Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology

Management & Gramothan Jaipur

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT

SUBJECT CODE: 7AG6-60.2
SEMESTER: VII (OPEN ELECTIVE – I)
UNIT-: V- DISASTER

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 CONTENT

 Introduction to various disaster

 Importance of disaster management.

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 Disaster
Introduction
•Disaster is a serious, dangerous and intolerable phenomena frequently
occurring on the planet earth.
•Thousands of people die in a moment.
• Thousands of people may become homeless and parentless within a day.
• Huge infrastructures get damaged within a few seconds or minutes.
•Disasters are the catastrophic events shocking the whole world and
making the humanity to feel very sad and depressed.
• All life and life-support systems are also affected by these unexpected
incidences.

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 Disaster
•Disaster means a catastrophe, a mishap, a calamity or grave danger
event occurred in an area and affected life and properties.
•It may be arising from natural or man- made causes, or by accident or
due to negligence.
•This sudden event results in the substantial loss of life or create much
suffering to humans and other life.
• It also includes much damage to, and destruction of, property, or
damage to, or degradation of the environment.

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 Disaster
•D : Destruction
• I : Incidents
• S : Sufferings
• A : Administrative failure
• S : Sentiments
• T : Tragedies
• E : Eruption of communicable diseases
• R : Research program and its implementation

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 Disaster
Types of Disaster
1. Natural Disasters 2. Man-Made Disasters
1. Natural Disasters- Natural Disasters are naturally occurring physical
phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events that have immediate
impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further death and
suffering. These disasters can be-
•Geophysical (e.g. Earthquakes, Landslides, Tsunamis and Volcanic Activity)
•Hydrological (e.g. Avalanches and Floods)
•Climatological (e.g. Extreme Temperatures, Drought and Wildfires)
•Meteorological (e.g. Cyclones and Storms/Wave Surges)
•Biological (e.g. Disease Epidemics and Insect/Animal Plagues)

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 Disaster
2. Man-Made Disasters
Man-Made Disasters are events that are caused by humans which occur
in or close to human settlements often caused as a results of
Environmental or Technological Emergencies. This can include-
•Technological- Transport, Explosions, Fires, Accidents.
•Industrial-Chemical Spills, Radiation, gas leaks.
•Warfare- War, Terrorism, Internal Conflicts, Civil Unrest.

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Disaster

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 Disaster
Causes of natural disasters
•A natural disaster is a disruption in the balance of the environment.
• The human factor raises the cost, in both property damage and loss of
life.
•Understanding the causes of natural disaster can provide clues to their
prevention.
•Not all natural disasters can be prevented.
•Each natural disaster has its own factors and complications.
•Understanding the basic principles of ecology can provide keys to
lessening their effects.
•Nature evolved with natural disasters and disturbance. The best
prevention is looking at the strategies found in nature.
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 Disaster
Causes of man-made disasters
• Man-made disasters is a disaster resulting from human intent,
negligence, or error.
• Manmade disasters can be both intentional and unintentional.
•It results in huge loss of life and property.
•It further affects a person's mental, physical and social well-being.
•Reasons for Man Made Disasters –
•Ignorance 52%Uunawareness 20% Illiteracy 40% Carelessness 42%

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 Disaster
General Effects of Disasters :
• Loss of life,
• Injury,
• Damage to and destruction of property,
• Damage to and destruction of plantations and crops,
• Disruption of production,
• Disruption of lifestyle,
• Disruption of transport
• Loss of livelihood and occupation to people
• Disruption to essential services like electricity, water supply and gas
supply,
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 Disaster
General Effects of Disasters :
• Disruption of communication and other networks
• Disruption to government systems and schemes,
• Shortage of food resources
• Spreading of diseases
• National economic loss,
• Sociological effects and
• Psychological after effects.

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 Natural disasters

Natural disasters

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 Earthquakes
Earthquake
•It is a sudden movement shift of the Earth's crust below or at the surface
that results in ground vibration and the potential collapse of buildings
and possible destruction of life and property if the quake is of sufficient
magnitude.
•Earthquakes are considered to be one of the most disastrous phenomena
and its occurrence is usually sudden with little or no warning.
•It is not yet possible to predict earthquakes.

