Project in Disaster Readiness and Risk

Reduction
 MASSACRE
Orlando Nightclub Shooting
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen,
a 29-year-old security guard,
killed 49 people and wounded 53
others in a terrorist
attack inside Pulse, a gay
nightclub in Orlando, Florida,
United States. Orlando Police
Department (OPD) officers shot
and killed him after a three-hour
standoff.

Mendiola Massacre
An incident that took place
in Mendiola Street, San Miguel,
Manila, Philippines on January 22,
1987, in which state security forces
violently dispersed a farmers' march
to Malacañang Palace in protest of the
lack of government action on land
reform.

Manila massacre

Involved atrocities committed

against Filipino civilians in
the City of Manila, the capital of
the Philippines, by Japanese troops
during World War II at the Battle
of Manila The combined death toll
of civilians for the battle of Manila
was about 100,000.
 TRANSPORT DISASTER
UFA Train Explosion

On the afternoon of June 4, 1989, two fully-loaded Russian passenger trains met a cloud of
liquefied petroleum gas, resulting in a huge explosion. The force of the explosion was
estimated to be similar to 10 kilotons of TNT, which nearly equivalent to the atomic bomb
dropped on Hiroshima. The fireball formed was 1.6-kilometers long and destroyed all trees
in a 4-kilometer radius.
Junyo Maru Tragedy
On September 18, 1944, the Junyo
Maru was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean by
the British submarine HMS Tradewind,
which couldn’t have known what cargo the
ship was carrying. Of the 6,500 on board,
5,620 died as a result. The Junyo Maru was
sailing up the west coast of Java from Jakata
to Padang, where its prisoners were to be
taken to work on the Sumatra Railway.

MV Derbyshire Sinking

She was lost on 9 September 1980

during Typhoon Orchid, south of Japan.
All 42 crew members and two of their
wives were killed in the sinking. At
91,655 gross register tons, she was and
remains the largest British ship ever to
have been lost at sea.
 HEALTH DISASTER
2017 South Sudan Famine
Since the early months of 2017, parts
of South Sudan have been experiencing
a famine following several years of
instability in the country's food supply
caused by war and drought. The famine,
largely focused in the northern part of the
country, has been estimated to affect almost
five million people (about 50% of the South
Sudanese population), with food shortages
expected to spread by the middle of the year.

1971 Iraq poison grain disaster

Grain treated with a methylmercury fungicide and
never intended for human consumption was
imported into Iraq as seed grain from Mexico and
the United States. People suffered
from paresthesia, ataxia, and vision loss,
symptoms similar to those seen when Minamata
disease affected Japan. The recorded death toll
was 459 people, but figures at least ten times
greater have been suggested.

2013–14 Chikungunya Outbreak

In December 2013, the first locally transmitted case of chikungunya in the Americas was
detected in Saint Martin. Shortly after the first case the disease began to spread rapidly
throughout the Caribbean region. On the basis of 4,000 confirmed cases and over 30,000
suspected cases, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) declared a Caribbean-
wide epidemic of the virus in early May. By the end of May, four cases of chikungunya had
been confirmed in Florida. By July 2014 there were an estimated 355,000 cases in the
Caribbean. By August 2014, 25 Caribbean countries had confirmed at least one case. The
epidemic was over by 2015.
 ECONOMIC DISASTER
Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010

The automotive industry was weakened by a substantial increase in the prices of automotive
fuels linked to the 2003-2008 energy crisis which discouraged purchases of sport utility
vehicles and pickup trucks which have low fuel economy. The popularity and relatively
high profit margins of these vehicles had encouraged the American "Big Three"
automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler to make them their primary focus. With
fewer fuel-efficient models to offer to consumers, sales began to slide. By 2008, the
situation had turned critical as the credit crunch placed pressure on the prices of raw
materials.
European Debt Crisis
A multi-year debt crisis that has been taking
place in the European Union since the end of
2009. Several Eurozone member states were
unable to repay or refinance their government
debt or to bail out over-indebted banks under
their national supervision without the assistance
of third parties like other Eurozone countries,
the European Central Bank, or the International
Monetary Fund2000s Energy Crisis
From the mid-1980s to September
2003, the inflation-adjusted price of
a barrel of crude
oil on NYMEX was generally under
US$25/barrel. During 2003, the price
rose above $30, reached $60 by 11
August 2005, and peaked at $147.30
in July 2008.
 INDUSTRIAL DISASTER
Koshi Barrage
In August 2008, the eastern
embankments of the Koshi Barrage
collapsed, several miles north of the
Nepal-India border. The resulting flood
wiped out miles of fertile farmland in
Nepal, covering it with a thick layer of
riversand, and affected 53,800 Nepalese.
It left 3 million people homeless
in Bihar, India.
Longwave transmitter Europe 1
The oldest privately owned radio
station in Germany, situated
between Felsberg and Berus/Saar, Germany. It
transmits on 183 KHz with a power of
2000 kilowatts a French speaking
programme, Europe 1 toward France. It is the
highest power radio broadcasting transmitter in
Germany. The tower collapsed after the pinnacle
and upper sections fell down killing 280 people.

