Thursday, January 27, 2011

Volcanoes arranged by country and region.

Every volcano which has erupted in the past 10,000 years is listed, plus many ancient volcanoes
  Volcanoes arranged by country and region.
Afghanistan                  Ethiopia
Fiji
France
French Polynesia
Galapagos Islands
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Hawaii
Honduras
Iceland
India
Indian Ocean
Indonesia
Iran
Italy
Japan
Kamchatka
Kenya
Korea
Kurile Islands
Libya
Madagascar
Malaysia
Mali
Mariana Islands
Mexico
Mongolia
Myanmar
New Zealand
Nicaragua

Africa
Alaska
Algeria
Antarctica
Arctic Ocean
Argentina
Armenia
Asia
Atlantic Ocean
Australia
Azerbaijan
Azores
Bolivia
Burma
Cameroon
Canada
Canary Islands
Cape Verde
Caribbean
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo DR
Costa Rica
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Pacific Ocean
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Red Sea
Reunion
Russia
Rwanda
Samoa
Sao Tome
Saudi Arabia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Sandwich Islands
Spain
Sudan
Syria
Taiwan
Tanzania
Tonga
Turkey
Uganda
United States
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Wallis and Futuna
Yemen

Volcano Name Location Continuous Eruptions

Volcano Name                         Location                           Continuous Eruptions 

Ambrym                          Vanuatu                                                              1935- 
Tinakula                         Solomon Islands                                                 1951?- 
Erta Ale                         Ethiopia                                                               1967- 
Manam                          Papua New Guinea                                            1974- 
Langila                          Papua New Guinea                                            1960- 
Bagana                         Papua New Guinea                                            1972- 
Semeru                         Indonesia                                                             1967- 
Merapi                          Indonesia                                                              1967- 
Dukono                         Indonesia                                                              1933- 
Sakura-jima                Japan                                                                     1955- 
Suwanose-jima          Japan                                                                     1949- 
Santa Maria              Guatemala                                                              1922- 
Pacaya                     Guatemala                                                               1965- 
Arenal                       Costa Rica                                                              1968- 
Sangay                     Ecuador                                                                   1934- 
Erebus                     Antarctica                                                                 1972- 
Piton de la Fournaise      Reunion                                                          1920- 
Kilauea                      Hawaii                                                                    1983- 

Etna                           Italy                                                                  3500 years 
Stromboli                  Italy                                                                  2000 years
Yasur                        Vanuatu                                                           800 years

Friday, January 21, 2011

BRAZIL,AUSTRALIA FLOOD

BRISBANE: Heavy rain prompted new flood warnings in Australia even as thousands of volunteers cleaned up the gooey mess coating homes and streets in its third-largest city Saturday.
Four states had flood warnings due to overflowing rivers and rain, while Queensland worked to recover from its deadly, weekslong disaster. Large parts of the vast state are still under water and some places are still on alert for flooding. In Brisbane, the water that swamped entire neighborhoods has mostly receded, leaving behind a thick, putrid sludge.
About 7,000 residents joined 600 military personnel in what was dubbed ‘Salvation Saturday’ to shovel, mop and sweep away the mess after the Brisbane River overflowed earlier this week.
Mayor Campbell Newman praised the overwhelming turnout. ‘Everybody rolls up their sleeves in this town,’ Newman said. The volunteers were given mops, garbage bags and cleaning supplies before being bused to the areas of Brisbane most in need.


