DISASTERS

NATURAL HAZARDS can be:

 Geophysical (earthquakes, landslides (fall of rocks from mountains or cliffs), tsunamis (extremely
large waves in seas) and volcanic activities.)

 Hydrological (avalanches (mass of snow, ice falls from the mountain), floods.)
 Climatological (extreme temperatures, drought, wildfires)
 Meterological (cyclones and storms)
 Biological (diseases, epidemics and insect/animal plagues).
TECHNOLOGICAL/MAN-MADE HAZARDS include complex
emergencies/conflicts, famine, displaced populations, industrial accidents and
transport accidents.

EFFECTS OF DISASTERS:
 Primary Effects: occur on the spot as water damage during flood or collapse of
buildings during an earthquake, etc.
 Secondary Effects: occur only because a primary effect has caused them. For
example, fires ignited as a result of earthquakes.
 Tertiary Effects: are long term. For instance, loss of crops caused by floods or
volcanic eruption etc.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

can be defined as the organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies.
Disaster Management Cycle includes:
 Mitigation (prevention): pre-disaster mitigation efforts, that eliminate or
reduce the probability of disaster, includes:
 Building codes
 Vulnerability analyses updates
 Zoning and land use management
 Preventive health care
 Public awareness education
 Preparedness: Governments, organizations, individuals develop plans to save
lives, minimize disaster damage, includes:
 Preparedness plans
  Emergency exercises/training
 Warning systems
 Emergency communications system
 Evacuations plans
 Resource inventories
 Mutual aid agreements
 Response: The aim of emergency response is to provide immediate assistance.
 Recovery: Activities to restore the lives and infrastructure
DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN PAKISTAN
 National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) ’s creation in August
2007 was led by an earthquake of 7.6mg in the north (Kashmir, Muzaffarabad,
etc.) in October 2005 which caused 86,000 casualties that exposed Pakistan’s
vulnerabilities to disaster occurrences.
 Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) are the
provincial implementing bodies
 District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) are for dealing with
disasters at district levels.

EARTHQUAKE
Earthquake is the sudden release of energy in the form of seismic waves that
create vibrations in the earth crust as a result of abrupt movement of tectonic plates.
 Cracks along which rocks slip are called Faults. They may break through
the ground surface, or be deep within the earth.
 Where slip first occurs is called Focus from where the seismic waves are
produced.
 Just above the focus, the ground surface is called Epicenter.
CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKE:
 Sudden slip of rocks due to movement of tectonic plates.
 Other causes could be volcanic eruption, or localized causes such as heavy
drilling, nuclear experiments etc.
Earthquakes have been detected as deep as 720km. Based on the depth of the focus,
earthquakes can be classified as:
 Shallow: when the depth of origin is less than 60km.
 Intermediate: when the depth of origin is between 60 and 300km.
 Deep: when the depth of origin is greater than 300km.
SEISMIC WAVES:
Seismic Waves are the waves of energy caused by earthquake that produce
vibrations.
 Body Waves: They travel from the Focus in all directions.
 Surface Waves: They travel on the earth. These are slower than body waves.
MEASUREMENT OF EARTHQUAKE
 Seismograph: detects the vibrations on a paper.
 Richter Scale (numbered 0-10): measures the strength or magnitude of
earthquake. It is logarithmic scale means an earthquake (6.0) is 10 times
powerful than an earthquake (5.0).
PREDICTING EARTHQUAKE:
 Not possible in short-term.
 Possible in long-term, in sense if an area is sitting on a fault line; so there is
high risk of earthquake whether it occurs within minutes, days, weeks, decades or
centuries.
EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE:
There are primary and secondary impacts (explained above).
 Damage to structures
 Sea Activity (water level could rise)
 Landslide and Avalanche
 Socio-economic losses
 Environmental impacts
 Economic impacts
MANAGEMENT OF EARTHQUAKES
 Risk assessment; inspecting the risks.
 Risk Zoning; to create zones where construction must be limited or restricted.
 Planning; planning must be there to deal with earthquake.
 Research and Development; Allocate research budgets to work on it.
 Public Awareness; public should be apprised of how to behave in such situation.
 Legislation; Approve legislation and create policies and initiatives to tackle.
 Emergency Management; make sure there is preparedness to deal afterwards.
VOLCANOES
 Volcano is an opening or vent on the earth’s surface through which magma
escapes on earth’s surface.
 Volcano word is derived from the name of the Roman god of a small island in the
Mediterranean sea of Sicily called Volcan.
 Area around Pacific Ocean is called the Ring of Fire because there is high
volcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean.

CAUSES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTION

Volcanoes happen when magma comes at the earth’s surface. When magma bursts out
of the earth is called Lava.

