International perspectives on natural disasters occurrence, mitigation, and consequences

International Perspectives on Natural Disasters: Occurrence,
Mitigation, and Consequences


Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research
VOLUME 21

The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.


International Perspectives
on Natural Disasters:
Occurrence, Mitigation, and
Consequences
Edited by

JOSEPH P. STOLTMAN
Western Michigan University,
Kalamazoo, MI, U.S.A.

JOHN LIDSTONE
Queensland University of Technology,
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
and

LISA M. DECHANO
Western Michigan University,
Kalamazoo, MI, U.S.A.


A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4020-2850-2 (HB)
ISBN 978-1-4020-2851-9 (e-book)

Published by Springer
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

www.springer.com

Reprinted with corrections 2007

Printed on acid-free paper

All Rights Reserved
© 2004, 2007 Springer
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording
or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception
of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.


DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to . . .
Gilbert F. White
Philip W. Hemily
Herman Th. Verstappen
. . . scholars who have devoted their scientific research and professional lives to
exploring questions and issues of public concern in order to further international civic
engagement regarding natural hazards/disasters and environmental resources policies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

ix

Acknowledgments

xi

Introduction
Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano

1

Chapter 1: Earthquakes
Walter Hays

11

Chapter 2: Volcanoes
Raymundo S. Punongbayan

37

Chapter 3: Windstorms
Tony Gibbs

63

Chapter 4: Global Flooding
John Handmer

87

Chapter 5: Wildfires
Stephen Yool

107

Chapter 6: Mass Movement
Lisa M. DeChano

131

Chapter 7: Drought
D.A. Wilhite

147

Chapter 8: Natural Hazards in Japan
Hiroshi Sasaki and Shuji Yamakawa

163

Chapter 9: Natural Disasters in China
Yang Hua Ting

181

Chapter 10: Natural Disasters in Oceania
George Pararas-Carayannis

193

Chapter 11: Hazard Mitigation in South and Southeast Asia
Nehal Karim

211

Chapter 12: Natural Disasters in Africa
Belinda Dodson

231

Chapter 13: Natural Disasters in Russia
V.M. Kotlyakov

247

Chapter 14: Natural Disasters in Europe
Lea Houtsonen and Arvo Peltonen

263


viii

Table of Contents

Chapter 15: Natural Disasters and Their Impact in Latin America
James J. Biles and Daniel Cobos

281

Chapter 16: Disaster Impacts on the Caribbean
Jeremy Collymore

303

Chapter 17: A Perspective on North American Natural Disasters
Joseph Scanlon

323

Chapter 18: Teaching and Learning to Live with the Environment
Kath Murdoch

341

Chapter 19: Educational Aims and the Question of Priorities
Graham Haydon

359

Chapter 20: The Experience of Natural Disasters:
Psychological Perspectives and Understandings
Joseph P. Reser

369

Chapter 21: Curriculum Innovation for Natural Disaster Reduction:
Lessons from the Commonwealth Caribbean
Michael Morrissey

385

Chapter 22: Curriculum Adaptation and Disaster Prevention in Colombia 397
Omar D. Cardona
Chapter 23: Current Curriculum Initiatives and Perspectives
in Education for Natural Disaster Reduction in India
R.B. Singh

409

Chapter 24: Disaster Education in New Zealand
John Macaulay

417

Chapter 25: Natural Disasters and the Role of Women
Jacqueline Sims

429

Chapter 26: Natural Hazards and Disaster Information on the Internet
John A. Cross and Yasuyo Makido

445

Chapter 27: Capacity Building, Education, and Technical Training
Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano

457

Index

463

List of Figures on CD-ROM

467

CD-ROM of All Figures by Chapter: Inside Back Cover


PREFACE

Reports of natural disasters fill the media with regularity. Places in the world are
affected by natural disaster events every day. Such events include earthquakes,
cyclones, tsunamis, wildfires – the list could go on for considerable length. In the 1990s
there was a concentrated focus on natural disaster information and mitigation during the
International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR). The information was
technical and provided the basis for major initiatives in building structures designed for
seismic safety, slope stability, severe storm warning systems, and global monitoring
and reporting. Mitigation, or planning in the event that natural hazards prevalent in a
region would suddenly become natural disasters, was a major goal of the decade-long
program.