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 Earthquakes
•An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's
crust that creates seismic waves.
•At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by vibration,
shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground.
• The vibrations may vary in magnitude.
•Earthquakes are caused mostly by slippage within geological faults, but
also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts,
and nuclear tests.
• The underground point of origin of the earthquake is called the focus.

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 Earthquakes
•An earthquake is a sudden tremor or movement of the earth’s crust,
which usually originates at or below the surface.
•The outer layer of the earth is solid and is divided into many sections
known as plates.
•The point of origin of the earthquake within the crust or mantle is called
the seismic focus.
•Since the focus is often deep below the surface, the location of the
earthquake is often referred to as the point on the surface of the earth,
vertically above the seismic focus. This point is called the epicentre.

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Earthquakes

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 Earthquakes
•If the Epicentre of a larger earthquake is situated in the offshore
(sea/ocean) seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause Tsunami.
• It also triggers land slides and occasionally volcanic eruptions.
Management
Most injuries are sustained during impart and, thus, there is the greatest
need for emergency care occurring in few hours, when quality and
severity of injuries is overwhelmed, wealth facilities at different levels
must be adopted.

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Earthquakes

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 Earthquakes
•Earthquake = Vibration of the Earth produced by the rapid release of
energy
• Seismic waves = Energy moving outward from the focus of an
earthquake
•Focus= location of initial slip on the fault; where the earthquake origins
• Epicentre= spot on Earth’s surface directly above the focus focus
epicentre

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Earthquakes

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Earthquakes

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 Cyclone
•Cyclone
•It is a tropical storm in which the winds can reach speeds of over 120
kph.
•The cyclone blows in a large spiral around a relatively calm centre or
eye.
•Every year, these, violent storms with torrential rain and very strong
winds bring widespread devastation to coastlines and islands lying in
their paths.
•Cyclones pose a major threat to lives and property in many parts of the
world.
•While such storms are called cyclones in India and neighbourhood, they
have different nomenclature in other parts of the world, e.g., hurricanes
in the Americas and typhoons in Japan and the Philippines.

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 Cyclone
•Cyclone in meteorology refers to any low pressure area with winds
spiralling inwards.
•Cyclones rotate clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and anti-
clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
•The word Cyclone is derived from the Greek word “Cyclos’ meaning the
coils of a snake.
•The tropical storms in the bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea appeared
like the coiled serpents of the sea and these storms are named as
Cyclones.

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 Cyclone
•

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 Floods
Flood
•It can arise from abnormally heavy precipitation, dam failures, rapid
snow melts, river blockages or even burst water mains.
•It is usually sudden in onset.
Types of floods are as follows:
i) Flash floods
ii) River floods and
iii) Coastal floods due to tsunami, tidal wave or storm surge in the wake
of a cyclone.
•Major floods result in physical damage, deaths and injuries, problems in
drinking water supply and food shortages, and displacement of
population.

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Floods

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 Droughts
Drought
•Droughts have disastrous and long term impacts on the economy and can
affect a large segment of the society which may last for months and in some
cases several years.
•Generally, drought situation may be defined as a temporary reduction in
water or moisture availability significantly below the normal or expected
amount, for a specific period.
•Drought is a slow onset phenomenon.
There are three types of droughts, viz.,
i) Meteorological drought when rainfall is appreciably below normal.
ii) Hydrological drought when the water scarcity result in reduction in the
available water in inland water bodies.
iii) Agricultural drought when the scarcity results in partial or total loss of
crops and effects agricultural activity adversely

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 Droughts
•Drought is unusual dryness of soil, resulting in crop failure and shortage
of water for other uses, caused by significantly lower rainfall than
average over a prolonged period.
•Hot dry winds, high temperatures and consequent evaporation of
moisture from the ground can contribute to conditions of drought.
•It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the
affected region and harm to the local economy.
•Diminished crop growth or yield productions and carrying capacity for
livestock.

