Types of Disasters

Module-4-Disaster Management

91. Land Slide

The movement of a mass of rock, debris, sand or earth down to a slope is called land slide. Land slides are caused by either natural or man made reasons. Man made reasons are:

1. Deforestation
2. Blasting and mining
3. Earth work
4. Agriculture or forestry activities ( logging )
5. Urbanization which change the amount of water infiltrating the soil

92. T- Sunami

T-sunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water generally in a large lake or ocean. Earth quakes, volcanic eruptions and other under water explosions including detonation, land slides, glacier calving, meteorite impact and other disturbances above or below water, all have the potential to generate t-sunami. The name t-sunami is a Japanese oigin, meaning as 'Harbour wave'. Identified t-sunami prone areas are Indonesia and Japan.

In Japan earth quake engineering measures have been taken to reduce the damages caused on shore. The country has built many t-sunami walls of up to 12 meters high to protect populated coastal areas. Other localities have built flood gates of upto 15.5 meters high and water canals to redirect the water from an incoming t-sunami.

Effects of T-sunami

- Loss of lives
- Loss of properties
- Loss of live stocks
- Negative impact on the economy of the affected region.
- negative impact on tourism.
- Alteration of the sea side terrain
- Wild life causalities
- The sea will be temporarily littered with debris
- Coral or marine reef damage

93. Bhopal tragedy

Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a chemical disaster happened in an Indian place  Bhopal located in Madhyapradesh state. 45 tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate gas along with traces of phosgene leaked from three storage tanks of the union carbide industry exposing several thousands of people. This gas was used in the production of pesticides.
According to an official estimate there are around 6 lakhs gas victims in 36 wards of Bhopal. The causalities reported were:

- 12000 death of people

- Physically challenged new born babies

- Pre mature deaths

- Deformities among the children including congenital heart ailments, holes in arms and impaired eye sights

94. Chernobyl disaster

Chernobyl Disaster was a nuclear disaster happened at a place of Chernobyl in former USSR. Series of nuclear explosion accidents occurred in nuclear reactor and blew large amount of radio nuclides high into the atmosphere. The accident killed more than 30 people immediately and as a result of high radiation into the surrounding areas of 35 km radius, nearly 1,35000 people had to be evacuated. The casualties reported were:

- Several deaths
- Over 400million people were exposed to the radiation.
- Several diseases like ulcerate skin, nausea, loss of hair, bone cancer, thyroid cancer etc. were reported.
- Several agricultural fields, trees, shrubs, plants etc. affected with radiation.
- Economical impact to the country. Other countries stopped import of food materials from USSR in fright of radiation effect. 

95. Earth quake

Earthquakes or tremors are produced by the passage of vibratory waves through the rocks of the earth. 

As precautionary measures, the people on the earthquake zone will be educated about the precautions to be taken. 

Buildings and houses will be permitted in accordance to the guide lines from the engineering departments. 

At the ongoing stages of the earthquakes, the people will be instructed to stand out in safe open places.

After the incident, the priority will be given to search and rescue operations to save the people from the collapsed buildings.

Relief camps and rehabilitation will be done in the next stages.

96. Nuclear explosion

A nuclear explosion disaster occur as a result of rapid release of energy from nuclear reactors. Nuclear explosion produce radiations and radio active debris.

Causes

1. Military operations ( i.e. nuclear weapons ).
2. Nuclear test and experiments.
3. Nuclear accidents in nuclear power plants.

Effects of nuclear explosions

- Immediate death of people and animals.
- Long lasting impact of nuclear radiation around the explosion sites
- Premature deaths.
- Genetic mutation.
- Poisoning of food.
- Chronic health affects like skin cancer, bone necrosis, thyroid cancer etc.
- Affect plants and animals.
- Release of huge temperature and radiation affect the aquatic life also.

97. GIS, GPS & RS

GIS, GPS and RS are the new emerging technologies used in various stages of disaster management.

GIS   (Geographic Information System)
GPS  (Global Positioning System)
RS    (Remote Sensing)

These application tools are useful in disaster management decision making. The evolution of computer technology and the availability of hardware is helpful for the rapid expansion of GIS in both disaster research and practice.

GIS is useful for hazard zone mapping and during emergency conditions. Mitigation of people are easily possible by using these maps.
GIS and RS are much beneficial in mitigation strategies and preparedness plans.
Realtime geographic data can improve the allocation of resources for response.

98. Energy Resources 

The earth is the store house of energy. The fossil fuels beneath its surface, the wind and water flow above its surface, the plants growing on its surface, the sunlight falling upon it, are the sources of energies on the earth. Types of energy resources are renewable and non-renewable energy resources.

Non-renewable energy resources

They are available in limited amount and are developed over a long period of time. Because of their indiscriminate use they are likely to be exhausted in the near future. Examples are: Fossil fuels, Coal, natural gas, and Nuclear power.

Renewable energy resources

Renewable energy resource is the natural energy flow and thus it has the potential of being continually replenished. So it can be used infinitely. Examples are: firewood, animal dung, solar energy, wind energy geothermal energy, tidal energy, hydral energy etc.

Fossil fuel

Examples for fossil fuels are coal, petroleum and natural gas. Fossil fuels are the remains of organisms that lived 200 to 500 million years ago. They are formed inside the earth crust through heat and compression of organic matter buried underneath.

Coal

Types of coal based on its composition are anthracite, bituminous and lignite. Coal is used for cooking, industrial heating and for production of electricity in thermal power plants. About the 5 percentage of world’s coaI reserve is found in India. Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are the coal states of India. India has a huge coal deposits left for nearly 200 years. Coal mining is very harmful to the environment. It causes air pollution, respiratory diseases and lot of other environmental issues.

Petroleum

Petrol, diesel, kerosene etc. are the petroleum product. Whatever oil we are getting from the oil reservoir is the crude oil and after distillation process, we can separate Petrol, Diesel and kerosene.

Natural gas

Natural gas is a mixture of methane, ethane, propane and butane. It is available as LPG and CNG.LPG consist of propane and butane. It is low cost and low pollution.

99. Explain the Importance of renewable energy

Renewable energy resources are inexhaustible. This is available on earth abundantly. Examples are solar, wind, tide, geothermal and biomass. The importance of renewable energy resources can be listed as:

1. Reduce fossil fuel consumption so that it can be made available to the future generation also.
2. Reduce environmental pollution.
3. Economical than fossil fuels.
4. Reducing the use of fossil fuels and promoting the renewable energy can help the governments to depend on other countries for oil.