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Complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in developing countries. A specific hazard may also spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an earthquake that causes a tsunami. This results in coastal flooding, damaging a nuclear power plant on the coast.
Huge landslide at La Conchita, 1995. A geologic hazard or geohazard is an adverse geologic condition capable of causing widespread damage or loss of property and life. [1] These hazards are geological and environmental conditions and involve long-term or short-term geological processes.
For example, a landslide can initiate as a rock fall or topple and then, as the blocks disintegrate upon the impact, transform into a debris slide or flow. An avalanching effect can also be present, in which the moving mass entrains additional material along its path.
A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property. It typically causes economic damage. How bad the damage is depends on how well people are prepared for disasters and how strong the buildings, roads, and other structures are. [2] Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned. [3]
A disaster hazard is an extreme geophysical event that is capable of causing a disaster. 'Extreme' in this case means a substantial variation in either the positive or the negative direction from the normal trend; flood disasters can result from exceptionally high precipitation and river discharge, and drought is caused by exceptionally low ...
Coastal hazards are physical phenomena that expose a coastal area to the risk of property damage, loss of life, and environmental degradation.Rapid-onset hazards last a few minutes to several days and encompass significant cyclones accompanied by high-speed winds, waves, and surges or tsunamis created by submarine (undersea) earthquakes and landslides.
Patterns of home-building in climate frontiers and the resources provided to communities following natural disasters are deeply rooted in the political power of land.
There are several types of urban flooding, each with a different cause. City planners distinguish pluvial flooding (flooding caused by heavy rain), fluvial flooding (caused by a nearby river overflowing its banks), or coastal flooding (often caused by storm surges). Urban flooding is a hazard to both the population and infrastructure.