During the IDNDR, this book was conceptualized, and planning for its
completion began. The editors saw the need for a book that would reach a broad range
of readers who were not actively or directly engaged in natural disasters relief or
mitigation planning, but who were in decision-making positions that provided an open
window for addressing natural disaster issues. Those people were largely elected public
officials, teachers, non-governmental organization staff, and staff of faith-based
organizations. Those people, for the most part, come to know very well the human and
physical characteristics of the place in which they are based. With that local outreach in
mind, the editors intended the book to encourage readers to:
1.
Recognize the dangers that natural hazards present in a location or region;
2.
Become familiar with the patterns of natural disaster events that occur globally
and realize that, while each event is reported as a unique occurrence in the
media, events may be associated in global patterns and may offer local to
global disaster mitigation opportunities; and
3.
Interact with information about natural disasters in the book that ranges from
accounts of events to analysis of the psychological and social consequences.
The readership we had in mind was important in our decisions about design and content
for the book. First, we believe that people in the educational community have a great
influence over young people who will make future scientific, economic, political, and
social policies about natural disasters and the efforts to mitigate their effects. Those
individuals engaged in education go far beyond the classroom teacher and include
curriculum experts, adult and community education personnel, evaluation and
assessment specialists, and leaders of faith-based organizations. Young people in school
are a critical audience. Conveying knowledge about natural hazards, the mitigation
steps possible, and responses to natural disaster events is an investment in the future.
A second intended audience consists of policy makers. People residing within
a policy maker’s jurisdiction are likely to be confronted by a particular set of natural

hazards or disaster events. In order to address policy in various contexts, the attention to
natural disasters is international. Natural disasters in a worldwide context are addressed
to provide a global perspective. Affected segments of the population, such as women
and people in developing countries, may respond differently to different types of
ix


x

Preface

disasters. Different types of mitigation strategies may be required to address similar
hazards in different regions of the world. The mitigation of effects proposed by policy
makers has been presented by examining one of the most basic of institutions, the
school. Examples from New Zealand and Colombia demonstrate the role that young
people can play as disseminators of information to the local population. This includes
enhancing the knowledge of policy makers at the local and regional levels regarding
their responsibilities for hazard mitigation efforts by the affected community and its
citizens.
Finally, we wanted the book to do more than report current natural disaster
events. We believed it should reflect temporal as well as spatial information. When
events are reported, they are in the context of a history of natural disasters and patterns
of occurrences. Natural disasters are largely expected, but not predictable specifically to
a particular time or place. Therefore, this book is intended to develop a “habit of mind”
that results in accessing information about a local area, reviewing the patterns of natural
disasters that have occurred, and planning on how to mitigate the effects on a personal
scale, while urging policy makers to initiate mitigation strategies at regional and
national scales.
An author with a particular perspective and involvement in natural disasters
research, mitigation, and response has written each chapter. The chapters were drafted

during the IDNDR period and reflect much of the enthusiasm that pervaded the
scientific community. The editors thank the authors for sustaining their commitment to
a book focused on natural disasters during several rounds of manuscript reviews.
Joseph P. Stoltman
John Lidstone
Lisa M. DeChano


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The editors thank the authors of the chapters for their contributions and patience in the
preparation and publication of the manuscripts. International contributions require a
special type of interaction between the editors and chapter authors in order to maintain
dedication to an idea and pursue a completed book. The editors appreciated the
cooperation in completing the book project.
The editors would like to recognize the baccalaureate and graduate students at
Western Michigan University who assisted with the preparation of the draft manuscript.
The book has been a memorable part of their education and impressed upon them that a
book does not appear suddenly. It requires hard work and persistence from everyone
who has a part in its publication. The students were: Fitria Wahid, Vinodh
Venugopalan, Olena Smith, Peter Kimosop, Jennifer Klaeren, Kelly Lockey, and Matt
Pasztor.
The translation of an original chapter from Spanish was completed by María
Elena Soler.
Laurel Singleton and Cindy Cook completed the copy editing and formatting
of the manuscript. Their expertise was greatly appreciated.
The following colleagues served as external reviewers and provided
suggestions regarding the content of the chapters while in the final draft stage. The
editors thank them for specificity, clarity of suggestions, and the time they devoted to
the review process. These reviewers were: Joby Bass, James Biles, Paul Blank, David

R. Butler, Lex Chalmers, Eric Fournier, Eve Gruntfest, Joseph Kerski, Tom Martinson,
Barbara McDade, Chris Merrett, Philip Micklin, William Monfredo, Janice Monk,
Michael Naish, Jose Nuñez, Linda Prosperie, Savita Sinha, Philip Stimpson, and
Michael Williams.
The editorial staff at Kluwer Academic Publishers was consistently helpful in
providing suggestions and responding to questions during the preparation of the
manuscript.
Support for this project was provided by the Committee on International
Organizations and Programs, Office of International Affairs, National Research
Council; the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction Committee; the
International Council for Science (ICSU); The International Geographical Union
(IGU); the Commission on Geographical Education (CGE-IGU); Western Michigan
University; and Queensland University of Technology. The responsibility for opinions
expressed in each chapter rests solely with the editors and authors and does not
constitute an endorsement by any of the above listed organizations.
The editors have exercised editorial license with the manuscripts. Any errors
of commission or omission in the manuscripts are the responsibility of the editors.
xi


INTRODUCTION
NATURAL DISASTERS: RAISING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING
ABOUT RISK, OCCURRENCE, MITIGATION, AND
PREPAREDNESS
Joseph P. Stoltman

