Natural disasters are such events which occur naturally and causes huge destruction of life and property. Disaster can be either sudden in nature or occur gradually. Let's know about some of the natural disasters :

EARTHQUAKE

Sudden shaking of the earth's surface caused by abrupt release of slowly accumulating stress. Tectonic plates found in the interior of the earth collide with each other due to their movement and causes earthquake. The intensity of earthquake is measured on Richter scale from 0 to 9. Generally earthquake of intensity lower than 5.4 on richter scale is not hazardous.

LANDSLIDE 

Sudden downward movement of land or rocks due to gravitational forces in mountainous or hilly regions. When the grip gets loosened, the loose earth or large mass of rocks generally slide. It is a recurrent phenomenon in hilly regions. Rainfall or snowfall is the major cause of landslide but human activities like mining and deforestation are also responsible.

FLOOD

The submergence of an area due to heavy rains, overflowing rivers, cyclones, tsunamis, melting of snow, or dam burst. In India, heavy rains and landslides are responsible for more than 58% of all disaster losses. Deforestation increases the frequency and intensity of floods as the absence of tree leaves no obstruction in the path of the river. Bangladesh is a highly blood prone country.

DROUGHT 

This specific type of condition for a particular region where the amount of rainfall is either scanty, nil or below the normal over the longer period. Thus it is a long spell of scanty or no rainfall. Large scale of deforestation affects the climate conditions of the region.

CYCLONE 

A cyclone is an area of low atmospheric pressure characterized by inward spiral winds that rotate counter clockwise in northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere of the earth. Cyclones are generally associated with high speed winds and heavy rainfall. Cyclone spreads from sea to land and generally effects the coastal areas. Cyclones are destructive because of their associated hazards like high tides, torrential rain, and gales and sometimes even floods which cause heavy loss of lives and destruction of property, extensive damage to standing crops, loss of livestock and livelihood reversal of development and gains having far reaching social-economic and environmental consequences.

TSUNAMI 

Tsunami means the waves created near the port. Such waves are created after the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the bottom of the ocean, as a result, very intense high tides are created.

In the next blog, I will discuss about how to manage these natural disasters. Stay connected. Have a nice day!