W ELCOME

DM 105
D ISASTER P REPAREDNESS AND P REVENTION

C OURSE CONDUCTED BY :
M UHAMMAD S HOFIQUL I SLAM
A SSISTANT P ROFESSOR
I NSTITUTE OF D ISASTER MANAGEMENT (IDM)
K HULNA U NIVERSITY OF E NGINEERING & T ECHNOLOGY (KUE T )
3

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A LL THE LECTURE MATERIALS WAS TAKEN FROM

VARIOUS SOURCES SUCH AS BOOKS , RESEARCH PAPERS ,
NATIONAL AND INT ’ L REPORTS , ONLINE LECTURE ETC .
T HE PRESENTER IS ACKNOWLEDGED
ANONYMOUSLY ALL THE SOURCES .
B ASIC PRINCIPAL OF PREPAREDNESS
 5 Aim of disaster preparedness
• Increasing efficiency, effectiveness and impact of disaster
emergency response mechanisms at community & national
level. This includes:
 Development and regular testing of warning systems
 Training of first-aid and emergency response teams.
 Establishment of emergency response policies, standards, organizational
arrangements and operational plans to be followed after a disaster.
 6
Aim of Disaster preparedness (cont. )
• Strengthening community-based disaster preparedness.
This could include educating, preparing and supporting local
populations and communities in their everyday efforts to
reduce risks.
• Developing activities that are useful for both addressing everyday risks that
communities face and for responding to disaster situations—for example,
health, first aid or social welfare programs that have components useful for
disaster reduction and response.
 7
What is emergency planning?
Emergency Planning is the process of assessing risks, creating plans
for identified risks and implementing mitigation measures to better
prepare a community for an incident.
 It is important to note that emergency planning does not remove a hazard or threat; the
process is focused on creating plans that can be used to assist in mitigating effects to the
community as a result of an incident.
What is disaster preparedness planning?
 Disaster preparedness planning involves identifying organizational resources,
determining roles and responsibilities, developing policies and procedures and planning
activities in order to reach a level of preparedness to be able to respond timely and
effectively to a disaster should one occur.
8
9
10
Disaster preparedness measures
1) Hazard, risk and vulnerability assessments
2) Response mechanisms and strategies
3) Preparedness plans
4) Coordination
5) Information management
6) Early warning systems
7) Resource mobilization
8) Public education, training, & rehearsals
9) Community-Based disaster preparedness
 11 Example:
How to make a family disaster preparedness plan?
Before making a plan, It is important to know which types of disasters
could affect your area.
 Step 1: Put together a plan by discussing these 4 questions with your family, friends, or
household to start your emergency plan.
How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
What is my shelter plan?
What is my evacuation route?
What is my family/household communication plan?
 How to make a disaster preparedness
12
 Step 2: Consider specific needs in your household.
Discuss your needs and responsibilities and how people in the
network can assist each other with communication, care of children,
business, pets, or specific needs. Keep in mind some these factors:
a. Different ages of members within your household
b. Responsibilities for assisting others
c. Locations frequented
d. Dietary needs
e. Medical needs including prescriptions and equipment
f. Disabilities and functional needs including devices and equipment
g. Languages spoken
h. Cultural and religious considerations
i. Pets or service animals
j. Households with school-aged children
 Step 3: Practice your plan with your family/household
N ATURAL H AZARD SPECIFIC PREPAREDNESS
 Why Prepare for Natural Disasters?
Real benefits to being prepared:
 Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters.
Communities, families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of a
fire and where to seek shelter during a tornado. They should be ready to evacuate
their homes and take refuge in public shelters and know how to care for their basic
medical needs.
 People also can reduce the impact of disasters (flood proofing, elevating a home or
moving a home out of harm’s way, and securing items that could shake loose in an
earthquake) and sometimes avoid the danger completely.
 Why Prepare for Natural Disasters? (cont.)
The need to prepare is real:
 Disasters disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives every year. Each disaster has lasting
effects, both to people and property.
 If a disaster occurs in your community, local government and disaster-relief
organizations will try to help you, but you need to be ready as well. Local
responders may not be able to reach you immediately, or they may need to focus
their efforts elsewhere.
 You should know how to respond to severe weather or any disaster that could occur
in your area - hurricanes, earthquakes, extreme cold, flooding, or terrorism.
 You should also be ready to be self-sufficient for at least three days. This may mean
providing for your own shelter, first aid, food, water, and sanitation.
 Why Prepare for Natural Disasters? (cont.)
Every citizen in this country is part of a national emergency management system that
is all about protection–protecting people and property from all types of hazards.
Think of the national emergency management system as a pyramid with you, the
citizen, forming the base of the structure.
At this level, you have a responsibility to protect yourself and your family by knowing
what to do before, during, and after an event.
 Why Prepare for Natural Disasters? (cont.)
Before an Event
• Know the risks and danger signs
• Purchase insurance, including flood insurance, which is not part of your
homeowner’s policy
• Develop plans for what to do
• Assemble a disaster supplies kit
• Volunteer to help others
During an Event
 Put your plan into action
 Help others
 Follow the advice and guidance of officials in charge of the event
After an Event
 Repair damaged property
 Take steps to prevent or reduce future loss.
Disaster Public Education
Web sites:
You can broaden your knowledge
of disaster preparedness topics by
reviewing information provided at
various Web sites. The Web
address for each site reflects its
home address. Searches conducted
from each home site’s page result
in the most current and extensive
list of available material for the
site.
Disaster Public Education Web sites (cont.)
 Earthquake
An earthquake is a sudden movement of the earth, caused by the
abrupt release of strain that has accumulated over a long time. For hundreds of
millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the earth, as the
huge plates that form the earth’s surface slowly move over, under, and past
each other. Sometimes, the movement is gradual.
At other times, the plates are locked together, unable to release the accumulating
energy. When the accumulated energy grows strong enough, the plates break free.
If the earthquake occurs in a populated area, it may cause many deaths and
injuries and extensive property damage.
 Earthquake: Know the Terms
Earthquake: A sudden slipping or movement of a portion of the earth’s crust,
accompanied and followed by a series of vibrations.
Aftershock: An earthquake of similar or lesser intensity that follows the main
earthquake.
Fault: The fracture across which displacement has occurred during an earthquake. The
slippage may range from less than an inch to more than 10 yards in a severe
earthquake.
Epicenter: The place on the earth’s surface directly above the point on the fault where
the earthquake rupture began. Once fault slippage begins, it expands along the fault
during the earthquake and can extend hundreds of miles before stopping.
 Earthquake: Know the Terms
• The place of origin of the earthquake in the interior of the earth is known as focus or
origin or centre or hypocenter.
• The place on the earth's surface, which lies exactly above the centre of the
earthquake, is known as the 'epicenter
Earthquake: Know the Terms
 27
R ECORDING OF E ARTHQUAKES
The instruments measure the ground displacements and are called seismographs. The
record obtained from a seismograph is called a seismogram.