Survivors of mudslides that killed more than 555 people are growing frustrated, saying Brazil’s government has fallen short in rescuing victims still stranded on remote hillsides and finding the bodies of the dead.
On the fourth night since torrential rains sent avalanches of mud and boulders smashing through communities in the lush mountains outside Rio de Janeiro, many people were still begging officials for aid late Friday. Many also took it upon themselves to search for their dead and help out the living.
‘The ones I’ve seen go up there and really make the effort are all people from here,’ said Sergio Joaquin de Jesus, 48, a construction worker who had just donated blood and was rounding up a crew of co-workers to dig for bodies Saturday morning. ‘Imagine, human beings up there, with no food, no water, nowhere to sleep, in this weather. They’re living like dogs,’ he said. ‘Where is the government? What are they still waiting for?’
The military said that it was sending 11 helicopters and 500 personnel to help approximately 800 rescuers from fire departments and the state civil defence agency who were struggling to reach stricken areas in an incessant rain. The army and navy also pledged heavy digging machinery, ambulances and generators - the last essential to continue the rescue effort in the dark. Low-hanging rain clouds prevented the helicopters from flying in, however, and the military promised it would try again Saturday. Survivors did what they could.
After failing to find his other children, the 31-year-old ranch hand built a gurney from scrap wood, carried his son’s body down a mudslide-wrecked slope before dawn Friday and buried him in a homemade coffin. Then Perfista waited with a crowd in the rain outside the Teresopolis morgue for a chance to plead with officials to help him continue his search. He clutched plastic-covered pictures of his three other children: a chubby 1-year-old and two smiling girls, ages 6 and 10.
Survivors of mudslides that killed at least 537 people in a mountainous area north of Rio de Janeiro streamed into the centre of Teresopolis on Friday.
Amauri Souza, a 38-year-old who helped Perfista carry his son’s body, said a few helicopters had reached isolated areas, but ‘they’re only taking down the wounded.’ He said officials were not dropping off body bags or food or water, adding that he feared the consequences if aid did not arrive soon.
‘The water is rotten, but people are forced to drink it. There is no food. I had meat in my house, but it’s all gone bad,’ Souza said. Officials fear the death toll could rise once remote areas are reached. Authorities did not offer an estimate on the missing, but local reports put it in the hundreds.
There is no central repository of information about survivors and missing people, said Carla Monica Tomazetto, a city worker using a microphone to call out the names of those being sought by relatives just outside a shelter for those who lost their homes.
Teresopolis, a city of 163,000 people next to a national park, sits in a land of thickly forested slopes and sheer mountain peaks, and is a chief training site for Brazil’s national soccer team. It’s home to many ornate weekend homes where the wealthy of Rio escape the summer heat to enjoy horseback riding and other luxuries.

FLOOD WARNING AND FORECAST ALERT REPORT PAKISTAN 2010

FLOOD FORECAST (ALERT )FOR   SUTLEJ  RIVER

According to present Hydro-Meteorological situation & rains observed in the upper catchment areas of River Sutlej, Ganda Singh Wala (Kasur District) may attain a LOW FLOOD level during the period from 1200 PST of  26th  September-2010 to 1800 PST of 27th September-2010  ranging between 50,000 to 60,000 cusecs (Approximately Gauge 18 – 19 feet ).
This may create inundation in low lying areas of river Sutlej. The inhabitants in the river bed around the districts of Kasur, Okara and Pakpattan may affect. It is requested that concerned authorities may take precautionary measures to warn the people residing in the river bed.
SIGNIFICANT FLOOD FORECAST FOR RIVER INDUS AT KOTRI

According to prevailing hydrological conditions the 2nd Flood wave is passing from Kotri and River is maintaining Exceptionally High Flood level with inflow of 964897 Cusecs. It may further rise during next 36-hours. The sustained peak at Kotri may last for next 2 to 3 days. Thereafter it may start falling and is likely to remain between 7,00,000 to 9,00,000 Cusecs during subsequent 7 to 9 days and around 6,00,000 Cusecs for  subsequent one week.
Under this scenario, the inundation and riverine Flooding is expected at low lying areas of Sajawal, MirpurBataro, MirpurSakro, JhangShahi, AllahRakhio, ShadadKot , Jamshoro, Matiari, Makaro, Ketibander, Shahbander in  Thatta and Hyderabad  Districts  along with the river bed.
All concerned authorities are requested to take precautionary measures to avoid loss of human lives and property. 

