Types and Causes of Natural Disasters

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A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a

community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental
losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources.
Though often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins.
-International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies
Classificatons of Disasters:
 Natural Disasters
- When disasters occur due to natural forces they are called natural disasters,
over which man has hardly any control.
- Natural disasters are large-scale geographical or meteorological events that

have the potential to cause loss of life or property.
- Some common natural disasters are earthquakes, landslides floods, droughts,

cyclones, etc. Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and wildfires are also included
under natural disasters. These disasters cause enormous loss to life and
property.
 Man-made Disasters:
- When the disasters are due to carelessness of human or mishandling of

dangerous equipment’s they are called man-made disasters.
- Common examples of these disasters are train accidents, aero plane crashes,
collapse of buildings, bridges, mines, tunnels, etc.
Types and Causes of Natural Disasters
1) Earthquake – shaking of the earth’s crustal blocks due to the movement of plates and
their rocks along a fault or plate boundaries.
 Volcanic activities
This type of earthquake is caused either under the influence of the increasing
pressure of volcanic gases or the subterranean movement of molten lava trying to
come up on the earth's surface.
 Geological Faults
A fault is defined as a fracture plane along which the rocks have been displaced.
There are vertical as well as horizontal displacements.
Earthquakes are caused due to sudden movements of rocks along faults.
 Tectonic Movements
The surface of the earth consists of some plates, comprising of the upper mantle.
These plates are always moving, thus effecting earth’s crust. These movements
are categorized into three types: convergent, divergent, transform.
 Human interference with Nature
The disturbance of crustal balance due to heavy clubbing of water in dams can
cause earthquakes.
Nuclear bombing can send specific type of shockwaves throughout the surface of
the earth, which can disturb the natural alignment of tectonic plates.
Mining can also cause disturbance due to the extensive removal of rocks from
different areas.
2) Tsunami (seismic sea waves) – large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on
the ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic
eruption, or an underwater landslide.
Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an

area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by plate
tectonic forces.
Tsunami “Wave Trains”

Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, 2011
3) Volcanic eruptions
Volcanoes are ruptures in the crust of our planet Earth that allow hot gases, molten lava
and some rock fragments to erupt by opening and exposing the magma inside.
It is so hot deep within the earth that some rocks slowly melt and turn into a
thick flowing matter known as magma. Since it is lighter than the solid rock around it,
the magma rises and gets collected in magma chambers. Eventually, some of the magma
pushes through fissures and vents in the earth’s surface.
Effects of Volcanic Eruptions
 Destroy lives and property

 Ash discharge into the stratosphere can destroy ozone molecules
 Ash and mud mixed with rains formed lahars
 Places near volcanic activities tend to have higher potential for geothermal
energy.
 Some ash and lava breakdown become soils that are rich in nutrients, and
become good areas for crop planting activities.
DID YOU KNOW:
El Salvador has about 20 volcanoes, and the area falls within the larger Pacific
Ring of Fire (an area known for its frequent tectonic movements and earth activity).
This Ring of Fire is the home of 75% of the worlds volcanoes.— Lucas de Jong, BBC
Eruption of Pinatubo in 1991
The second-largest volcanic eruption of this century, and by far the largest eruption to
affect a densely populated area, occurred at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines on June
15, 1991
4) Cyclones - is a system of winds rotating counterclockwise in the Northern