Schematic of a seismograph [Source: IIT-K BMTPC Eq Tips – 02]

 Earthquake: Know the Terms (cont..)
Magnitude: The amount of energy released during an earthquake, which is computed
from the amplitude of the seismic waves. A magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale
indicates an extremely strong earthquake. Each whole number on the scale represents
an increase of about 30 times more energy released than the previous whole number
represents. Therefore, an earthquake measuring 6.0 is about 30 times more powerful
than one measuring 5.0.
Richter scale (ML): quantitative measure of an earthquake’s magnitude (size), devised
in 1935 by American seismologists Charles F. Richter and Beno Gutenberg. The
earthquake’s magnitude is determined using the logarithm of the amplitude (height) of
the largest seismic wave calibrated to a scale by a seismograph.
 Earthquake: Know the Terms (cont..)
Richter scale of earthquake magnitude
Earthquakes per
Magnitude level Category Effects
year
generally not felt by people, though
less than 1.0 to 2.9 micro more than 100,000
recorded on local instruments

3.0–3.9 minor felt by many people; no damage 12,000–100,000

4.0–4.9 light felt by all; minor breakage of objects 2,000–12,000
5.0–5.9 moderate some damage to weak structures 200–2,000
6.0–6.9 strong moderate damage in populated areas 20–200
serious damage over large
7.0–7.9 major 3–20
areas; loss of life
severe destruction and loss of
8.0 and higher great fewer than 3
life over large areas
 30
Earthquake: Know the Terms (cont..)
• The energy released by a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb is roughly equivalent to a
magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

Table 1. Increase in Energy Release for Various Range of Increase in Value of Magnitude
Earthquake: Know the Terms (cont..)
 Protective Measures: Before an Earthquake
o Repair defective electrical wiring, leaky gas lines, and inflexible utility connections.
Get appropriate professional help. Do not work with gas or electrical lines yourself.
o Bolt down and secure to the wall studs your water heater, refrigerator, furnace, and
gas appliances. If recommended by your gas company, have an automatic gas shut-
off valve installed that is triggered by strong vibrations.
o Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves. Fasten shelves, mirrors, and large
picture frames to walls. Brace high and top-heavy objects.

