1.

NATURAL HAZARDS - ARE CAUSED BY PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ELEMENTS IN THE

ENVIRONMENT.
2. MAN-MADE HAZARDS, ALSO COLD TECHNOLOGICAL HAZARDS, ARE THOSE CAUSED BY
FACTORS THAT ARE GENERALLY TRECE TO HUMAN ERRORS, INTENT OR NEGLIGENCE, OR
GLITCHES IN TECHNOLOGY.
EXAMPLES: BOMB EXPLOSIONS CHEMICAL SPILLS NUCLEAR PLANT BLASTS RADIOACTIVE
EMISSIONS WARS
 TYPHOOON TORNADOES AND
EARTHQUAKE

Typhoons are considered one of

the most powerful of the natural
disasters because they can travel
across a wide area, last for a
longer time, and that's create
more destruction.
Tornadoes and earthquakes
likewise cause great loss and
damage but they generally
happen in a certain place and
only last for a short time.

Yolanda On 6 november 2013,

typhoon yolanda with
international name Haiyin, made
its landfall in the central part of
the Philippines.
FIG 3.1 AN AFFECTED AREA IN LEYTE; PHOTO
TAKEN AFTER TYPHOON YOLANDA
In like manner, many man-made hazards have caused destruction of almost the same
gravity. One of the worst man-made hazards is the fire that took place at the Mishraq
State Sulfur Mine, a state-run sulfur plant in Al-Mishraq, Iraq, on 24 June 2003. Due to
the release of sulfur dioxide (a colorless gas that easily forms harmful compounds when it
reacts with other substances) from the plant, the fire continued to burn for a whole month,
despite the efforts of firefighters to put it out. The Al-Mishraq fire released high
concentrations of sulfur dioxide, estimated at about 21 000 tons a day, and this caused
respiratory problems among the residents of the surrounding communities and destruction
to plants and animals in the communities.
FIG. 3.2 THE SULFUR-LADEN THAT RAGED AT AL-MISHRAQ
Not all typhoons and fires bring about such disastrous impact. Accurate warnings
about the strength of a typhoon or immediate action on putting out a fire can greatly
diminish the grave potential effects of these events.
Profiling hazards is important in predicting the possible disasters that a
certain hazard can bring. They are useful in planning for a disaster especially if
the same impacts are likely to be brought by a hazard that frequents a certain
place. the importance of profiling is to improve our knowledge of hazards and
conducting hazard assessments can help us to locate and, in the case of some
hazards, anticipate over different time-periods when these might occur
Hazards can be profiled in different ways: magnitude of event (high-scale or
low-scale), frequency (number of times in a year), duration (short-term or long-
term), and causality of effects (direct or indirect).
 Magnitude or Strength of the Event
The magnitude of the hazard can be assessed by the measurements obtained from
scientific instruments. Sometimes, scaling can vary depending on the reference tables used
per country. For example, magnitude 5.0 above is considered high scale in earthquakes based
on the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Floods reaching 1.0
meter is likewise considered high-scale. Typhoons with winds up to 150 kph are deemed
strong and powerful.

FREQUENCY
The frequency of the hazard to occur in an area is important because it tells its
proneness to that hazard. This is usually, but not always, associated with the area's
geographical location on Earth or its topographical condition. For example, a coastal
community may be frequented by storm surges if it belongs to the typhoon belt. On the
contrary, another coastal community may be frequented by flooding, and not storm surges, if
its topography or level of ground is lower than the sea level. Usually, government agencies
record frequencies of natural hazard occurrences to see any patterns to serve as tools in
preparing for a disaster.
 DURATION OF IMPACT
The impact of hazards varies in duration. The
assessment of the duration is either short or long. In
earthquakes for example, the length of shaking, trembling, and
even the after- shocks are recorded. If this event happened in a
span of more than a minute, the earthquake is deemed to be
long. Another example is the volcanic eruption that can last for
days. The assessment of this duration can have implications on
how extensive preparatory activities should be and even the
postdisaster plans.
 We cannot stop natural disasters but we can
arm ourselves with knowledge: so many lives
wouldn't have to be lost if there was enough
disaster preparedness.

Petra Nemcova