Disasters

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 India , with it's vast population and unique geo-physical characteristics, is one of the world's most "Disaster-Prone" countries. Natural hazards such as cyclones,floods,earthquakes,droughts,landlines, tsunamis etc occur in different parts of India in varying densities. The east and southern-eastern parts of India are frequently affected by cyclones. In the interior of the plateau in the Himalayas earthquakes are common and in the Ganga-Brahmaputra plain floods are common. Rajasthan and rayalaseema often experience many droughts , as other areas of South India. People living in an area may be vulnerable to more than one hazard. For instance People living in coastal area may face floods and cyclones frequently, while being located in earthquake zone. Such an area is called Multi hazard zone.

Types of disasters

Disasters can be categorised into different types based on the speed and origin/cause.

  1. Based on the speed, a disaster can be termed as slow or rapid

(I). Slow onset disaster:-

           A disaster that prevails for many days , months or even years like drought , environmental degradation, pest infection, famine is called slow onset disaster 
      

(II). Rapid onset disaster

       A disaster that is triggered by an instance causes shock. The impact of this disaster may be short term or long term. Earthquake, cyclone,flash floods, volcanic eruptions are some examples of rapid onset disaster. 
    

2. Based on the cause, disaster can be natural or human induced.
 
Natural disaster:-

      A natural disaster is an event that is caused by nature and leads to human, material , economic and environmental losses. The types of natural disasters:-
  1. Earthquakes
  2. Cyclones
  3. Floods
  4. Droughts
  5. Tsunami
  6. Landslides
  7. Volcanos
  

 (ii). Human induced disasters

        A serious disruption to normal life triggered by human induced hazard causing human material, economic and environmental losses , which exceed the ability of those affected to cope. Some examples are 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy, 1997 Upohar Cinema fire in Delhi , Rajdhani train derailment in 2002, Kumbakonam school fire in 2003, Jaipur serial blast in 2008.
    

  

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