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

John Lidstone

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Lisa M. DeChano

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
The chapters in this book were prepared by scientists who have researched and written
about natural hazards and disasters for much of their careers. Most have visited disaster
events and sites at one time or another; have consulted with policy makers regarding
natural disasters, risk assessment, mitigation, and preparedness; and have thought
deeply about the role of natural disasters in the everyday turn of events that occur in
various regions and within diverse cultures. The information they conceptualize in their
chapters ranges from the underlying theory for a particular event to the practical
information that can be presented to elementary school students to prepare for and
mitigate the effects of a natural disaster event. The book is written for professionals and
citizens who are engaged in natural disasters preparedness, prevention, and response
wherever those events occur. It is intended to inform those who are charged with
educating the public about the occurrence, risks, and consequences of natural disasters,
and what people, governments, and social institutions may do to mitigate the effects of
those events. In the broadest sense, the book is about increasing the capacity of the
larger public to address natural disasters. In a much narrower sense, it is a book that
will enable specific groups of professionals to assist the general public in preparing for
natural disasters. Those people include teachers, public response specialists, leaders of
faith-based organizations, and policy makers. They may rely on the information in the
book to further educate themselves and to advance public understanding of natural
disasters in the larger community.
Public understanding of science and the occurrence of natural disasters are two
main topics presented in this book. The first, public understanding of science implies
the presentation of scientific information in a manner that enables people who are not
specialists in science to comprehend the information and case studies and readily
determine how it applies to their lives. Few people are not subject to some form of

natural disaster. It is often the scale of the disaster that varies, so that in some cases
1
J.P. Stoltman et al. (eds.),
International Perspectives on Natural Disasters: Occurrence, Mitigation, and Consequence, 1-10.
© 2007 Springer.


2

Stoltman, Lidstone, and DeChano

individuals or small groups of people are affected, such as in a snow avalanche. In other
cases, disasters are large-scale, such as earthquakes, in which many thousands of people
are affected. There is virtue in knowing about both small- and large-scale disasters,
since they are the very basis for raising public understanding of vulnerability to and
mitigation in natural disaster-prone circumstances.
There is also virtue in knowing about the natural disasters that people in the
various regions of the world face. Today’s mass media allow real time delivery of all
types of news, and natural disaster reporting receives a high priority for media time and
space at the time of the event and for a relatively brief period afterward. In order to
enhance the public understanding of natural disaster events as ongoing, geographically
diverse, and extending for more than just a few days when response and recovery are
both considered, it is desirable to develop a broader general information base among the
population. Such an information base will have two effects. First, it will improve the
capacity of the public to comprehend the reasons natural events occur and sometimes
result in natural disasters. Second, it enables people living in a particular region of the
world to empathize with the victims of a natural disaster in another place or region. In
order to frame the issue of public understanding of natural disasters, the following are
three basic questions that must be addressed and scientific hypotheses formulated for
examination in the future:

x Where did the natural disaster occur?
x Why did it occur at that location or place?
x What can I do to help mitigate the effects or future risks?
General access to the information with which to answer the questions will do
two things. It will improve public understanding about why natural disaster events
occur. Subsequently, that will result in improved understanding of the science that
underpins natural disaster research relative to cause, effect, and mitigation of effects. It
will also provide the public with information regarding where disasters occur, the most
basic being: do they occur near where I live? The association of the natural disaster
event with a place or region is essential to understanding its potential impact and need
for a mitigation strategy. Both why and where are significant to the public
understanding of the science of natural disasters.
Natural disaster events also occur in time as well as space. The common view
of natural disasters is often as current events; this view is reinforced by the way the
media presents natural disasters as short-term occurrences. Natural disasters are
contemporary issues of considerable duration, both in terms of the time between similar
events at a place and the overall pattern of events for long periods of time. Specific
types of events tend to revisit particular places and the people living at those places;
thus, while there may be a current example, there are also many chronological layers of
the natural hazard and subsequent disasters present at that place. The contemporary but
persistent presence of a natural hazard may be verified by taking a vertical cross section
of the place. As an illustration of how natural disaster events are told time and time
again, consider the region near Mt. Vesuvius. The current nature of the natural hazard is
reflected in the single most recent catastrophic event, or the eruptions of Vesuvius in 79
CE. However, the contemporary, common memory of the natural hazard presented by
Vesuvius is reflected in the written accounts, artifacts, and clues taken from the
physical impact of the eruption on the place. Vesuvius thus becomes a persistent


Introduction

3

contemporary issue rather than a current event. Natural hazards and disasters as
contemporary issues are evident in their persistence in the public’s view and the
persistence of policy makers and local citizens in mitigating their effects.