Flood Alert for Sutlej  Ravi and Chenab Rivers
       
Sutlej River
 According to Indus Water Treaty, India shall inform Pakistan when the release of water from Ferozepur down stream increases to 50,000 Cusecs or more. India has not yet informed Pakistan regarding the release of such quantity of water from Ferozepur. The slight rise in water at Ganda Singh Wala is only due to rains in the lower catchments of Sutlej below Bhakra dam. As such the water in Sutlej is likely to remain around 50,000 Cusecs in next 2-days.

                                                                            

River Ravi
 The rains in the area below Madhopur headworks and in the Catchment of Nullahs of River Ravi (Deg, Bein, Kethar, Ujh, Basanter) have caused a slight increase in the inflow at Jassar and Shahdara. However, the situation is not dangerous. According to Indus Treaty, India shall inform Pakistan when they release the water from Madhopur headworks more than 30,000 Cusecs and they have not yet informed. Therefore it is presumed that the flow in River Ravi shall remain below low flood level i.e. 40,000 Cusecs.



River Chenab
 The prevailing metrological conditions suggest that the chances of heavy rains in the Catchments of river Chenab are minimum during next 2-days. Therefore there is no imminent danger of any flood in river Chenab. However some rain may cause slightly increased flow in river Chenab, which may not be taken as dangerous situation. The flow shall remain at low flood level (around 1,00,000 Cusecs)

According to prevailing hydrological conditions the Flood wave is passing from Kotri and River has attained Exceptionally High Flood level at Kotri with inflow 8,37,982 Cusecs at 1200 PST. It will continue rising and is likely to attain Flood level ranging between 8,50,000 to 9,00,000 Cusecs during next 24-hours. The River Indus at Kotri shall maintain and sustain peak, which is expected to last 4 to 5 days.
Inflow between 7,00,000 to 8,00,000 Cusecs would last for subsequent 5 to 8 days and around 6,00,000 Cusecs for another subsequent 10 days at least.
Under this scenario, the inundation and riverine Flooding is expected at low lying areas of Sajawal , MirpurBataro, MirpurSakro, JhangShahi ,AllahRakhio, ShadadKot , Jamshoro, Matiari, Makaro, Ketibander, Shahbander in  Thatta and Hyderabad  Districts  along with the river bed.
All concerned authorities are requested to take precautionary measures to avoid loss of human lives and property. 
FLOOD WARNING AND FORECAST ALERT REPORT PAKISTAN 2010
 




                                                                              


WHAT IS TSUNAMI AND EARTHQUAKE




With a massive 8.8 earthquake striking near Chile and sending a tsunami across the Pacific, Hawaii readies itself for what could be a devastating strike. The island state has a history of being stricken by tsunamis, some generated locally but many from far off areas.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 50 tsunamis have been reported in Hawaii since the early 1800’s. Of those seven caused major damage. Five of those were generated from areas outside the state.


A tsunami is a series of waves that start out as a disturbance under the sea (such as an earthquake), and then increase in intensity. The disturbance causes the waves to travel outward in all directions. In this article, you will learn more about the causes and effects of tsunamis.

The motion of a tsunami is similar to what happens when you toss a rock in a lake and ripples start to form and move about the water. The time it takes for the waves to fully form is between 5 and 90 minutes. Sometimes, the wave speed in the open ocean will average 450 miles per hour.
Tsunamis that have reached a height of more than 100 feet have been recorded. The closer the waves get to reaching shallow coastal waters, the more normal they appear. The speed also decreases. If a tsunami closes in on the coastline, other conditions arise. It may grow in height and when it reaches the shore – it can be highly destructive.
An earthquake is not the only natural occurrence to cause a tsunami. Landslides, volcanic eruptions, and even meteorites have been known to cause an earthquake. A tsunami can start hundreds or even thousands of miles away from coastal areas. Location can play an important role in the effect of a tsunami. The regions at a great risk for suffering a tsunami are found less than 50 feet above sea level and within one mile of the shoreline.
Tsunamis cause a succession of high and low water levels. These kinds of crests and troughs usually occur about 10 to 45 minutes apart.
 The highest death toll from a tsunami happened on December 26, 2004, when an earthquake with a magnitude of 9 occurred under the Indian Ocean. The tsunami struck off the coast of Indonesia with a wave that affected the coastlines of nine different countries about the Indian Ocean. It was estimated in January 20, 2005 that the tsunami took the lives of at least 226,000 people. The total death toll is a number that will never be known.
Other Facts About Tsunamis

