes. 1 500 (61

Damage to Chile and in Hawaii) damage to

March 27, Anchorage, 1964 August 23, 1976 Alaska

south coast of Alaska South-west Philippines struck, Alicia, devastating Pagadian,

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Celebes Sea

8 000

Cotabato and Davao

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Prediction and Warning

In the open ocean tsunamis are almost undetectable. However a tsunami warning now operates in the Pacific. This system monitors sea movements and can be used to map the path of tsunamis and estimate the rate of approach. The authorities then notify the public and evacuations are undertaken. One such warning saved many lives in Honolulu in 1952 when an approaching tsunami was detected.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: International Marketing Magazines:

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Sci - Tech March3, 2005 subscription DNA August 5, 2007 subscription Articles: The Times of India- August 31, 2007 Hindustan Times- January20, 2008 Websites: www.google.com www.tsunami.org www.sci-techno.com www.earthquikchilli.com en.wikipedia.org

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