Causes:

 Subduction of plates: when one plate move beneath another plate is called
subduction that causes volcanic eruption.
 Rifting of plates: In cracks of earth
inside, the magma fills itself and eventually
comes out.
 Hotspots: Mantle plumes (stream) coming
from core forms the volcanoes. Hotspot
volcanoes can form in the middle of tectonic
plates. Plates move but mantle plume stays
at the same location. (figure 1)

Figure 1

EXPLOSIONS:

 If magma is thin, gas will swiftly escape and it will not cause explosion.
 If magma is thick, gas will be pressurized resulting in explosion.

CLASSIFICATION OF VOLCANOES

 Active: that frequently erupt.

 Dorman: temporarily inactive but not fully extinct
 Extinct: never likely to erupt again.
TYPES (shape variation)

 Shield Volcanoes: are like shield.

 Composite Volcanoes: Mountain volcanoes.

EFFECTS

 Earthquakes
 Volcanic activity in Sea causes Tsunamis
 Poison the water
 Gases causes breathing difficulty
 Temperature of area
 Lava destruction
 Structural damage
 Landslide; destabilizing the earlier layer.
 All above causes could cause migration.

TSUNAMI
 Tsunami is the Japanese word meaning “harbor wave”.
 Is a series of waves caused by a rapid displacement of a body of water (ocean,
lake).
 Almost 80% of tsunamis occur within the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire.

CAUSES OF TSUNAMI

 Generated by undersea earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides or asteroid crashes

into water.

FORMATION OF TSUNAMI

 When seismic waves uplifts the water, the water comes down along with wind
pressure, again goes up, comes down, goes up, comes down making “wave-
lengths” when it reaches near the coast, the water begins to form “wave-
heights” that eventually becomes the big wave of water means Tsunami.

 In order for a tsunami to be formed, three things have to happen:

 Earthquake must measure at least 7.0 on the Richter Scale.
  The seabed must be lifted or lowered by earthquake, if it is displaced
sideward, no tsunami will occur.
 Epicenter of earthquake must be near the coastal area.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TSUNAMI

 Travel 1000km per hour

 Distance could be 100 and 300km between one wave crest to another wave crest.
 Tsunami’s wave-heights are smaller on open sea – mostly between half a meter
and one meter, they become dangerous when they reach near coastal areas.
 Near coastline that wave could be 30meters high because it kept containing the
water and energy in its previous waves.
 Coastal water will be pulled back, if tsunami is imminent.
 People will have almost a few minutes or half an hour to escape.
 3ometer high wave can be followed by other waves that could be even more
dangerous.

EFFECTS:

 Loss of life
 Shipwrecks can be left ashore; pollution.
 Animals can be left ashore to die.
 Crops damage; lack of food.
 People trapped under wrecked buildings till arrival of rescue teams.
 Economic loss; infrastructural devastation.

MANAGEMENT OF TSUNAMI

Tsunami is rarely predictable. Use of seismographs could detect Tsunami. Early

warning system is installed by some countries that warnings are issued via radio, T.V,
telephone, text message, etc. by National Meteorological Bodies of these countries.

FLOODS
Flood is high-stage water in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto
normally dry land.

CAUSES

 Meteorological Causes
 Prolonged and intense rainfall
  Cyclones
 Typhoons, storms and tidal waves
 Hydrological Causes
 Ice and snow melt
 Impermeable surfaces (impermeable: not allowing liquid to go through)
 Saturated (wet) land
 Land erosion (If land erodes, mud will go into the water)
 Anthropogenic Causes
 Population growth
 Deforestation and intensive agriculture
 Socio-economic and development activities
 Urbanization
 Climate Change
 Global Warming

EFFECTS

 Primary Effects
 Physical damages; damage of property, bridges, sewer systems, roads,
railways.
 Casualties
 Loss of resources; impact on buildings, machineries, agriculture, vegetation
and loss of millions that affects economy and GDP.
 Secondary Effects
 Landslides
 Land erosion: productive soil could be removed.
 Effects on health: injuries, heart attacks, mortality from drowning,
epidemic, poisoning, etc.
 Communication infrastructure; roads, networks, schools, colleges,
universities, etc.
 Water Pollution; affects clean water, plants, living organisms, etc.
 Tertiary Effects
 Economic hardship; till people recover
 Rebuilding
 Food shortage
 Poverty
 Loss of production
 Provision of services
MANAGEMENT

 Structural Measures
 Construction of Dams
 River engineering; river to be widened to carry more water.
 Non-structural Measures
 Afforestation
 Managed flooding (ecological flooding)
 Urban Planning; policies to restrict settlements close to floodplain.
 Awareness

DROUGHT
Deficiency of water or rainfall over an extended period.

CAUSES

 Lack of precipitation (snow and rainfall)

 Dry seasons;
 Surface water flow; if the origin of surface water is affected, surface water will
reduce and hydro-electric dams and irrigation reduce amount of water.
 Deforestation; exposing water to evaporation because vegetation blocks water
evaporation.
 Global warming and climate change;
 Mismanagement of resources
 Pakistan needs 40% storage capacity of 115 million acre-feet water of Indus
River throughout the year, but capacity is 7% and further decreasing
 In December 2015, the World Resources Institute ranked Pakistan 36 th
most water-stressed country in the world.