I-35W Mississippi River Bridge Collapse

The I-35W Mississippi River bridge was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that
carried Interstate 35W across the Saint Anthony Falls of the Mississippi
River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It had a catastrophic failure during the
evening rush hour on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The bridge opened
in 1967 and was Minnesota's third busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. The NTSB cited
a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, noting that a too-thin gusset plate ripped
along a line of rivets, and additional weight on the bridge at the time contributed to the
catastrophic failure.
 HUMANITA RIAN DISA STER
Syrian refugee crisis
Since the Syrian civil war officially
began March 15, 2011, families have
suffered under brutal conflict that has
killed hundreds of thousands of
people, torn the nation apart, and set
back the standard of living by decades.
Today 13.1 million people in the
country need humanitarian assistance.

Iraq Displacement
From 2014 to 17, Iraq was deeply mired
in conflict with ISIL, which staged a
violent insurgency of large swaths of
territory. Fighting forced more than 6
million people to flee their homes at the
peak of hostilities. Families displaced by
conflict trekked for days to find safety in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

2015 Nepal earthquake

A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, toppling multi-story buildings
in Kathmandu, the capital, and creating landslides and avalanches in the Himalaya
Mountains. Nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 suffered injuries. Hundreds of
thousands of people lost everything and faced extreme poverty. More than 600,000 homes
were destroyed and more than 288,000 were damaged in the 14 worst-hit districts. The
quakes’ strongest impact was in remote rural areas, making the response extremely
challenging.
 MILTARY DISASTERS
Battle of the Philippines

December 8 1941 – May 8 1942, was the invasion of the Philippines by Imperial Japan and
the defence of the islands by United States and Filipino forces during the Second World
War. The Japanese launched the invasion by sea from Formosa over 200 miles to the north
of the Philippines. The defending forces outnumbered the Japanese by 3 to 2, however they
were a mixed force of non-combat experienced regular, National Guard, constabulary and
newly created Commonwealth units. The Japanese used first-line troops at the outset of the
campaign, and concentrating their forces enabled a swift overrun of most of Luzon during
the first month.
Fall of Singapore
Fought in the South-East Asian
theatre of World War II when the Empire
of Japan invaded the British stronghold
of Singapore. Singapore was the major
British military base in South-East
Asia and was the key to British imperial
interwar defence planning for South-East
Asia and the South-West Pacific. The
fighting in Singapore lasted from 8 to 15
February 1942 after two months during
which Japanese forces had advanced
down the Malaya peninsula. Two pincer offensives, one to the north of
Moscow against the Kalinin Front by
Operation Typhoon the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies,
simultaneously severing the Moscow–
Leningrad railway, and another to the
south of Moscow Oblast against
the Western Frontsouth of Tula, by the 2nd
Panzer Army, while the 4th Army
advanced directly towards Moscow from
the west. According to Andrew Roberts,
Hitler's offensive towards the Soviet
capital was nothing less than an 'all-out
attack':
 SPORTS DISASTER
The Death of Ayrton Senna
On May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna,
three-time Formula One World
Champion, got killed after his car
crashed into a concrete barrier during
the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in
Italy. He was actually in the lead
when he crashed and he is still
considered one of the best drivers in
the sport.

Cameroon Disaster
On October 31, 1976, two bystanders got
killed as a fight broke out between the
teams of Cameroon and Congo in a World
Cup qualifying match. After Cameroon
was awarded with a penalty kick, the
Congolese goalie attacked the referee,
spurring a riot on the field.

1995 Le Mans Disaster

The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit
de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France on 11 June 1955. A major crash caused large fragments of
debris to fly into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Bouillin and
injuring nearly 180 more. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, and it
prompted Mercedes-Benz to retire from motor racing until 1989.
DISASTER CAUSED BY TERRORISM
9 / 11 Attacks

A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against
the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996
people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and
property damage.[2][3]Additional people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases
in the months and years following the attacks.
Battle of Marawi
a five-month-long armed conflict
in Marawi, Lanao del Sur, that started
on 23 May 2017, between Philippine
government security forces and
militants affiliated with the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),
including the Maute and Abu
Sayyaf Salafi jihadist groups.

Davao International Airport bombing

A homemade bomb exploded at the

waiting shed fronting the Davao
International Airport at around 5:25 p.m,
killing at least 21 and wounding at least
146. Airport personnel stated the bomb
exploded just as passengers of a Cebu
Pacific plane from Manila were arriving.
ENVIRONMRNTAL AND ECOLOGICAL
DISASTER
Dust Bowl

Around World War I, homesteaders flocked in mass to the southern Great Plains, where
they replaced the native grasses that held the topsoil in place with wheat and other crops.
Eschewing sustainable agricultural practices, such as crop rotation, they managed to reap
big harvests during the wet years of the 1920s. Dead livestock and wildlife littered the
ground. By the time the drought ended, up to one-third of the most affected homesteaders
had fled the Southern Plains for greener pastures.
Great Smog
As a bitter cold snap gripped London
late in 1952, its inhabitants used
unusually large quantities of coal to
heat their homes. Soot poured out of
their chimneys, mixing with factory
and power plant emissions to form
an acrid-smelling fog that hovered
over the city from December 5 to
December 9.

Kuwaiti Oil Fires

Saddam Hussein ordered retreating
Iraqi troops to set fire to about 650
Kuwaiti oil wells at the tail end of the
1991 Persian Gulf War. Oily smoke
plumes shot high up into the sky,
darkening the sun and making
breathing difficult for those who
ventured outside. One U.S.