Natural Disasters: A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard.(e.g.

volcanic eruption, earthquake,andlandslide) which moves from potential in to an active phase, and as a result affects human activities. Human vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or lack of appropriateemergency management, leads to financial, structural, and human losses. The resultingloss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, their resilience.This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: disasters occur whenhazards meetvulnerability. A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas withoutvulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term Natural hasconsequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasterswithout human involvement.The degree of potential loss can also depend on the nature of the hazard itself, rangingfrom a singlelightningstrike, which threatens a very small area, toimpact events,which have the potential toend civilization. Natural hazards : Natural hazards are natural events that threaten lives, property, and other assets. Often,natural hazards can be predicted. They tend to occur repeatedly in the same geographicallocations because they are related to weather patterns or physical characteristics of anarea. N a t u r a l h a z a r d s such as flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, and windstorms affectthousands of people every year. We need to know what our risks are from natural hazardsand take sensible precautions to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities. Here is the list of some natural hazard :Floods Earthquakes Drought Tsunamis Flood : Flood effects can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large,affecting entire river basins and multiple states. However, all floods are not alike. Some floods develop slowly, sometimes over a periodof days. But flash floods can develop quickly, sometimes in just a few minutes andwithout any visible signs of rain.

Flash floods often have a dangerous wall of roaring water that carries rocks, mud, andother debris and can sweep away most things in its path. Overland flooding occursoutside a defined river or stream, such as when a levee is breached, but still can bedestructive. Flooding can also occur when a dam breaks, producing effects similar toflash floods. Early years: Mark Ellis was born on August 16, 1960 in London, England.[1] As a child, Ellis attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, England. He began his music career as the vocalist for the band Seven Hertz. From 1978-79 he was also the bassist for the Mod revival band The Lambrettas. During that same time, he began his professional studio career as a runner at Morgan Studios in London.[2] Ellis also was a runner at Battery Studios in London and held apprenticeships at Marcus Studios and Trident Studios.[3]' Freelance and Some Bizzare Records: Flood moved up to house engineer before going freelance in 1981, the same year he worked as assistant engineer on New Order's debut album, Movement. The following year, he engineered Ministry's debut album, With Sympathy. He then became associated with Stevo's Some Bizzare Records label, leading to work with Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, and Marc Almond's side project, Marc and the Mambas, among others.[2] Mute Records: Following his work with Some Bizzare Records, Flood began working with Mute Records as their preferred producer, helming his first true production project with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on From Her to Eternity (19831984) and the follow-up album, The Firstborn Is Dead (1984). His work at Mute was as producer, co-producer, or engineer with each of the label's major acts, including Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke and Erasure, whose debut album Wonderland (1986) and its followup The Circus (1987) he engineered. 2000 to 2005 In 2000 he co-produced Machina/The Machines of God by The Smashing Pumpkins with Corgan. He also co-produced Erasure's Loveboat with the Vince Clarke and Andy Bell (singer) of Erasure. The following year Flood worked again with Depeche Mode, remixing the single version of Freelove, and in 2002 he produced Richard Warren's Echoboy album Giraffe. He also coproduced I To Sky, by JJ72. In 2003 Flood re-worked Cars for Gary Numan's album Hybrid. The following year he produced London based The Duke Spirit's debut album Cuts Across The Land. In the same year co-produced U2's 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'. In mid-2005 he mixed a-ha's eighth album, Analogue. The same year, he produced Soulwax's album Any Minute Now. Later that year, Flood also mixed Placebo's album Meds.

2006 to 2010 Flood co-produced The Killers' album, Sam's Town in 2006 with fellow English producer/engineer Alan Moulder. Later that year he remixed the debut single by Dark Room Notes, Love Like Nicotine. At the beginning of 2007, he co-produced PJ Harvey's album White Chalk with John Parish and PJ Harvey. He also co-produced a couple of songs on the Goldfrapp album Seventh Tree, which was released in February 2008. In late 2007/early 2008, he produced Sigur Rs's Me su eyrum vi spilum endalaust in Iceland.[7] Flood and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital co-produced the 2008 album by The Music, Strength In Numbers. He produced the 2009 album by The Hours, See the Light. He joined Steve Lillywhite again in 2008 to work with 30 Seconds to Mars, on This Is War. And then worked with Editors on In This Light and On This Evening. He also collaborated with Nitzer Ebb again to finish up their first new release in over a decade, Industrial Complex. In 2010, he produced Belong by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Let England Shake by PJ Harvey. Production style Frequent collaborator Billy Corgan has said of Flood, "Floods incredible. Flood is a tremendous producer. Flood is very masterful with the sonics, but where he really shines is hes a great idea person. And I dont mean like he tells you, "Oh, put this chorus here." Its more like he can see an ambiance of the song that you dont necessarily see and he would really fight with us not negative a fight, just he would really kind of push us to say theres another vibe here that you can get to."[10] Pseudonym According to producer Mark Freegard, Ellis' ubiquitous pseudonym, "Flood," was given to him by producer Chris Tsangarides during Ellis' early days at Morgan Studios and while The Cure was there recording. As a young studio runner, Ellis was responsible for responding to numerous requests from the recording artists and staff for tea and bacon sandwiches. Ellis kept up with the numerous requests for tea while the other runner remained largely unavailable, leading to Tsangarides nicknaming them "Flood" and "Drought."[11] Earthquake :An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from a sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. At the Earths surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis. 90% of all earthquakes and 81% of the largest occur around the 40,000km long Pacific Ring of Fire, which roughly bounds the Pacific Plate. Many earthquakes happen each day, few of which are large enough to cause significant damage. Some of the most significant earthquakes in recent times include: The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the second largest earthquake in recorded history, registering a moment magnitude of 9.3. The huge tsunamis triggered by this earthquake cost the lives of at least 229,000 people.