1. Natural Hazards and Disasters
The first seven chapters of this book examine natural hazards in the environment and
the resultant disaster events. Those presented are the natural hazards and disasters that
most people recognize on a global scale: earthquakes, volcanoes, windstorms, global
flooding, wildfires, mass movement and drought. The initial two chapters on
earthquakes and volcanoes examine recurrence of those disasters and relate them to
plate tectonics. The spatial relationships between tectonic plates, earthquake
occurrence, and inactive and active volcanoes present a compelling record of past,
present, and future risks from those types of natural disasters. Public understanding of
those relationships is essential to the willingness to recognize risks and take steps to
mitigate for a natural disaster that may not occur anytime in the near future, but all
evidence suggests will occur at some future time. Dealing with uncertainty of when,
where, and the intensity of an event is a persistent issue in natural disasters mitigation
efforts.
The five chapters that follow focus on natural hazards and disasters that have a
pattern of past occurrence. They present a combination of earth’s physical systems that
interact to prepare a set of conditions that suggest a natural disaster will occur. In most
cases it is the interaction of atmosphere and land, while in others it is too little or too
much precipitation resulting in drought and mass movement. With greater scientific
knowledge of how those natural hazards develop into disasters, a more informed public
will have a greater capacity to observe and make judgments regarding the dangers of
natural conditions that are encountered and that require decisions relative to both the
mitigation of effects and the response to events after they occur.

2. Natural Disasters Occur in Regions and Places
Some regions of the world experience greater numbers and others experience greater
magnitudes in the case of particular natural disasters. South Asia floods regularly
during and following the continental runoff from the summer monsoon. Central North
America is affected by tornadoes during the late spring and summer months. Australia
suffers from drought during the summer months and wildfires occur. Residents in some
regions expect to contend with multiple natural disasters during the calendar year.
Some natural hazards, such as volcanoes, are associated with a relatively confined
region or place. In other cases the human element and the risk element of a natural
hazard coexist. The village perched on the slope of an active volcano so residents can
benefit from the fertile volcanic soil, for example, experiences a higher level of
volcanic disaster risk than does a place in central Siberia. In the global view, there is
considerable spatial differentiation in the presence of natural risks and the occurrence of
natural disasters related to those hazards. The spatial differentiation provides a regional
context; for that reason, Chapters 8 through 17 are based on case studies of regions and
their complex of natural disasters.


4

Stoltman, Lidstone, and DeChano

A persistent issue continually arose in defining and applying the concept of
natural disasters by region. Africa is a huge continent and there is one chapter devoted
to its entirety. Japan is a relatively small region, compared to Africa, and it also has one
chapter devoted to it. There is no regional chapter that focuses on Australia, although it
is incorporated in Oceania, along with New Zealand. In most cases, arbitrary decisions
were made by the editors after reviewing the regional information available and
agreeing with a natural disasters scientist who had completed field work on that topic

within that region and who was willing to contribute a chapter. Those criteria were
heavily influential in the regional organization and coverage.
The regional chapters appear in a very general geographical pattern of
inclusion from the Asian Pacific Rim westward, beginning with Japan. Regional
treatments of the natural disaster topics do several things. First, they set the context for
the range of natural disasters experienced. The intent of the regional chapters is to
examine how the population of the region, or national units and places located there,
face risks and how they implement plans for both disaster mitigation as well as
recovery following an event. The initial regional chapter on Japan sets a context within
which flooding, tsunami, volcanoes, and typhoons are on the hazards watch list. Japan
is a country of earthquakes and multistoried buildings, and disaster mitigation has been
largely accomplished by engineering and public information.
China has an immense span of territory across a diverse range of geographical
conditions, including its latitudinal range and considerable river basins and coastal
shorelines. As a country, it faces a host of natural hazards and disasters. China is likely
to be preparing for, experiencing, or recovering from one or more natural disaster of
significance at any given time. Its large population, high population densities in the
eastern region of the country, and great geographic diversity are the underlying reasons
why many natural disasters are experienced. Similarly, Russia is the world’s largest
country and one would expect natural disasters to reflect its area. Russia experiences
disasters that are associated with climate, especially temperature, and to a lesser extent
the sub-regional precipitation regime in some parts of the country. The characteristics
of the climate make their effects apparent in different ways, but wildfires in the boreal
forests during the warm, dry summers in Siberia are one consequence. Temperature and
precipitation also contribute to blowing snow as a natural disaster in northern Russia
during the winter months. In the summer months, temperature and lack of precipitation
on a cyclical basis contribute to drought across the steppe lands of southern Russia.
The diverse natural disasters of Russia and China reflect the range of natural disasters
observed on the Eurasian continent.
Other regions of the world have addressed natural disasters in the contexts of

different hazard risks. Within South and Southeast Asia, the mitigation of natural
disasters is a long-term project that will take several decades of concerted work. For
example, flooding in the delta of the Ganges is an annual event related to both the wet
monsoons and snowmelt runoff from the Himalayas. The more severe threat of coastal
flooding occurs when a tropical depression enters the Bay of Bengal and tracks
northward into the low-lying delta region. The ensuing wind and flood damage to
property and agricultural fields can be enormous. In Oceania and the Caribbean, for
example, the challenge is somewhat different and stems not only from primary natural
hazards, but from multiple hazards. The islands in both Oceania and the Caribbean


