Hazards & Disasters

Question 1

What is a hazard?

Answer 1

A hazard is any natural or man made event that has the potential to cause harm and or destruction to man and his environment.

Question 2

What are the two types of hazards?

Answer 2

Hazards can be categorized into two types: Natural or Man-made/Technological

Question 3

Define a natural hazard

Answer 3

A natural hazard refers to any event created through the forces of nature, that is; any spontaneous atmospheric or physical phenomenon that is not created by man and which has the potential to cause loss of life and damage to property.

Question 4

Define a Manmade/ Technological hazard

Answer 4

A Manmade hazard refers to the threat or potential harm that can occur as a result of man’s direct or indirect influence on his physical and human or Man-made environment

Question 5

Give some examples of seismic hazards and state some features associated with them

Answer 5

Earthquakes:
- ground shaking
- liquefaction and ground failure
- tsunamis
- terrestrial and submarine landfalls

Volcanoes:
- lava flows
- pyroclastic flows and surges
- ash clouds
- tsunamis
- earthquakes

Question 6

What makes a volcano or earthquake probable to cause a tsunami?

Answer 6

It’s proximity from a large body of water

Question 7

Give 3 examples of Meteorological hazards

Answer 7

3 of the following:
- tropical storms
- hurricanes
- tropical depressions
- northers
- high winds
- flash flooding
- storm surges
- riverine flooding
- coastal flooding
- drought
- water logging

Question 8

Give 3 examples of geomorphological hazards

Answer 8

Any 3 of the following:
- mass movement
- landslides
- mudflows
- rock flows
- soil erosion
- silting of rivers, harbours and coral reefs
- beach erosion
- coastal erosion

Question 9

Give 3 examples of biological hazards

Answer 9

Any of the following 3:
- human diseases
- insect pest outbreaks
- epidemics
- plant and animal diseases in farming
- forest, bush and grass fires
- plant and animal invasions

Question 10

Give 3 examples of Technological hazards

Answer 10

Any 3 of the following are applicable:
- oil and other toxic spills
- ground and atmospheric pollution
- waterborne pollution
- industrial explosion
- fires in urban centres
- collapse of buildings and other infrastructure
- pipeline leakages
- poor health systems
- biological warfare (lab diseases)
NB: anything humans create can be hazardous

Question 11

What is a disaster?

Answer 11

A disaster refers to the aftermath of a hazard, it is the resulting impact of a hazard on man and his environment. It is the level of destruction that occurs after a hazard has struck a region or an island.

In other words it is when an event causes loss of life or injury, damage to property or disruption of normal, social and economic activity.

Question 12

What is a natural disaster?

Answer 12

A natural disaster is the aftermath of a natural hazard that has caused harm to man and his environment.

Question 13

What is a man-made disaster?

Answer 13

A man-made disaster is the aftermath of a man-made hazard that has caused harm to man and his environment.

Question 14

A disaster can only be called a disaster if one or more of 5 conditions apply.
List those 5 conditions.

Answer 14

1) When 10 or more people are killed/die
2) When 100 or more people are injured
3) When a call is made for international assistance
4) When a state of emergency is declared
5) More than 5 days without basic necessities or aid

Question 15

What is vulnerability?

Answer 15

Vulnerability describes the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that makes it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.

In other words, it is the degree at which you or an are is at risk

Question 16

List some:
1) physical
2) social
3) economic
4) environmental
factors that make a place or people vulnerable to hazards

Answer 16

1) physical- materials used to build EX:poor design and construction of buildings

2) social- people’s attitudes towards these events EX: lack of public information and awareness, limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures

3) economic- how much money is invested in being prepared and prevention EX: inadequate protection of assets
4) environmental- layout of the surrounding/design EX: disregard for environmental management

Question 17

What is risk?

Answer 17

Risk is the potential disaster losses (in terms of lives, health issues/status, livelihoods, assets and services) which could affect occur to a particular community or society over some specified future time period.

Question 18

What does risk consider?

Answer 18

Risk considers the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environment damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.

Question 19

How can risk be calculated?

Answer 19

Risk can be calculated using the following equation:
Risk = Probability of Hazard × Degree of Vulnerability

Question 20

Give 3 examples of why people place themselves at risk and explain them.

Answer 20

Choose any of the 3:
• Lack of space - population is growing and some areas lack space, so people have to live in the areas available.

• High Cost of living/High Poverty levels- People maybe poor and cannot afford land that is suitable, so they live in areas that are available which are usually prone to hazards

• Emotional Ties- People may have emotional ties to areas or areas maybe of sacred and religious value to people and as such they stay in the area. Maybe their ancestors have lived there for generations.

• Cost versus Benefit - Some areas may be rich in resources or facilities that can be found only in those areas. People may choose to live in those areas as they may be paid higher even though their life may be in jeopardy.

• Lack of knowledge - persons may simply not know that an area is at risk due to lack of public knowledge/assistance, they’re uneducated

• Russian Roulette - people may know the risks but choose to take their chances

• Destiny

Question 21

What is a natural event? Give an examply

Answer 21

A natural event is a naturally occurring physical occurrence.

for example: A Hurricane that is in the middle of the Atlantic ocean is a natural event because it is occurring naturally but because it is away from people or any land mass and the area has no economic value, it will not pose a threat to anyone.