o Store bottled foods, glass and other breakables on low shelves or in cabinets that
fasten shut.
 Protective Measures: Before an Earthquake (cont..)
o Anchor overhead lighting fixtures.
o Be sure the residence is firmly anchored to its foundation.
o Install flexible pipe fittings to avoid gas or water leaks. Flexible fittings are more
resistant to breakage.
o Locate safe spots in each room under a sturdy table or against an inside wall.
o Reinforce this information by moving to these places during each drill.
 Protective Measures: Before an Earthquake (cont..)
o Learning what actions to take can help you and your family to remain safe and
healthy in the event of an earthquake. Hold earthquake drills with your family
members: Drop, cover and hold on.
o In most situations, you will reduce your chance of injury from falling objects (and
even building collapse) if you immediately do as per following techniques.
 Protective Measures: During an Earthquake
If you are Then
Indoors Take cover under a sturdy desk, table, or bench or against an inside
wall, and hold on. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your
face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the
building.
Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything
that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
Stay in bed—if you are there when the earthquake strikes—hold on
and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light
fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
 Protective Measures: During an Earthquake
If you are Then
Indoors Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if
you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Most
injuries during earthquakes occur when people are hit by falling
objects when entering into or exiting from buildings.
Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire
alarms may turn on.
DO NOT use the elevators.
 Protective Measures: During an Earthquake
If you are Then
Outdoors Stay there.
Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.

In a moving • Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid
vehicle stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility
wires.
• Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped, watching for
road and bridge damage.
 Protective Measures: During an Earthquake
If you are Then
Trapped under Do not light a match.
debris
Do not move about or kick up dust.
Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if
one is available. Shout only as a last resort—shouting can cause
you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.
 Protective Measures: After an Earthquake
• Be prepared for aftershocks. These secondary shockwaves are usually violent than
the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened
structures.
• Open cabinets cautiously. Beware of objects that can fall off shelves.
• Stay away from damaged areas unless your assistance has been specifically
requested by police, fire, or relief organizations.
• Be aware of possible tsunamis if you live in coastal areas. These are also known as
seismic sea waves (mistakenly called “tidal waves”). When local authorities issue a
tsunami warning, assume that a series of dangerous waves is on the way. Stay away
from the beach.
 Advance Knowledge
share on
Earthquake
(Not for Examination)
 42

Earthquake
Terminology
 43

Earthquake Terminology
• The motion of plates results in stress buildup along plate boundaries as well as in
interior domain of the plate. Depending on the state of buildup of stress and amount
of resistance offered by the fault strata, rupture is initiated as stress exceeds the
capacity of the strata.
• Generally, the rupture causing earthquakes initiates from a point, termed as
hypocenter or focus, which subsequently spreads over to a large area.
• Depending on the characteristics of strata where rupture occurs, the shape of the
ruptured area could be highly irregular and the amount of interface slip along the
ruptured surface could also vary.
 44

Earthquake Terminology
Various distance measurements associated with earthquake:
 45

Earthquake Terminology
• The place of origin of the earthquake in the interior of the earth is known as focus
or origin or centre or hypocenter.
• The place on the earth's surface, which lies exactly above the centre of the
earthquake, is known as the 'epicenter'.
• For obvious reasons, the destruction caused by the earthquake at this place will
always be maximum and with an increasing distance from this point, the intensity of
destruction also decreases.
 46

Earthquake Terminology
• The point on earth's surface diametrically opposite to the epicenter is called the
anti-center.
• An imaginary line which joins the points at which the earthquake waves have
arrived at the earth's surface at the same time is called a 'co-seismal'. In
homogeneous grounds with plain surfaces, the iso-seismals and co-seismals
coincide. Of course, in many cases due to surface and subsurface irregularities,
such coincidence may not occur.
 47

Recording of Earthquakes
• The vibratory motion produced during an earthquake could be measured in terms
of displacement, velocity or acceleration.
A seismologist is interested in even small amplitude ground
motions (in terms of displacement) that provides insight into the wave propagation
characteristics and enables him to estimate the associated earthquake parameters.
As accelerations are the causative phenomena for forces that
damage structures (Force = mass x acceleration), engineers are more concerned
with the earthquake causing structural damage, hence are interested in acceleration
measurement.
 48

Recording of Earthquakes
The instruments measure the ground displacements and are
called seismographs. The record obtained from a seismograph is
called a seismogram.

