Portal:Disasters

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THE DISASTER PORTAL 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. In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster, as is the case in uninhabited regions. Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries. A disaster can be defined as any tragic event with great loss stemming from events such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions. Disasters can be split up into two major categories—natural disasters and man-made disasters. A natural disaster is the consequence of the combination of a natural hazard (a physical event e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, storm, flood, drought, fire, etc) and human activities. Human vulnerability, sometimes including the lack of appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, structural, and human losses. A man-made disaster is a disaster that is accidentally or intentionally created by humans. Examples of man-made disasters include explosions, pollution, terrorist incidents, shipwrecks, stampedes, industrial incidents, climate changes, wars, etc. More about disasters... Quake epicentre and major cities affected The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian Government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi. Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed with many tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and looting and sporadic violence were observed. On 22 January the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors. Photo credit: NASA Mount Etna erupting on the island of Sicily in October 2002. ...that the Wisconsin State Capitol burned nearly to the ground on 26 February 1904? ...that the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 killed at least 140 people? ...that the HMS Finisterre replaced her sister-ship the Hogue in Far Eastern service after the latter was destroyed by a collision with an Indian cruiser? Wikinews on Disasters and accidents May 10: Landslide in China leaves 41 people missing May 4: Six dead following flash flooding in Palestine, Texas May 2: 60 people still missing after Kenyan house collapse May 2: Militants bomb Gaziantep, Turkey police headquarters April 29: Magnitude 7.0 earthquake affects archipelago of Vanuatu March 28: Bomb explosion in Lahore kills more than 65 on Easter March 21: Suicide bomber attacks Istanbul, kills four March 20: Flydubai plane crash leaves 62 dead February 6: Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits southern Taiwan January 1: Fire breaks out at Dubai, United Arab Emirates hotel on New Year's Eve Ongoing natural disasters Ongoing armed conflicts Acholiland insurgency Arab-Israeli conflict (al-Aqsa Intifada) Colombian armed conflict Darfur conflict Iraq War Ituri Conflict in the DR Congo War in Somalia Ivorian Civil War Kurdish conflict in Turkey Second Chechen War South Thailand insurgency Taliban insurgency Archive Template:/box-footer Disasters • Accidents involving fog • Disasters by country • Disasters in schools • Economic disasters • Environmental disasters • Famines • Fires • Disaster lists • Health disasters • Man-made disasters • Natural disasters • Disasters by year Hazards • Accidents • Conflicts • Fire • Natural hazards • Spree shootings Emergency management • Business continuity and disaster recovery • Civil defense • Disaster management tools • Disaster preparedness • Disasters • Emergency laws • Emergency services • Hazards • Risk • Disaster stubs • Aviation accidents by year, location and airlineTemplate:/box-footer Disaster management Climate change • Environment • International development • Meteorology • Tropical cyclones Template:/box-footer Disaster: Economic disaster • Environmental disasters • Famines • Fires • Man-made disaster • Disaster movies • Natural disasters Hazard: Accidents • Conflicts • Fire • Natural hazards • Spree killer Emergency management: Business continuity planning • Civil defense • Disaster preparedness • Emergency services • Risk Lists: In Australia by death toll • Bridge disasters • Canadian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks • Natural disasters by death toll • Epidemics • Famines • Mining disasters in Poland • Tornadoes and tornado outbreaks • United Kingdom disasters by death toll • Wars and disasters by death tollTemplate:/box-footer Template:/box-header {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Disaster management/todo}}Template:/box-footer Earth Sciences Ecology War Weather Template:/box-footer The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject:

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