Introduction

5

comprise relatively small total land surface areas surrounded by extensive areas of
water. The geographic distribution of the land areas in both regions and the relative
locations in the low latitudes have given these two regions on opposite sides of earth
very similar natural hazards and, therefore, similar natural disaster risks. For example,
the small land area of islands reduces the probability they will suffer a direct hit by a
cyclonic event. However, if a direct hit occurs, the results are often disastrous for the
entire island community.
Europe and North America are challenged by many natural disasters, but they
have also made considerable social, economic, and engineering investment in
preparedness for natural disasters, response plans to deal with natural events, and
programs to mitigate effects. As in Japan, the history of natural disasters and the
financial resources to implement mitigation practices is evident. While early programs
to address natural disasters were largely disaster response planning and involvement of
local communities, today new construction, land use planning, and school-based and
community education are essential components of natural disaster reduction. Despite

the great strides made in natural disaster mitigation in Europe and North America, there
are events that defy what are seemingly the necessary steps in caution and preparation,
and natural disasters continue.
The chapter on Latin America presents both the record of natural disasters as
well as modeling some recent methods used to examine hazards, their risk potential,
and the predicted consequences of a natural disaster event. While aerial photography,
remote sensing, and mapping are portrayed in several of the chapters, it is the chapter
on Latin America that takes the opportunity to demonstrate how a Geographic
Information System (GIS) may be used to research population density and risks from
flood and landslides. The case study used is El Salvador, but the principles may be
applied in any local or regional context as long as the data are available. The risk of
natural disaster events is high for many places within Latin America, but GIS enables
scientists to examine the vulnerability of the population to a particular natural event.
The planning principle underlying the use of GIS in natural disaster research rests with
knowing where the vulnerability is greatest and using widely accepted information to
inform policy makers and citizens alike about where to focus disaster mitigation
activities.
Africa is a continent that spans the equator so evenly that natural disasters
related to the combination of latitude and climate are predominate in both the south and
the north. While health issues, and especially AIDS, are significant disasters in Africa,
they are not treated in this book. Those issues are left to the growing public health and
medical specialty information that is devoted to the disease. There is no doubt that the
epidemiology of many diseases is affected by natural disasters. For example, drought is
a natural disaster that often results in the migration of populations under social and
physical stresses. They may inadvertently introduce or spread a health condition or
become susceptible to a new health condition or disease at their place of in-migration.
That relationship between human and natural disasters is not a topic addressed
systematically in this book.
The number and variety of natural disaster events in Africa, when compared to
the size of the continent, appear to be disproportionately smaller than experienced in

other regions of the world. On closer examination, the natural disaster events that affect


6

Stoltman, Lidstone, and DeChano

Africa, such as drought, impact vast areas of the continent and can displace large
numbers of people. While the total number of events may be fewer than other places,
the magnitude and duration of natural events make Africa comparable to other regions.

3. Social and Educational Perspectives on Natural Disasters
The philosophical perspective that policy makers and people take regarding natural
disasters, their occurrence, response to, and the mitigation of effects are reflected in
Chapters 18 through 26. The chapters in this group address the place of natural
disasters in various formats of education, access to information, and social
considerations that impact vulnerability and mitigation. The psychological factors that
function before, during, and after a natural disaster event are important issues for
response teams. The field of crisis intervention and crisis response devotes considerable
thought to disasters response applications.
The large question of people living a more harmonious existence with the
environment is discussed in another chapter, since the “disaster” element of a natural
event occurs when people and property are affected. The practicality of disaster
mitigation by hazard awareness and viable alternatives within a mitigation strategy is a
major issue, since much of the world’s population lives within or near places where
natural hazards are prevalent. Within that context of population and proximity, different
segments of the population, such as women and children, are more vulnerable to effects
of natural events. Gender and age of the population interact to affect the consequences
of natural disasters.
Information access is a common issue when determining natural hazards risk,

response, and mitigation. The Internet and World Wide Web provide opportunities to
address the information problem. The chapter on Internet sites and web pages refers to
those of considerable duration that are important resources for natural disasters
education and training.
Education and training are critical to reducing the effects of natural disasters.
Observation, data analysis, and decision making are skills that are significant in natural
disasters reduction at all scales as well as skills that are presented and applied in
education and training. Educational services increasingly reach a greater percentage of
elementary and junior secondary school-aged youth each year. In some instances, the
elementary age children are the first in their families to attend school, and more often
the only ones in their families and communities to attend school beyond the initial one
or two years. In more developed countries, this is no longer the case, but in less
developed countries the first generation to fully complete elementary schooling (ages 5
through 12) is emerging in the population. These young people represent a valuable
human resource in reducing natural disasters, since the skills of literacy, problem
solving, and decision making are available to address local community issues.
Elementary, junior, and senior secondary students are among the best diffusion
agents for information about natural disasters, their occurrence, planned responses, and
the means to mitigate effects. Students study ways to prepare for a natural disaster
event and take that information home and teach it to their parents, siblings, and
extended family. For example, students learn that the cooking stove should be anchored
to the floor to prevent its toppling and starting a fire in case of an earthquake. They


