Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters affect many people in the world. Over 31,849,838 number of people have died from natural disasters since 1900. A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard including tornadoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes and more. Those natural disasters can lead to financial, environmental, and human losses. The ten deadliest natural disasters of the past century in order are the China Floods in 1931, the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976, the Bhola Cyclone in 1970, the Haiyuan earthquake in 1920, the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, the Haiti Earthquake in 2010, the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the Bangladesh cyclone in 1991 and the Ashgabat Earthquake in 1948.

A tornado (often referred to as a twister or, erroneously, a cyclone) is a type of natural disaster that is very messy and nasty. It is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end touches the earth and is often encircled by a cloud of debris and dust. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 110 miles per hour (177 km/h), are approximately 250 feet (80 m) across, and travel a few miles (several kilometers) before dissipating. The most extreme can attain wind speeds of more than 300 mph (480 km/h), stretch more than two miles (3 km) across, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km).The deadliest tornado of the past century has been The Daulatpur-Salturia Tornado in Manikganj, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989 the disaster killed 1,300.

A tsunami (also called a tsunami wave train and at one time incorrectly referred to as a tidal wave) is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, though it can occur in large lakes. It is a very deadly situation. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded. Owing to the immense volumes of water and the high energy involved, tsunamis can devastate coastal regions. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides and other mass movements, meteorite ocean impacts or similar impact events, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The Indian Ocean Tsunami on December 26, 2004 affected people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Somalia, Bangladesh, and Thailand. The death toll was 230,210.

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is a sudden shake of the Earth's crust caused by the tectonic plates colliding. The vibrations may vary in magnitude. 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 evacuation planning. Earthquakes are caused by the discharge of energy accumulated along geologic fault. Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude (or the partly obsolete Richter magnitude, numerically similar over the range of validity of the Richter scale) of an earthquake is conventionally reported, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly almost imperceptible and magnitude 7 and over potentially causing serious damage over large areas, depending on their depth. The most recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or larger was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2011), and it was the largest Japanese earthquake since records began. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal.

Natural disasters are something we cannot fight against or win, since a man is powerless against nature. Some people think that natural disasters are caused by human activity and environmental pollution. The reasons could be both man made and natural. There is a theory called "Population theory of Malthus” where it is stated that if the balance of population exceeds that of food supply many natural disasters would occur. We cannot be 100% sure whether it is a myth or truth. The only evident thing is that natural disasters are rather a frequent phenomenon these days. Probably, it is the main reason why this problem is so often discussed in different academic papers. Natural disasters affect many people in the world. Over 31,849,838 number of people have died from natural disasters since 1900.Damages from natural disasters can take years to repair, but it is best to be prepared when situations like this happen.