A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard A natural hazard is a threat of a naturally occurring event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment. Many natural hazards are interrelated, e.g. earthquakes can cause tsunamis and drought can lead directly to famine. A concrete example of the division between a natural hazard and a natural disaster is that the 1906 San (e.g. flood A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water,, tornado A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end touches the earth and is often encircled, volcanic eruption During a volcanic eruption, lava, tephra , and various gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure, earthquake An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. Earthquakes are measured with a seismometer; a device which also records is known as a seismograph. The, or landslide A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing) that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience.[1] This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability Vulnerability is the susceptibility to physical or emotional injury or attack. It also means to have one's guard down, open to censure or criticism. Vulnerability refers to a person's state of being liable to succumb, as to manipulation, persuasion or temptation."[2] A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.[3]

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Natural disasters

Main articles: disaster A disaster is a perceived tragedy, being either a natural calamity or man-made catastrophe. It is a hazard which has come to fruition. A hazard, in turn, is a situation which poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or that may deleteriously affect society or an environment and list of deadliest natural disasters A supervolcanic eruption at Lake Toba around 74,000 years ago could have wiped out as much as 99% of the global human population, reducing the population from a possible 60 million to less than 10 thousand; see Toba catastrophe theory. However, this theory is not widely accepted because the evidence is disputed, and there have been, for instance,

Land movement disasters

Avalanches

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the descending snow. Powerful avalanches have the capability to entrain ice, rocks, trees, and other material on the slope. Avalanches are primarily composed of on the backside (East) of Mt. Timpanogos, Utah at Aspen Grove trail

Notable avalanches An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the descending snow. Powerful avalanches have the capability to entrain ice, rocks, trees, and other material on the slope. Avalanches are primarily composed of include:

Earthquakes

An Earthquake is a sudden shake of the Earth's crust.The vibrations may vary in magnitude. The underground point of origin of the earthquake is called the "focus". The point directly above the focus on the surface is called the"epicenter". Earthquakes by themselves rarely kill people or wildlife. It is usually the secondary events that they trigger, such as building collapse, fires, tsunamis A tsunami (Japanese: 津波 [tsɯnami], lit. 'harbor wave'; English pronunciation: /suːˈnɑːmi/ (t)soo-NAH-mee) or tidal wave is a series of water waves (called a tsunami wave train) caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, but can occur in large lakes. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; (seismic sea waves) and volcanoes, that are actually the human disaster. Many of these could possibly be avoided by better construction, safety systems, early warning and evacuation planning.

Earthquakes are caused by the discharge of accumulated along geologic faults.

Lahars

A lahar A lahar is a type of mudflow or landslide composed of pyroclastic material and water that flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. The term "lahar" originated in the Javanese language of Indonesia is a volcanic mudflow or landslide. The 1953 Tangiwai disaster The Tangiwai disaster on 24 December 1953 was the worst rail accident in New Zealand. An 11-carriage overnight express from Wellington to Auckland fell into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, ten kilometres west of Waiouru. The bridge carrying the North Island Main Trunk Railway over the river had been badly damaged just minutes earlier by a lahar was caused by a lahar, as was the 1985 Armero tragedy The Armero tragedy was the major consequence of the November 13, 1985, eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Tolima, Colombia. This medium to small-sized dacitic eruption occurred after 69 years of dormancy at the volcano, catching the nearby towns unaware as it sent pyroclastic flows down the mountain. As they erupted from the volcano's crater, the in which the town of Armero was buried and an estimated 23,000 people were killed

Volcanic eruptions

Main article: Types of volcanic eruptions During a volcanic eruption, lava, tephra , and various gases, are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure Pu'u 'Ō'ō

Water disasters

Floods

Main article: List of floods Categories: Weather | Floods | Weather events | Water | Water waves | Hydrology The Limpopo River The Limpopo River rises in central southern Africa, and flows generally eastwards to the Indian Ocean. It is around 1,750 kilometres long, with a drainage basin 415,000 square kilometres (160,200 sq mi) in size. Its mean annual discharge is 174.288 m³/s (6,155 cu ft/s) at its mouth. The Limpopo is the second largest river in Africa that drains to, in southern Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest, during the 2000 Mozambique flood The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made many homeless. Approximately 800 people were killed. 1,400 km² of arable land was affected and 20,000 head of cattle were lost. It was the worst flood in the

Some of the most notable floods include:

Tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic can result in extensive flooding and storm surge Storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically a tropical cyclone. Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea level. Low pressure at the center of a weather system also has a small secondary effect,, as happened with:

Limnic eruptions

A cow suffocated by gases from Lake Nyos Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, located about 200 miles northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity. A natural dam of volcanic rock hems in the lake waters after a limnic eruption A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions

A limnic eruption A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions occurs when CO2 Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state. CO2 is a trace gas comprising 0.039% of the atmosphere suddenly erupts from deep lake water, posing the threat of suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis A tsunami (Japanese: 津波 [tsɯnami], lit. 'harbor wave'; English pronunciation: /suːˈnɑːmi/ (t)soo-NAH-mee) or tidal wave is a series of water waves (called a tsunami wave train) caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, but can occur in large lakes. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists believe landslides A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing, volcanic activity, or explosions can trigger such an eruption.Till date, only two limnic eruptions have been observed and recorded:

Tsunami

The tsunami caused by the December 26, 2004 earthquake strikes Ao Nang, Thailand.

Tsunamis can be caused by undersea earthquakes as the one caused in Ao Nang, Thailand by the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, or by landslides such as the one which occurred at Lituya Bay, Alaska.

(This also fits within the "Land movement disaster" category because it started with an earthquake.)

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