Introduction

7

observe that the stove in the school is anchored. They then ask: Is the stove at home
anchored? An important educational goal in regions prone to specific natural disasters

is to prepare students with the types of questions to ask about mitigating the effects of
such disasters, and how they might go about doing that. Upon hearing the suggestions
and rationale from their children, many parents will take the initiative to follow up on
the suggestions or to do so with the help of their child. Many forms of mitigation
against natural disasters are not terribly expensive and can be accomplished with little
expenditure. In urban areas, a homemade rope ladder will provide an escape from the
upper floors of a building if the stairway is damaged in an earthquake. Just as schools
have procedures that guide the response to a natural disaster, students can develop
similar written and rehearsed plans at home with their families.
What is the source of the information that students need? Four examples of
school curricula from four regions (Colombia, India, New Zealand, and the Caribbean)
that experience natural disasters are examined. The curriculum component may be
taught in elementary school as part of the science, geography, or social studies. It can
be a component of applied domestic studies, biology, or health studies. It is important
that the capacity of students to use scientific observation, data analysis, and decision
making must precede taking action in preparing for and mitigating of the effects of
natural disasters. Diffusing the newly learned information to others must also be a
service that the young people in a community provide to other residents.

4. The IDNDR and Mitigation
The International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR) ended in 2000, but
the work initiated by citizens, community leaders, scientists, and international
organizations continues into the twenty-first century. There is a trend towards
increasing occurrence of natural disasters and they may be associated with other
environmental issues, such as global climate change, inappropriate location of
structures near natural hazard zones, population and population density growth in
natural hazard zones, urban growth and inadequate or non-enforcement of building
codes, watershed destruction due to deforestation, and ecological change due to
changes in biodiversity, such as is the case with desertification. The consequences have
been increased human suffering, loss of life, and economic losses. The proportion of the

world’s population affected by natural disasters was nearly one tenth of the world
population in 2000. The total global economic damages during any given year are
enormous and exceed the gross domestic product of many of the world’s countries
(Asia Disasters Reduction Center, 2002; United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, 2002).
The United Nation’s International Strategy for Disasters Reduction (ISDR) has
both built upon and continued many of the IDNDR’s initiatives in monitoring hazards
and disasters and training. The IDNDR’s mission by 2000 was to complete national risk
assessments, initiate national and or local prevention preparedness plans, and
implement global, regional, national, and local warning systems (International Decade
for Natural Disasters Reduction, 1989). It was a huge undertaking, and many of the
objectives articulated in the plan were achieved on a limited global scale and many on a
limited national scale. The extent to which they were achieved at the local scale is


8

Stoltman, Lidstone, and DeChano

practically immeasurable since evaluation of the effects at that scale is not in projects,
but in results. Natural disasters mitigation will undoubtedly take more than a decade to
begin to reflect local and region-wide benefits to the population and the economy. The
reviews of disaster response planning and mitigation initiatives indicate that the goals
of IDNDR were disseminated and acted upon during and following the decade
(International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2004). However, many of the initial
goals were not attained and the work has continued under the auspices of the UN’s
ISDR. The mission of the ISDR is to build disaster-resilient communities through
increased awareness of the importance of disaster reduction as an integral component of
sustainable development. This will be possible by reducing human, social, economic,
and environmental losses due to natural hazards and related technological and

environmental disasters.
Recognizing that natural hazards can threaten any one of us, the ISDR builds
on partnerships and takes a global approach to disaster reduction, seeking to involve
every individual and every community in working towards the goals of reducing the
loss of lives, the socioeconomic setbacks, and the environmental damages caused by
natural hazards. In order to achieve these goals, the ISDR promotes four objectives as
tools towards reaching disaster reduction for all:
x Increase public awareness to understand risk, vulnerability, and disaster
reduction globally. The more people, regional organizations, governments,
non-governmental organizations, United Nations entities, representatives of
civil society, and others know about risk, vulnerability, and how to manage the
impacts of natural hazards, the more disaster reduction measures will be
implemented in all sectors of society. Prevention begins with information.
x Obtain commitment from public authorities to implement disaster reduction
policies and actions. The more decision-makers at all levels commit
themselves to disaster reduction policies and actions, the sooner communities
vulnerable to natural disasters will benefit from applied disaster reduction
policies and actions. This requires, in part, a grassroots approach whereby
communities at risk are fully informed and participate in risk management
initiatives.
x Stimulate interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships, including the
expansion of risk reduction networks. The more entities active in disaster
reduction share information on their research and practices, the more useful
the global body of knowledge and experience will become. By sharing a
common purpose and working collaboratively, we can ensure a world that is
more resilient to the impact of natural hazards.
x Improve scientific knowledge about disaster reduction. The more we know
about the causes and consequences of natural hazards and related
technological and environmental disasters on societies, the better prepared to
reduce risks we are able to be. Bringing the scientific community and policy

makers together allows them to contribute to and complement each other’s
work (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2000, p. 1).
Considerable work remains. That work is, however, of a special type that
requires reaching out in a number of different areas of research and public
understanding of hazards, risks, and possible mitigation strategies. Education and