 The 7.6-7.7 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which cost 79,000 lives in Pakistan. The 7.7 magnitude July 2006 Java earthquake, which also triggered tsunamis. Naturally occurring earthquakes Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip behaviour. Once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy. This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake. This process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elasticrebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though these changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep interior.[2]

Earthquakes and volcanic activity

Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the movement of magma in volcanoes. Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions, as during the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.[16] Earthquake swarms can serve as markers for the location of the flowing magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be recorded by seismometers and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as sensors to predict imminent or upcoming eruptions.[17]

Earthquake clusters
Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location and time.[23] Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors that cause little to no damage, but there is a theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern.[24] Drought A drought (or drouth [archaic]) is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply whether surface or underground water. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region. Although droughts can persist for several years, even a short, intense drought can cause significant damage[1] and harm the local economy.[2]

This global phenomenon has a widespread impact on agriculture. The United Nations estimates that an area of fertile soil the size of Ukraine is lost every year because of drought, deforestation, and climate instability.[3] Lengthy periods of drought have long been a key trigger for mass migration and played a key role in a number of ongoing migrations and other humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. Consequences Periods of drought can have significant environmental, agricultural, health, economic and social consequences. The effect varies according to vulnerability. For example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food sources. Areas with populations that depend on as a major food source are more vulnerable to drought-triggered famine. Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. Common consequences of drought include:

Diminished crop growth or yield productions and carrying capacity for livestock Dust bowls, themselves a sign of erosion, which further erode the landscape Dust storms, when drought hits an area suffering from desertification and erosion Famine due to lack of water for irrigation Habitat damage, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife[4] Malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases Mass migration, resulting in internal displacement and international refugees.

Globally Drought is a normal, recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world. It is among the earliest documented climatic events, present in the Epic of Gilgamesh and tied to the biblical story of Joseph's arrival in and the later Exodus from Ancient Egypt.[10] Hunter-gatherer migrations in 9,500 BC Chile have been linked to the phenomenon,[11] as has the exodus of early humans out of Africa and into the rest of the world around 135,000 years ago.[12] Modern peoples can effectively mitigate much of the impact of drought through irrigation and crop rotation. Failure to develop adequate drought mitigation strategies carries a grave human cost in the modern era, exacerbated by ever-increasing population densities. Drought protection and relief Strategies for drought protection, mitigation or relief include:

Dams - many dams and their associated reservoirs supply additional water in times of drought. Cloud seeding - an artificial technique to induce rainfall.[49] Desalination of sea water for irrigation or consumption.

Drought monitoring - Continuous observation of rainfall levels and comparisons with current usage levels can help prevent man-made drought. For instance, analysis of water usage in Yemen has revealed that their water table (underground water level) is put at grave risk by over-use to fertilize their Khat crop.[50] Careful monitoring of moisture levels can also help predict increased risk for wildfires, using such metrics as the Keetch-Byram Drought Index[9] or Palmer Drought Index. Land use - Carefully planned crop rotation can help to minimize erosion and allow farmers to plant less water-dependent crops in drier years.

Tsunami A tsunami (plural: tsunamis or tsunami; from Japanese: , lit. "harbor wave";[1] English pronunciation: /sunmi/ soo-NAH-mee or /tsunmi/ tsoo-NAH-mee[2]) is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.[3] Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train".[4] Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000 people killed in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. History As early as 426 B.C. the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.[5][6] The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.[12] The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15-19) described the typical sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave, after the 365 A.D. tsunami devastated Alexandria.[13][14] While Japan may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, the sheer destruction caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami event mark it as the most devastating of its kind in modern times, killing around 230,000 people. The Sumatran region is not unused to tsunamis either, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes regularly occurring off the coast of the island.[15]

Tsunami generated by seismicity Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the Earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position.[19] More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved. Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami. Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long, whereas normal ocean waves have a wavelength of only 30 or 40 metres),[20] which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 millimetres (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas. On April 1, 1946, a magnitude-7.8 (Richter Scale) earthquake occurred near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. It generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawai'i with a 14 metres (46 ft) high surge. The area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting (or being pushed downwards) under Alaska. Tsunami generated by landslides In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible could be caused by giant landslides. Underwater landslides that generate tsunamis are called sciorrucks.[21] These phenomena rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy from falling debris or expansion transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 metres (over 1700 feet). The wave didn't travel far, as it struck land almost immediately. Two people fishing in the bay were killed, but another boat amazingly managed to ride the wave. Scientists named these waves megatsunami. Scientists discovered that extremely large landslides from volcanic island collapses can generate megatsunamis that can cross oceans. Meteotsunamis Some meteorological conditions, such as deep depressions that cause tropical cyclones, can generate a storm surge, called a meteotsunami, which can raise tides several metres above normal levels. The displacement comes from low atmospheric pressure within the centre of the depression. As these storm surges reach shore, they may resemble (though are not) tsunamis, inundating vast areas of land.[22]