AAYOJAN SCHOOL OF ARCHI TECT UR E

JAIPUR

2011-12

REPORT
ON

TYPES OF DISASTERS

Submitted by: ANKIT KASHMIRI GUPTA V YEAR X SEM

TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS: a. Earthquake b. Tsunami c. Volcanic eruptions d. Avalanches e. Landslide f. Flood g. Storm h. Tornado

Natural Disaster: Natural disasters are changes which are so great they may cause damage to the shape of the land or to the lives of people and other living things. Great changes happen deep inside the Earth and on its surface. The changes on the outer part of the Earth happen because of different kinds of weather and inside the earth due to the hot molten core of the earth. i) EARTHQUAKE:
Earthquake is mainly vibration, shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. The vibrations may vary in magnitude. Earthquakes are caused mostly by slipping of tectonic plates over the molten core of the earth and collide releasing a huge amount of energy in form of shock waves. The other causes of the earthquake are volcanic eruptions, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. The underground point of origin of the earthquake is called the focus. The point directly above the focus on the surface is called the epicenter. The magnitude of most earthquakes is measured on the Richter scale, invented by Charles F. Richter in 1934. The richter scales measures the earthquake on scale of 1-10 (can be more) the energy released in earthquake measuring 2 on the scale is 31times more than the energy released in earthquake measuring 1 on the scale. ii) TSUNAMI: A tsunami 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.

Tsunameter is instrument used for the early detection, measurement, and real-time reporting of tsunamis in the open ocean. iii) VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS: A volcanic eruption takes place when magma escapes from inside the earth. As the magma is escaping from a confined space, a lot of energy is released with it, as happens with any other explosion. This is why many eruptions also produce huge quantities of gases and dust. Magma sometimes rises under enormous pressure, so it not only finds cracks in the earths crust, it can also create them. When magma reaches the earths surface it is called lava. The scale for estimating the magnitude of eruptions, called the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). Eruptions can be assigned a VEI number on a scale of 0 to 8, using one the basis of : Volume of ejecta Height of the eruptive column Qualitative descriptions Style of past activity Height of spreading of the eruptive plume head

iv) AVALANCHES: An avalanche is a sudden, rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring either naturally, such as loading from new snow or rain, or artificial triggers, such as snowmobilers, explosives or backcountry skiers, overload the snowpack. The main cause of avalanches is the setting up of a hard layer of ice over the soft layer and the soft layer fails to take the load of the upper layers or on thawing older snow leads to avalanches which may be triggered by earthquakes, gunshots and the movements of animals. They are measured as class or category :

v) LANDSLIDES: A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released. vi) FLOOD: A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land it occurs when the rain falls at a faster than the capacity of the soil to absorbe it or the rivers to take the water away. Flooding may also result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its usual boundaries. It is usually measured in rate of flow of water. There is no scale given for flood measurement. vii) Storm: A storm is any disturbed state especially affecting the surface of the earth with strong weather. It may be marked by strong wind, hail, thunder or lightning, heavy precipitation, heavy freezing rain, strong winds or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere. Storms are nothing but the high speed moving winds carrying the surface particles or objects with them and displacing them from the original location. Storms are created when a center of low pressure develops, with a system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds.

Small, localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds. There is no scale to measure the storms, usually they are measured in wind speed in km/hr.

viii)

Tornado: A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end touches the earth and is often encircled by a cloud of debris and dust. As the cyclone lowers below the cloud base, it begins to take in cool, moist air from the downdraft region of the storm. This convergence of warm air in the updraft, and this cool air, causes a rotating wall cloud to form. As the funnel descends, the RFD also reaches the ground, creating a gust front that can cause severe damage a good distance from the tornado. Usually, the funnel cloud begins causing damage on the ground (becoming a tornado) within a few minutes of the RFD reaching the ground. The Fujita scale and the Enhanced Fujita Scale rate tornadoes by damage caused. An EF0 tornado will probably damage trees but not substantial structures, whereas an EF5 tornado can rip buildings off their foundations leaving them bare and even deform large skyscrapers. The TORRO scale ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes.

Ar. Bhuvan Mitra Submitted To: Er. M.N Mishra

Submitted By: Ankit Kashmiri Gupta V Year, Sec- A