A 1964 earthquake in Alaska caused a tsunami with waves that measured between 10 and 20 feet high. The effects of the tsunami were felt along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. In Alaska, more than $84 million in damage was incurred and the tsunami killed 123 people.
Since 1945, more people have lost their lives as a result of tsunamis than as a direct result of what happens with an earthquake.
Tsunamis are rare along the Atlantic coastline. However, a serious earthquake that took place on November 18, 1929 in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. A tsunami developed and as a result, a great deal of damage and deaths took place at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.
The most common way that a person dies during a tsunami is by drowning. Other causes of death include flooding, polluted water supplies, and damaged gas lines.
A tsunami that occurred in 1946 sent waves of 20 to 32 feet to crash into Hilo, Hawaii. The downtown part of the city flooded and in the process, 159 people were killed.
An estimate 10,000 people died in Hong Kong when a typhoon accompanied by a tsunami took place in 1906.
The Tsunami Warning Centers in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Palmer, Alaska, keep an eye on the disturbances that can lead to tsunamis. When a tsunami is detected – it is tracked. Tsunami warnings are then issued for areas in danger.


The worst tsunami to strike Hawaii in modern history occurred in 1946 and was caused by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands. The tsunami struck without warning and claimed the lives of 170 people, mainly near Laupahoehoe and Hilo. Wave heights near Hilo reached 30 feet while the maximum height was 55 feet at the northern tip of the island near the Pololu Valley.

Waves as high as 35 feet struck Hilo, Hawaii and caused 61 deaths and $75 million in damage. Hilo Bay itself was struck the worst where 600 acres of land inland were inundated and only the most reinforced buildings survived. On Maui, the Kahului area was struck the worst where a warehouse and some houses were destroyed.
Tsunamis caused closer to the epicenter of a quake are often more deadly as there is less warning. Two locally generated tsunamis have also caused damage in Hawaii, one in 1868 and another in 1975. The 1868 tsunami destroyed two villages while waves from the 1975 tsunami claimed two lives.

As the wave approaches land, it slows but they increase in height
and the distance between them shrinks. (Wikipedia)A tsunami is typically generated by the movement of tectonic plate boundaries that move abruptly causing an earthquake. As one of the plates moves upward, it pushes the water up and outwards.


 