Schematic of a seismograph [Source: IIT-K BMTPC Eq Tips – 02]

 49

Earthquake Terminology
The seismograph has three components –
sensor, recorder and timer.
The principle on which it works is simple and is explicitly reflected in the early
seismograph – a pen attached at the tip of an oscillating simple pendulum (a mass
hung by a string from a support) marks on a chart paper that is held on a drum
rotating at a constant speed. A magnet around the string provides required damping
to control the amplitude of oscillations. The pendulum mass, string, magnet and
support together constitute the sensor; the drum, pen and chart paper constitutes
the recorder; and the motor that rotates the drum at constant speed forms the timer,
 50

Earthquake Terminology
By varying the characteristics of equipment one
could record displacement, velocity or acceleration during an
earthquake.
The devises that measure the ground accelerations are called
accelerometer. The accelerometers register the accelerations of
the soil and the record obtained is called an accelerogram.
 51

Determination of Hypocenter or Focus

 52

Determination of Hypocenter or Focus

Seismologists use the elapsed time between the arrival of
a P-waves and S-waves at a given site to assist them in
estimating the distance from the site to the center of energy
release. The distance of focus from the observation station is
determined by the relative arrival times of the P and S waves. The
distance from hypocenter to observation point is given by

where,
T=difference in time of arrival of P and S waves at an observation point;
S= distance from hypocenter to observation point; and
Vp and Vs are the velocity of P and S waves, respectively.
 53

Determination of Hypocenter or Focus (cont’d)

• The time T can be taken as the time of duration of the initial
tremor to it built-up while Vp and Vs are geological properties
for a given locations. Thus, the distance from the hypocenter to
the observation point is approximately proportional to the time
of duration of the initial tremor; the coefficient of proportionality
is about 8 km/sec.
• When S has been determined for each of three observation
points the hypocenter is located as the point of intersection of
these spheres.
 54

Determination of Hypocenter or Focus (cont’d)

 55

Size of Earthquakes
 56

Size of Earthquakes
• The size of earthquake could be related to the
damage caused
or
parameters like magnitude.
• These two useful definitions of the size of earthquakes are
sometimes confused.
 57

Intensity of Earthquakes
• The intensity of an earthquake refers to the degree of
destruction caused by it.
• In other words, intensity of an earthquake is a measure of
severity of the shaking of ground and its attendant damage.
• This, of course, is empirical to some extent because the extent
of destruction or damage that takes place to a construction at
a given place depends on many factors.
 58

Intensity of Earthquakes (cont’d)

Some of these factors are:
(i) distance from the epicenter,
(ii) compactness of the underlying ground,
(iii) type of construction
(iv) magnitude of the earthquake
(v) duration of the earthquake and
(vi) depth of the focus.
Intensity is the oldest measure of earthquake.
 59

Intensity of Earthquake: seismic intensity scale

The seismic intensity scale consists of a series of certain key
responses such as
- people awakening,
- movement of furniture,
- damage to chimneys,
- and finally – total destruction.
 60

Intensity of Earthquake: MMI Scale

• The most popular is the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI)
Scale.
• This scale, composed of 12 increasing levels of intensity that
range from imperceptible shaking to catastrophic destruction,
is designated by Roman numerals.
• MMI does not have a mathematical basis; instead it is an
arbitrary ranking based on observed effects. The lower
numbers of the intensity scale generally deal with the manner
in which the earthquake is felt by people. The higher numbers
of the scale are based on observed structural damage.
 61

Intensity of Earthquake: MMI Scale

 62

Intensity of Earthquake: MMI Scale

Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (IS-
Intensity of Earthquakes
1893:1984)
 63

Intensity of Earthquakes: MSK 64, RF & JMA Scale

• Another intensity scale is Mendvedev-Spoonheuer-Karnik

scale (MSK 64). This scale is more comprehensive and
describes the intensity of earthquake more precisely. Indian
seismic zones were categorized on the basis of MSK 64 scale.
• Some of the other intensity scales used are
- Rossi-Forel (RF) scale,
- Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) intensity scale, etc.
 64

Intensity of Earthquake: seismic intensity scale

• An imaginary line joining the points of same intensity of the
earthquake is called an 'iso-seismal'. In plan, the different iso-
seismals will appear more or less as concentric circles over a
plain, homogeneous ground if the focus of the earthquake is a
point. On the other hand, if the focus happens to be a linear
tract, the iso-seismals will occur elongated.
• Naturally, the areas or zones enclosed by any two successive
iso-seismals would have suffered the same extent of
destruction.
 65