Introduction

9

training are perhaps the topics that will result in the largest return on the investment in
natural hazard mitigation over an extended period. Once the knowledge, skills, and
political process are embedded in the population through education and training, then
the effects are similar to a bank account that continues to pay dividends in the future.
Natural disaster education and training are an investment in the future for those who are
presently at risk from natural hazards as well as those people who will be asked to
respond in providing relief to the victims of natural events. The following pages delve
into those events and propose ways that knowledge of hazards and public understanding
are significant baseline information. The next step is more diffuse and requires the
incorporation of local and national training and educational programs to raise the
common knowledge about natural hazards and disasters. Each national, cultural, and
local context will have a particular set of experiences and lenses through which they
will view public understanding and disaster mitigation initiatives.
In some cases traditions, folklore, faith-based beliefs, and conventional
wisdom will influence a group’s perspective on a natural hazard and risk of a disaster.
In some societies the dimension of time is associated with a natural event, such as a
disaster, and values are given priority relative to the consequences having been judged
within the cultural context. For example, the volcano erupted and destroyed the
community, but it also enriched the soil for future generations, or the gods were

punishing our community for something we did in the past. The examples are numerous
and reflect the strong connections between belief systems that are underpinned by
sociofacts, or practices of the social group, and mentifacts, the communal values and
attitudes of the individuals making up the group.
In the twenty-first century, disaster reduction education and training include
satellite imagery, geographic positioning systems, geographic information systems and
science, laser-based measurements of the features of the earth, distant monitoring
stations, telecommunications networks that spans the earth and traditional earth system
content, including geography, geology, meteorology, biology, hydrology, etc., and
computer and engineering topics. That range of expertise requires participation by
teachers, university and technical institute faculty members, community leaders, and
people working in governmental and non-governmental agencies. Education and
training in the use and interpretation of instrumentation need to take place across the
range of scales, from local to international. A landslide event is nearly always at the
local scale, but a hurricane tracking through the Caribbean is an international event.
Location should not interfere with the education and training of people in the reduction
of natural disasters and the mitigation of their effects. Similarly, education and training
must pursue interdisciplinary solutions to issues that are faced by people, impact on
ecosystems, and economic and environmental sustainability within a hazards-prone
locale. Education and training are investments that will have continuing benefits in
natural disaster reduction and mitigation

5. References
Asia Disasters Reduction Center. (2002). Natural disasters data book. Kobe, Japan: Asia Disasters Reduction
Center.
Retrieved
May
18,
2004,
from

the
World
Wide
Web:
/>

10

Stoltman, Lidstone, and DeChano

International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction. (1989). IDNDR targets. Geneva, Switzerland: IDNDR.
Retrieved
May
18,
2004,
from
the
World
Wide
Web:
/>International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. (2000). Mission and objectives. Geneva, Switzerland: United
Nations.
Retrieved
May
18,
2004,
from
the
World
Wide

Web:
/>International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. (2004). Living with risks: A global review of disaster reduction
initiatives. New York: United Nations.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2002). Natural disasters and sustainable
development: Understanding the links between development, environment and natural disasters.
Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations. Retrieved May 18, 2004, from the World Wide Web:
/>

CHAPTER 1

EARTHQUAKES
Walter Hays

U.S. Geological Survey (retired), University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

Key Ideas
x

Earthquakes are closely associated with the dynamic characteristics of the
earth’s tectonic plates, especially at the boundaries, but also within a plate.

x

Only about 100 of the many earthquakes felt and recorded each year are likely
to cause earthquake disasters as a result of their size, proximity to the
community, and the state-of-preparedness in the community.

x

The greater the density of population in a community and the number of

vulnerabilities in the community’s buildings and infrastructure, the greater the
potential for a disaster.

x

The precise occurrences of earthquakes cannot be predicted reliably;
therefore, prevention mitigation and preparedness are the principal strategies
to protect people and property.

x

Vulnerability to earthquakes is often greatest for the poorest members of
society and in those nations in a period of development.

1. Introduction
Earthquakes are unusual in that they are unpredictable, and, as the world’s historical
record shows, they have the potential in any of the earthquake-prone regions of the
world for causing catastrophic loss (Council of the National Seismic System, 2002). A
single earthquake can kill hundreds of thousands of people, cause hundreds of billions
of dollars in property damage within a fraction of a minute, interrupt tens of thousands
of businesses, and leave hundreds of thousands homeless and without jobs.
Community decision makers often look to earth scientists and engineers for
guidance on assessing earthquake risk and ask:
x Where should we expect earthquakes?
x How large will these earthquakes likely be?
11
J.P. Stoltman et al. (eds.),
International Perspectives on Natural Disasters: Occurrence, Mitigation, and Consequence, 11-36.
© 2007 Springer.