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

POWER FULL EARTHQUAKE KARACHI

KARACHI: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 shook southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, jolting residents of cities as far apart as New Delhi and Dubai, but doing little damage in the sparsely populated region.
The quake was more than 80 km underground, close to the town of Dalbandin in Balochistan province, near the Afghan and Iranian frontiers, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Akbar Durrani, interior secretary of Balochistan province, said there were no reports of casualties.
“There has been partial damage to house in villages near Dalbandin but there were no casualties,” he told Reuters.
Naeem Shah, head of Dalbandin police, said he had no reports of any injuries or deaths.
“There were no human losses,” Shah said. “The walls of a few houses and offices collapsed but there are no reports of any casualties.”
The USGS said the epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1:23 a.m., was 55 km west of Dalbandin, a town of about 15,000 people, and at a depth of 83 km.
Poor communications delayed reports from the remote area but despite the strength of the shock, its depth seems to have limited damage. The USGS had first said the earthquake was much shallower.
People in India’s northwestern border state of Rajasthan said cracks appeared in the walls of rural dwellings.
US forces in Afghanistan were unaffected by the quake, according to preliminary reports from the US military.
People flee their houses
In Quetta, the capital and largest city in Baluchistan, 330 km northeast of the epicentre, a woman died at a hospital from a heart attack following the quake, hospital officials said.
In the major Pakistani port of Karachi, 400 km away, people rushed from their homes as the quake hit.
“I felt like my bed was shaking. I got up and ran to check the children,” said Masooma Rizvi. “It was very scary. I have never felt anything like this before.”
The Pacific Tsunami Center said the quake had not triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
A major quake of this magnitude, if at a shallow depth and close to population centres, is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage. Pakistan is still reeling from devastating floods last year that left more than 10 million people homeless.
At least 160 people were killed when a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Balochistan, about 60 km north of Quetta, in October 2008.
In 2005, a 7.6 magnitude quake 95 km northeast of Islamabad killed more than 70,000 people.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1935 hit Quetta, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people, making it one of the deadliest quakes to hit South Asia in recorded history..

world climate change

NASA’s announcement this year – that 2010 ties 2005 as the warmest year in the 131-year instrumental record – made headlines. But, how much does the ranking of a single year matter? Global temperature records in close agreement, despite subtle differences
Multiple institutions monitor global surface temperatures. Despite subtle differences in the ways the scientists perform their analyses, these four widely referenced records show remarkable agreement. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Groups of scientists from several major institutions – NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom – tally data collected by temperature monitoring stations spread around the world and make an announcement about whether the previous year was a comparatively warm or cool year. The availability of and access to climate change information remains insufficient, according to many of the world's leading financial institutions. A pioneering study launched  confirms the increasing financial relevance of climate change and the fact that insurers and lenders need better information regarding the physical and economic impacts of the world's changing weather patterns.

Financial service providers and their customers are increasingly affected by the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events. Moreover, the survey shows that insurers, reinsurers, lenders, and asset managers expect these kinds of risks to increase in the future.

Given that financial institutions are able to influence their clients and investee companies across all sectors of the economy, they can play a key role in accelerating the implementation of adaptation measures by the private sector.

But in order for the sector to manage climatic risks affecting their business portfolios and to give the best possible advice to their customers, financial institutions need access to applied information such as climate change predictions, modelling, analysis, and interpretation. Such information needs to be appropriate to the duration of contracts, the regions where customers hold assets or undertake operations and the hazards that are material to the operations of borrowers, investees, and the insured.
Not all that much, emphasizes James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City. In the GISS analysis, for example, 2010 differed from 2005 by less than 0.01°C (0.018 °F), a difference so small that the temperatures of these two years are indistinguishable, given the uncertainty of the calculation.

Meanwhile, the third warmest year -- 2009 -- is so close to 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007, with the maximum difference between the years being a mere 0.03°C, that all six years are virtually tied.
Even for a near record-breaking year like 2010 the broader context is more important than a single year. “Certainly, it is interesting that 2010 was so warm despite the presence of a La Niña and a remarkably inactive sun, two factors that have a cooling influence on the planet, but far more important than any particular year’s ranking .

Sunday, January 16, 2011

powerfull disaster history

Netherlands, 1228
Estimate: 100,000 lives lost from the flooding after some dykes broke.

Most of Europe and beyond, 1347-1350
Approximately 25 million lost their lives through the "Black Death" - the bubonic plague. Between 25 and 33% of the entire population of Europe at that time, plus millions in Asia and North Africa lost their lives.


Western Hemisphere, mostly 16th - 18th centuries
Untold millions of lives of American Indians were lost through the various sicknesses brought over from Europe (to which they had no previous exposure or resistance.) It's very difficult to get figures on this that are not politically infected one way or another (very high or very low).
China, 1556
The second deadliest earthquake was in the Chinese province of Shaanzi on February 2, 1556. It killed 830,000 people.

