Natural Disasters and Hazards Lecture Notes

Flashcards about Natural Disasters and Hazards

Natural Hazard

Has the potential to harm people or property; exists independently of people.

Anthropogenic Hazard

Created by human activity.

Natural Hazardous Event

Kills plants and animals, but this has not occurred because of humans but since Earth was formed.

Natural Disaster

Human casualties/property destruction/economic loss that requires outside resources to survive and recover.

Rapid-onset Disaster

Begins quickly, people don’t have time to prepare, short duration (ie earthquake).

Slow-onset Disaster

Takes days or weeks to develop, people have time to prepare (ie regional flood).

Stealth Disaster

Months, years, and decades to develop (ie. sea-level rise and droughts).

Chronic Health Disaster

Earth materials are dangerous to human health; long term exposure can cause disease and death (ie black lung disease).

Primary Disaster

Casualties and destruction from the natural hazard event itself (ie ground shaking & collapse buildings).

Secondary Disaster

Happen because of the primary disaster (firestorm).

Tertiary Disaster

Long-term effects from primary or secondary disasters (ie mold development and mental health).

Recurrence Interval (RI)

The average time between successive events of a given size (find the avg).

Annual Probability (AP)

Likelihood that an event will happen in a given year; AP = 1/RI

Exposure

Potential casualties, economic loss, social disruption.

Vulnerability

The degree that structure can resist damage; resources available to build infrastructure.

Risk

The probability of loss due to a natural disaster.

FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency; helps people before, during, and after a disaster.