EFFECTS

 Diminished crop growth

 Food shortage and famine
 Habitat damage
 Malnutrition
 Mass migration
 Wildlife migration
  Social unrest; conflicts
 Death of people and animals
 Loss to economy

MANAGEMENT

 Dams
 Desalination of sea water
 Drought monitoring; observation of rainfall and comparison with water usage.
 Land use planning; to plant less water-dependent plants in the period
 Outdoor water-use restriction; filling pools, buckets, etc.
 Rainwater harvest; collection of rainwater from roofs or other catchments
 Recycled water; to purify wastewater
 Cloud seeding; weather modification for rainfall
 Water conservation

WILDFIRE & URBAN FIRE

 Fire is visible part of combustion. Combustion is combination of heat, fuel and
oxygen. If these elements are not available there is no fire.
 A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that wipes out large fields and areas of land. It
can wipe out an entire forest and destroy every organic matter in it.
 Wildfires are also termed forest fires, grass fires, peat fires, and bush fires
depending on which vegetation is burnt.

CAUSES

 Campfires
 Smoking
 Lightening
 Burning debris
 Accidents or equipment failure
 Fireworks
 Dry weather
 Arson

NEGATIVE EFFECTS

 Loss of Flora (plants) & Fauna (animals)

 Loss to Economy; fire fighting, property damage, tourism, etc.
  Loss of Soils and Organic Matter; wildfire raises the temperatures of these soils to
over 900oC that wipes out organic matter.
 Watershed and Erosion; burnt soil won’t absorb water thus will fall into river that
may cause flood.
 Air Pollution

POSITIVE EFFECTS

 Enables increase in new plant growth

 Removing harmful insects and deceased plants
 Some plants even require wildfires to germinate their seeds and stimulate
growth, such as some species of Pine.

WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT

 Fire Line or Fire Breaks: firefighters with bulldozers and equipment clears
the ring (surrounding areas) of wildfire when it reaches the ring, it cannot further
spread.
 Air Tankers: Water, fire retardant and chemicals (ammonium phosphate)
(foam) are dumped fly over the fire.
 Use of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS): to
monitor fires, forecast wind directions, etc. to make easier for fire fighters.
 Fire-Fighters: must be trained, they carry tools and preventive instruments.

URBAN FIRE
It includes the fire involving the structural components of various types of residential,
commercial or industrial buildings. It is also termed as House Fire.

CAUSES

 Cooking equipment and kitchens.

 Heating equipment and home heating failure
 Careless smoking in bed
 Electrical equipment failure
 Candles
 Children playing with fire
 Inadequate and faulty wiring
 Flammable liquids
 Barbecues
FIREFIGHTING AND FIRE CONTROL

Guidelines during fire fighting and fire control:

 Rescue
 Exposure Protection; to prevent fire from spreading to uninvolved building.
 Confinement; to confine fire to its origin.
 Extinguishment
 Ventilation; to remove smoke and gases form building
 Salvage
 Removing water from structure
 Covering property with salvage covers
 Removing property from fire building
 Utility Control
 Shut off gas and electric supply

AVALANCHE
 French word avalance meaning descent.
 Sudden fall of snow or ice from mountainside due to gravity

TYPES

 Loose Snow Avalanche: It originates from single point on a slope and gathers
cohesion as it descents.
 Slab Avalanche: It occurs when a layer of ice or snow slides down a slope.
Often form from new snow and wind, they are referred to as “wind slabs.”

Figure 2

CAUSES
  Terrain related factors: factors for avalanche formation are slope angle, slop
size, slop shape, aspect with respect to wind, vegetation & terrain.
 Snowpack related factors:
 Layers of snow build-up and slide down the mountain at faster rate.
 Weather related factors:
 Heavy snowfall
 Heavy snowstorms; 24 hours after a storm are considered to be critical.
 Precipitation during the summer months.
 Man related factors:
 Winter sports
 Deforestation and soil erosion
 Vehicles and snowmobiles vibration
 Construction work

EFFECTS

 Loss of life
 April 2012; avalanche engulfed Pakistan Army headquarters near the
Siachen Glacier in eastern Karakoram Range in the Himalayas; 130 people
buried; most were Pakistani soldiers.
 Loss of property
 Traffic blockage and road damage
 Flash floods; brings down all the debris
 Impact of Tourism; Ski resorts, transportation routes, and other business.
 Loss of Flora and Fauna

MANAGEMENT OF AVALANCHE

 Prediction is not possible, weather and snowfall information is collected to

forecast the likelihood of an avalanche.
 Land use planning; zones to be created where risks are there; tunnels as an
avalanche path made to protect roads and railways.
 Research and development, Knowledge network and management; system for
gathering information
 Capacity building and training; institutions to train for geoscientists, engineers
and planners
 Public awareness and education
 Afforestation