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Droughts

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 Tsunami (Seismic Sea Wave)
Tsunamis
•Tsunamis are popularly called tidal waves. Tsunami is a Japanese word
meaning "harbour wave".'
•These are the waves, which often affect distant shores, originate from
under sea or coastal seismic activity, landslides and volcanic eruption.
•Sea water is displaced into a violent motion and swells up, ultimately
breaking over land even at very long distances with great destructive
power.
•Tsunamis are huge seismic sea waves that are generated by the
earthquakes originating under the sea.
•If the earthquake displaces the sea surface, waves are generated that can
grow while moving over the sea surface.

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Tsunami (Seismic Sea Wave)

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Tsunami (Seismic Sea Wave)

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 Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic eruption
•A volcanic is an opening, or rupture, in a planet`s surface or crust, which
allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface.
•The word `volcano` is derived from the name of Vulcano island of Silicy,
which, in turn, was named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
•A study shows that approximately 600 volcanoes are active or have
erupted.
•On an average, about50 volcanoes erupt every year.
• At present, about 10% of the world's population live on or near
potentially dangerous volcanoes.
•Volcanoes can cause widespread destruction and consequent disaster in
several ways.
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 Volcanic Eruptions
• As it leaves the volcano, the lava destroys many buildings and plants it
encounters
•Third, volcanic ash may form a cloud, and settle thickly in nearby
locations.
•In sufficient quantity ash may cause roofs to collapse under its weight
but even small quantities will harm humans if inhaled.
•A specific type of volcano is the super volcano.
• The main danger from a super volcano is the immense cloud of ash
which has a disastrous global effect on climate and temperature for many
years.

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Volcanic Eruptions

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 Fire
•A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire that occurs in the countryside or a
wilderness area.
•Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, grass fire, hill fire,
peat fire, vegetation fire, and wild land fire may be used to describe the
same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned.
•A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at
which it can spread out from its original source, and its ability to change
direction unexpectedly and to jump gasp, such as roads, rivers and fire
breaks.
•Wildfires are characterized in terms of the cause of ignition, their
physical properties such as speed of propagation, the combustible
material present, and the effect of weather on the fire

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Fire

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 Landslides
Landslides
•Landslides generally occur as secondary effects of heavy rain storms,
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
•It occurs as a result of changes, either sudden or gradual, in the
composition and structure of rocks or hydrology or vegetation on a slope.
•It covers a wide variety of land forms and processes involving the
movement of soil under the influence of gravity.
•These include wide range of ground movements such as risk falls, deep
failure of slopes and shallow debris flows which can occur in offshores,
coastal and onshore environment.
•The main causes are ground water pressure acting to destabilize the
slope, loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients and
erosion of toe of a slope by river or ocean waves.

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Landslides

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Man Made Disasters

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 Chemical Weapons
Chemical Weapons
Chemical emergency occurs when a hazardous chemical has been
released and the release has potential for harming people`s health.

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 Radiation Emergency

Radiation Emergency
Emission of radiation from radioactive materials, for example, reactors,
radioactive substances (uranium) and medical supplies(radium).

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 Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism by international release or dissemination of
biological agents(bacteria, viruses or toxins)-these may be in a naturally-
occurring or in a human- modified form.

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 Pandemics and disease
Pandemics and disease
•A global disease outbreak.
• Influenza virus causes various illnesses.
• Spread is from person to person.

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 War and Civil conflicts
War and Civil conflicts
•In all wars, the group experiencing the need to dominate other groups are
unable and unwilling to accept or permit the possibility of a relationship
of fundamental equality to exist between the groups who have opted for
group violence( war ).
• The aspect of domination that is a precipitating factor in all wars, i. e.
One group wishing to dominate another, is also often a precipitating
factor in individual one-on-one violence outside of the context of war,
i.e. one individual wishing to dominate another.

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 Terrorism
•Terrorism refers to only to those violent acts which are intended to create
fear(terror),are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone
attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-
combatants.
•The word terrorism is politically and emotionally charged and this
greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition.
•Ineluctably political in aims and motives .
•Violent or, equally important, threatens violence.
• Perpetrated by a sub national group or non state entity.

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Thanks

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