Hemisphere around a low pressure center. The swirling air rises and cools, creating
clouds and precipitation.
> Water vapor rises in the atmosphere. When water vapor changes back into liquid the
heat is released into the atmosphere. This warms the air around it.
> The warm air tends to rise and causes a drop in the pressure. The air moves from
surrounding high-pressure areas to the central low-pressure area.
5) Landslides - the movement of rock, earth, or debris down a sloped section of land.
Geologists, scientists who study the physical formations of the Earth, sometimes
describe landslides as one type of mass wasting. Mass wasting is any downward
movement in which the Earth's surface is worn away.
Landslides have three major causes: geology, morphology, and human activity.
 Geology refers to characteristics of the material itself. The earth or rock might be
weak or fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness.
 Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose
their vegetation to fire or drought are more vulnerable to landslides. Vegetation
holds soil in place, and without the root systems of trees, bushes, and other
plants, the land is more likely to slide away.
 Human activity, such as agriculture and construction, can increase the risk of a
landslide. Irrigation, deforestation, excavation, and water leakage are some of the
common activities that can help destabilize, or weaken, a slope.
1999 Vargas Tragedy
Date: December 15, 1999
Location: Vargas, Venezuela
Deaths: Approximately 30,000
5) Wildfires - also known as a wildland fire, forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, peat
fire, bushfire (in Australia), or hill fire is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland
areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.
Climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas emissions is forecast to

dramatically increase the risk of very large, damaging wildfires over the next several
decades, a new NOAA-funded study says.
Brazil’s Amazon Blaze

6) Floods - A flood is a body of water that covers land which is normally dry.
- They are often caused by rivers, but overflowing lakes and seas can also cause
flooding.
Natural Flooding :
 This is due to the amount of water that rivers bring with them, because of heavy
rainfall or melting snow in the mountainous regions.
 Thunderstorms can cause flash floods, in which small rivers can swell quickly
and carry up to ten times the normal amount of water.
 After earthquakes on the ocean floor tsunamis can bring up to 15-metre high
waves and flood the coast many miles inland.
 Tropical storms, cyclones and hurricanes also lead to flooding.
Man-Caused Flooding:
 Deforestation
 Mining
Global Warming on Natural Disasters
Global Warming - a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's

atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of
carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.
 Global Warming on Earthquakes
- Bill McGuire released his book “Walking the Giant: How a changing climate
triggers earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes,” in 2012
o Melting of Glaciers and Polar Ice Caps

- Glaciers exert enormous pressure on the portion of the Earth’s surface they cover.
- Releasing that pressure on the Earth’s surface will cause all sorts of geologic
reactions, such as earthquakes, tsunamis (caused by undersea earthquakes) and
volcanic eruptions.
Analogy: “Pressing a thumb against a soccerball” by Patrick Wu, a geologist at the
University of Alberta in Canada
 When the thumb is removed and the pressure released, the ball resumes its
original shape. When the “ ball” is a planet, the rebound happens slowly, but
just as surely.
 Global Warming on Tropical Cyclones
- Warmer sea surface temperatures could intensify tropical storm

wind speeds, potentially delivering more damage if they make landfall.
- Warmer seas also mean more precipitation

 Global Warming on Tsunamis
- Sea levels rise due to climate change.
- Too much ocean heat would result to intense sea level rise.
 Global Warming on Wildfires
- Climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas emissions is forecast to

dramatically increase the risk of very large, damaging wildfires over the next
several decades, a new NOAA-funded study says.
HUMANS
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Video to play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a

-International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies

- Natural disasters are large-scale geographical or meteorological events that

- Some common natural disasters are earthquakes, landslides floods, droughts,

- When the disasters are due to carelessness of human or mishandling of

Types and Causes of Natural Disasters

Earthquakes are caused due to sudden movements of rocks along faults.

Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an

Tsunami “Wave Trains”

Effects of Volcanic Eruptions

 Destroy lives and property

Eruption of Pinatubo in 1991

4) Cyclones - is a system of winds rotating counterclockwise in the Northern

Climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas emissions is forecast to

Brazil’s Amazon Blaze

Global Warming - a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's

 Global Warming on Earthquakes

o Melting of Glaciers and Polar Ice Caps

 Global Warming on Tropical Cyclones

- Warmer sea surface temperatures could intensify tropical storm

- Warmer seas also mean more precipitation

 Global Warming on Wildfires

- Climate warming from increasing greenhouse gas emissions is forecast to

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