Indonesia, 1815
Mount Tambora (volcano) on Sumbawa Island released about 50 cubic kilometers of magma over at least 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. That eruption and the resulting tsunami took at least 10,000 lives. But the famine and disease that followed took another 82,000 lives - total: over 90,000.
China, 1876 - 1879
The deadliest drought in recorded history was in China between 1876 and 1879. Rivers were dry, so most crops and livestock died. There was no food production in a 1-million km2 area of 9 provinces. The drought caused the death of an estimated nine million people.

Caribbean, 1902
Martinique, a small French colony in the Caribbean, has a volcano "Mont Pelee" which unleashed its fury and wiped out the town of St. Pierre. Only one survivor - pictured on right: a prisoner in a basement cell. (There's a good chance he got his life right with God before that day was over!)  But there were actually two others who also survived. see their amazing stories  Around 30,000 people were killed.
China, 1920
In the north China there was a drought that caused 20 million victims and took at least 500,00 lives.


China, Gansu - 1920
Gansu, China is hit with an earthquake measuring 8.6 and kills around 200,000 people.

Japan, 1923
A third of Tokyo is destroyed and much of Yokohama in an 8.3 earthquake which between 140,000 and 200,000 people.

China, 1927

An earthquake 7.9 - hit Nanshan City and took about 200,000 people.

China, 1931
A flood on the Changjiang River took at least 145,000 people (other estimates go over a million, but we have not confirmed that).


China, 1932
Another earthquake, this one northwest Gansu Province, killed about 70,000 people.


Bangladesh, 1970
In 1970, a cyclone and related floods killed about 500,000 people. With winds of up to 230 km/h, the cyclone crashed into the heavily populated coastal area of the Bay of Bengal, where several river deltas normally provide fertile land. The terrible winds produced massive waves, which wiped out many entire villages. Millions of people were left homeless in this country that is one of the most densely populated and one of the poorest in the world.
China, Tangshan - 1976
The worst earthquake damage in modern times was in northeast China in 1976. It was July 28 when a massive quake, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale, shook the industrial mining city of Tangshan. Officially 255,000 people died, and another 164,000 were severely injured. But others (unofficial, but perhaps more accurate?) estimate that about 655,000 perished. Some ninety per cent of the buildings were destroyed. It took at least ten years and massive investment to rebuild the city.
Armenia, 1988
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastated Armenia in 1988. At that time Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. The town of Spitak was destroyed and it took the lives of all of its residents. In Leninakan, Armenia's second largest city, eighty per cent of the buildings collapsed, and over 100,000 people perished there.
Earthquake of 9.0 and the resulting tsunami creates one of the world's worst disasters.  It does major damage to: Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Maldives, Somalia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, and Andaman.  Deaths: Between 235,000 and 285,000.




Haiti, 2010
Earthquate - still counting. Most estimates now exceed 220,000 dead.Approximately


Saturday, January 15, 2011

worlds climate change now

NASA said on January 13, 2011 that a particularly strong La Nina weather pattern of cooler water temperatures is fueling heavy rains and floods in Australia, Sri Lanka and Brazil. “This La Niña has strengthened for the past seven months, and is one of the most intense events of the past half century,” said Climatologist Bill Patzert of NASA/JPL. Australia’s third-largest city Brisbane was turned into a “war zone” with whole suburbs under water and infrastructure smashed as the worst flood in decades hit 30,000 properties. Officials said, the number of people killed in Sri Lanka’s monsoon flooding and mudslides have risen to 27 with more than a million people still displaced by the devastating disaster. In Brazil, authorities have stated that more than a thousand people have been left without homes and 71 lost their lives in Teresopolis alone.

