Disasters

Question 1

What is a disaster?

Answer 1

a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life.

Question 2

The severity of a disaster is measured in?

Answer 2

Lives lost, economic loss and the ability of the population to rebuild.

Question 3

For a disaster to be entered into the database of the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, at least one of the following criteria must be met:

Answer 3

a report of 10 or more people killed
a report of 100 people affected
a declaration of a state emergency by the government and a request by the national government for international assitance

Question 4

Examples of Geophysical disasters?

Answer 4

earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic activity.

Question 5

Climatological disaster example

Answer 5

extreme temperatures, drought and bushfires

Question 6

Meteorological disaster examples:

Answer 6

cyclones and storm/wave surges

Question 7

biological disaster examples:

Answer 7

disease epidemics and insect/animal plagues

Question 8

What are technological or man-made hazards?

Answer 8

Are caused by humans and occur in or close to human settlements. This can include environmental degradation, pollution and environmental accidents.

Question 9

Discuss the economic, human, property, social, and environmental impact upon the country that you have chosen following the incident.

Answer 9

Economic:

• 138,000 buildings were destroyed
• 360 billion in economic losses were incurred
• loss of jobs

Social:

• around 15,000 deaths
• 2527 people missing and now presumed dead
• 6157 injured
• 450,000 people lost their home

Environmental:

• contamination of groundwater
• destruction of coastal ecosystems
• desilting of coastal waterways

Question 10

Hydrological disaster examples:

Answer 10

Avalanches and floods