Hays

12

How frequently will these earthquakes likely recur?
How strongly and with what vibration frequencies will the ground likely
shake?
x What other geologic effects such as aftershocks, landslides, liquefaction,
surface faulting, uplift, subsidence, or tsunamis are likely to be triggered?
x How will the ground shaking and geologic effects vary in space and time
across the nation, region, state, community, or at a specific site of interest?
x What will it cost to enact and enforce prevention mitigation and preparedness
measures?
Interdisciplinary investigations conducted by earth scientists and engineers
after earthquake disasters throughout the world have shown that the losses from an
earthquake depend on seven independent factors. These are:
x The characteristics of the fault or seismogenic structure;
x The “size,” as indicated by the magnitude, an index of the energy release of
the earthquake;
x The frequency of the large- and great-magnitude earthquakes;
x The earthquake’s proximity to a community and its buildings and
infrastructure;
x The seismic wave attenuation function, which causes the energy to decay with
distance;
x The local ground and soil conditions, which can amplify ground motion in
selected frequency bands, or undergo permanent deformation; and
x The earthquake resistance of the buildings and infrastructure in the stricken
area to ground shaking and permanent ground deformation.
In most countries, historical records of seismicity, or earthquake activity, only

extend back for a few hundred years, which is too short a time to understand the
seismic cycle, to determine reliable recurrence intervals, and to specify when the next
one will occur. Even in countries such as China and Turkey, where the historical
record goes back for centuries, the record is often inaccurate and unclear.
The earthquake-prone areas of the world are characterized by active faults,
seismogenic structures, moderate to high seismicity, and fracture and permanent
deformation of rocks, especially along the margins or boundaries of plates and in fault
zones. A review of the largest earthquakes during the twentieth century demonstrates
their distribution (Table 1.1).
x
x

2. Plates and Faults
Sixteen major and minor tectonic plates across the earth’s surface varying from 50 to
100 kilometers (30 to 60 miles) in thickness are continually and slowly moving. Some
are moving together, some apart, and some sliding past each other. Figure 1.1 shows
the continents as they were 180 million years ago, while Figure 1.2 shows the
continents and the plate boundaries as they are today (USGS, 1994). Movements of the
Earth’s crust along these plate boundaries result in mountain building, island uplift, and


Earthquakes

13

Table 1.1: Severe Earthquakes (Richter Scale) During the Twentieth Century
Location

Date

Fatalities

Magnitude

Kocalei, Turkey

August 17, 1999

25,000

Kobe, Japan

January 17, 1995

5500

6.9

Northridge, USA

October 17, 1994

57

6.7

San Francisco, USA

October 17, 1989

63

7.1

Tangshan, China

July 28, 1976

255,000

8.0

Northern Peru

May 31, 1970

66,000

7.8

(est.)

7.4

Erzincan, Turkey

December 26, 1939

30,000

8.0

Yokahoma-Tokyo

September 1, 1923

143,000

8.3

Messina, Italy

December 28, 1908

100,000

7.5

San Francisco, USA

April 18, 1906

700

8.3

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2004.

Figure 1.1: The continents as they were 180 million years ago. Source: Author.

14

Hays

Figure 1.2: The plate boundaries of the world. Source: USGS (2001).
seismicity. Although most earthquakes occur along the plate boundaries (i.e., interplate
earthquakes), some major earthquakes have also occurred within the plates (i.e.,
intraplate earthquakes).
The plates move slowly with speeds ranging from a fraction of an inch to
about 4 inches per year on an underlying layer of hot, almost molten rock (known as the
aesthenosphere). Convection currents in the earth’s mantle power this movement,
which is remarkably consistent over time. As the rocks move, they become stressed
and may break and rupture, creating faults as shown in Figure 1.3.
The plate boundaries fall into three broad categories:
1.
Zones where two plates are diverging or separating such as the Eurasian and
North American plates;
2.
Zones where the plates are converging and undergoing subduction (a tectonic
process causing one plate to slide beneath another), such as the Pacific and
North American plates, Cocos and North American plates, Nazca and South
American plates, Eurasian and Arabian plates, and Caribbean and North
American plates, or collision, such as Eurasian and African plates; and
3.
Zones where the plates are sliding past one another along a great fault zone
without colliding or separating such as the Pacific and North American plates
along the San Andreas fault zone, the Arabian and Sinai plates along the Dead
Sea rift zone.
Figure 1.4 illustrates the movements of the plates on the West Coast of

Mexico, where the Cocos plate is being subducted beneath the North American Plate.


Earthquakes

Figure 1.3: Rocks under stress break and create fault lines. Source: Author.

Figure 1.4: Plate movements along the west coast of Mexico. Source: Author.

15