Intensity of Earthquakes
A comparison of various
seismic intensity scales
used worldwide:
 66

Magnitude of Earthquake
• The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the amount of
energy released by the geological rupture causing it, and is
therefore a measure of the absolute size of the earthquake,
without reference to distance from the epicenter.
• While earthquake intensity is depicted in Roman numerals and
is always a whole number, magnitude is depicted in Arabic
numerals and need not be a whole number. Similar to intensity
scales, over the years, a number of approaches for
measurement of magnitude of an earthquake have come into
existence.
 67

Magnitude of Earthquake
• A workable definition of magnitude was first proposed by C.F.
Richter.
• He based on the data from Californian earthquakes, defined
the earthquake magnitude as the logarithm to the base 10 of
the largest displacement of a standard seismograph (called
Wood-Anderson Seismograph with properties T=0.8 sec;
m=2800; and damping nearly critical ≈ 0.8) situated 100 km
from the focus.
 68

Magnitude of Earthquake
Where, A denotes the amplitude in micron (10-6 m)
recorded by the instrument located at an epicentral
distance of 100 km; and M is the magnitude of the
earthquake
• When the distance from the epicenter at which an observation
is obtained other than 100 km, a correction is introduced to the
equation as follows:
Where,
M is the magnitude of the earthquake;
Δ=distance from epicenter (km),
MΔ= magnitude of the earthquake
calculated for earthquake using the values
measured at a distance Δ from the
epicenter.
 69

Magnitude of Earthquake
The graphical form of the estimation of Gutenberg – Richer magnitude [From
Lay and Wallace, 1995]:

Because of the
logarithmic nature of the
definition a difference of
1.0 in the magnitude
represents a difference
of 10 in the seismograph
amplitude.
Magnitude observations
by different recording
stations usually differ
quite widely, often by as
much as one magnitude,
which is later corrected
taking into account the
recordings from a large
number of instruments.
 70

Moment magnitude
Over the years, scientists observed that different magnitude scales had
saturation points and the magnitudes estimated by different
approaches did not point to a unique value of earthquake size. The
Richter magnitude saturates at about 6.8, and the surface wave
magnitude at about 7.8.
In addition, these magnitude estimates did not have a linear relation
with the energy released due to earthquake rupture. To address these
short falls, Hanks and Kanamori, in 1979 proposed a magnitude scale,
termed as ‘moment magnitude’, based on the seismic moment due to
earthquake rupture. The moment magnitude is given by

Where,
Mw is the moment magnitude,
M0 is the seismic moment in N-m
 71

Energy of an Earthquake

An approximate relationship between surface wave

magnitude, Ms, and the energy released by an earthquake, E,
is given by

Where,
E is measured in joules.
 72

Earthquake Terminology
Thus the ratio of energies released by two earthquakes differing by 1 is
magnitude is equal to 31.6. The ratio is 1000 for earthquakes differing
by 2 in magnitude, Table 1. Comparisons have been made between
natural forces and nuclear weapons.
The energy released by a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb is roughly
equivalent to a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

Table 1. Increase in Energy Release for Various Range of Increase in Value of

Magnitude
 73

Energy magnitude relationships.

Figure shows the variation of the energy released against the magnitude.
 74

Comparison of Magnitude and Intensity

• Comparisons between magnitude and intensity are fraught with
difficulty. Firstly, intensity varies with distance from the epicenter.
• Secondly, a large earthquake may occur away from inhabited areas
and therefore cause little apparent damage.
• Focal depth, ground conditions and quality of building construction
can have a considerable effect on subjective assessments of
damage.
• Magnitude-intensity relationships are not favored for engineering
purposes. However, intensity could be the only information available
for large historical earthquakes and the inputs from intensity
measurements would be necessary in estimating the maximum
earthquake potential of the region.
 75

Comparison of Magnitude and Intensity

• In 1956, Richter proposed a simple relationship between magnitude
and epicentral intensity given by:

The equation was derived by comparison of magnitude and epicentral

intensity data of Californian earthquakes.
This relationship could vary from region to region. For e.g., Street and
Turcotte in 1977 proposed a magnitude intensity relation specific to
North-eastern North America, given by
 76

Comparison of Magnitude and Intensity

• However, it is found that correlations between intensity and
magnitude are not particularly accurate for estimation of earthquake
magnitude.
• In addition to epicentral intensity, researchers have attempted to
associate other intensity related parameters like log of area with
intensity greater than IV; log of felt area, fall off intensity, etc., with
varying levels of success.