DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND MITIGRATION

WHAT IS DISASTER
 A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic
or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. 
 TYPES OF DISASTER

DISASTE
R

MANMAD
NATURAL
E

EARTHQUAKES
AGRICLUTURAL DISEASES AND PETS
FLOODS
EXTREME HEAT HAZARDIOUS MATERIALS
LANDSCAPES
WILDFIRE POWER SERVICE,DISURPATION AND BLACKOUT
HAIL
WINTER AND ICE STORMS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AND NUCLEAR BLAST
HURRICANES STORMS
DROUGHT AND WATER SHORTAGE RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCIES
LANDSLIDES
THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTINING CHEMICAL THREAT AND BIOLOGICALWEAPONS
TORNADOES
CYBER ATTACKS
TSUNAMI
EXPLOSION
SINKHOLES
CIVIL UNREST
TSUNAMI
TSUNAMI
WHAT IS TSUNAMI AND HOW IT WORKS
• A tsunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a
large lake. 
• The principal generation mechanism of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the
sea. This displacement of water is usually caused by earthquakes, but can also be attributed to landslides, volcanic eruptions,
glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. However, the possibility of a meteorite causing a tsunami is
debated.
EFFECTS OF TSUNAMI
The effects of a tsunami depends on the characteristics of the seismic event that generated the tsunami. The effects of tsunami include such as :
Hitting the shoreline loss of human and animal life, including death, injury, illness.
financial loss.
loss of livelihood.
the effect of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins, the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami was among the deadliest natural disaster in human history with at least 290,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
A permanent change to the landscape Devastating property damage severe flooding causes to damages drain systems.

TYPES OF TSUNAMI:
Local - destruction 100km from source of tsunami ( -1hr arrival time)
Regional - destruction 100-1000km from source of tsunami ( 1-3 arrival time)
Distant - destruction 1000+km from source of tsunami ( 3+ arrival time)
• The great SUMATRA EARTHQUAKE on Sunday 26th December 2004, rated as the world’s second largest recorded
earthquake.
• A magnitude 9 earthquake occurred off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. This caused the Indian Ocean tsunami that affected 14
countries and killed approximately 290,000 people.
• It cause great destruction of property in north eastern Assam particularly inn the subdivisions of north Lakhimpur , Dibrugarh , Jorhat , sibsagar and Arunachal
Pradesh.
• there was a massive and sudden movement of the Earth’s crust under the Indian Ocean. This earthquake was recorded at magnitude 9 on the Richter Scale and as
it happened under the ocean, caused a devastating sea wave called a tsunami.
• The epicentre of the earthquake occurred 200 kilometers west of the island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. 
•  At 08:00 local time, the pressure build-up was too great and the crustal rocks snapped, causing an earthquake.
• When this happened the sea floor was pushed upwards, displacing a huge volume of water and creating the devastating tsunami waves.
 `
This tsunami was particularly devastating because:
• The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.
• The epicentre was very close to some densely populated coastal communities, eg Indonesia. They had little or no warning. The only sign came just
before the tsunami struck when the waterline suddenly retreated, exposing hundreds of metres of beach and seabed.
• There was no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system in place. This could have saved more people in other countries further away from the epicentre.
• Many of the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean are LEDCs so they could not afford to spend much on preparation and prevention.
• In some coastal areas, mangrove forests had been removed to make way for tourist developments and therefore there was less natural
protection.
SOCIAL IMPACTS OF THE TSUNAMI
• 230 000 deaths.
• 1.7 million homeless.
• 5-6 million needing emergency aid, eg food and water.
• Threat of disease from mixing of fresh water, sewage and salt water.
• 1,500 villages destroyed in northern Sumatra.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF TSUNAMI

• Ports ruined.
• Fishing industry devastated - boats, nets and equipment destroyed. An estimated 60% of Sri Lanka’s fishing fleet destroyed.
• Reconstruction cost billions of dollars.
• Loss of earnings from tourism - foreign visitors to Phuket dropped 80% in 2005.
• Communications damaged, eg roads, bridges and rail networks.
ENVIROMENTAL IMPACTS OOF TSUNAMI
• Crops destroyed.
• Farm land ruined by salt water.
• 8 million litres of oil escaped from oil plants in Indonesia.
• Mangrove forests along the coast were destroyed.
• Coral reefs and coastal wetlands damaged.
RESPONSES
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local authorities typically have immediate and secondary responses to devastation of this kind.
• Immediate responses
• Search and rescue.
• Emergency food and water.
• Medical care.
• Temporary shelter.
• Re-establishing infrastructure and communications.
Secondary responses
•Re-building and improving infrastructure and housing.
•Providing jobs and supporting small businesses.
•Giving advice and technical assistance.
Responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami can also be divided into short and long term:
Short-term responses
• In many areas local communities were cut off and had to help themselves.
• The authorities ordered quick burial or burning of the dead to avoid the spread of disease.
• Food aid was provided to millions of people, eg from the World Food Programme.
• $7 billion (just under £4.5billion) of aid was promised by foreign governments - but there were complaints that not all money pledged was given.
• The British public gave £330 million through charities, eg the average Actionaid donation was £84 - their best ever response.

Long-term responses
• Reconstruction is still taking place.
• International scale: an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system has now been set up.
• Local scale: some small-scale sustainable development projects have been set up by charities to aid recovery and help local people help themselves to rebuild and
set up small businesses.