Brazil flood update

Days after floodwaters and surging waves of mud killed more than 440 people, grief was palpable in this lush area now scarred red and brown where waterlogged soil had pushed downhill, knocking away anything in its path.
But the accounts of loss were leavened by one high-drama rescue.
“I thought I was going to die,” said Ilair Pereira de Souza, a 53-year-old woman who had a miraculous escape when neighbors on a nearby balcony threw her a rope.
“Help me, help me,” she pleaded, in scenes replayed throughout the day on Brazilian television.
She grabbed for the rope, and disappeared underneath the muddy waters, before reappearing, clinging to the slim lifeline, but without her dog Beethoven, which she had been clutching in her arms
“If I had tried to save him, I would have died. The poor thing. He stayed for a moment looking me in the eyes, and then he was swept away.” In Teresopolis, one mountain town devastated by the mudslides, the atmosphere was mournful as the extent of the disaster became apparent.

Nearby, a long line had formed of families waiting to collect bodies of kin, while around them workers wearing masks to shield from the stench staffed the reception and accompanied those  toys and pathetic piles of possessions that represented all they had left.
“I need to know how she is,” Rodrigues wailed.
Edmar Da Rosa, a 44-year-old laborer whose face was badly lacerated, looked lost and unable to comprehend the deaths of family members.
He said a retaining wall fell on part of his house that he shared with his wife, three children and a grandson.
“My wife died. My grandson ended up dying. And the others are hurt,” he said.
A few meters (feet) away, 59-year-old Joao de Lima clutched a doll with desolation written on his face. “I lost my four daughters and everything I had,” he said softly.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Worlds flooding tsunami history

Netherlands, 1287
The Zuider Zee flooded after a seawall callapsed. At least 50,000 people were killed in Holland and more than 500 in England as a result.
China, 1642
Flooding takes about 300,000 lives.
Indonesia, 1815
Mount Tambora (volcano) on Sumbawa Island released about 50 cubic kilometers of magma over at least 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. That eruption and the resulting tsunami took at least 10,000 lives. But the famine and disease that followed took another 82,000 lives - total: over 90,000.
Japan, 1826
Tsunami kills about 27,000.


China, 1887
The worst flood in "modern history" happened in China in 1887. The Yellow River overflowed, causing the death of about 900,000 people. (Some reports say it was a million that parished.)

Japan, 1896
About 28,000 people lost their lives from a Tsunami

China, 1911
Yangtze River flood - approx: 100,000 deaths.


World-wide, 1918 - 19
Influenza pandemic takes somewhere between 35 million and 75 million lives (some reports estimate around a hundred million, but those can't be confirmed) - at least 16 million people died in India alone. This is clearly the worst disaster - at least in the last thousand years.

China, 1931
A flood on the Changjiang River took at least 145,000 people (other estimates go over a million, but we have not confirmed that).


China, 1935
Another Yellow River flood "caused 27 counties inundated and 3.4 million victims".  How many actual lives were killed we don't know. If you have facts, let us hear from you
China, 1933
Another Changjiang River flood takes the lives of at least 140,000 people.

China, 1939
A flood takes about 200,000 lives.
Bangladesh, 1970
In 1970, a cyclone and related floods killed about 500,000 people. With winds of up to 230 km/h, the cyclone crashed into the heavily populated coastal area of the Bay of Bengal, where several river deltas normally provide fertile land. The terrible winds produced massive waves, which wiped out many entire villages. Millions of people were left homeless in this country that is one of the most densely populated and one of the poorest in the world.

Africa, 1981 - 1984
Rivers and lakes dried up from the drought that had incredible impact on twenty African nations. During one season about 20,000 were starving to death EACH MONTH.  150 million were facing starvation if help didn't come right away. People from around the world began to respond to this crisis - but for hundreds of thousands of people, it was too late. (If you have figures for this, please let us know. When combined with other relatively recent African famines, the fugure is well over 1,000,000)

Bangladesh, 1991
Flooding again took its toll on this nation. About  139,000 lost their lives.
North Korea, 1995-98
Over 3 million are said to have died from famine and floods in North Korea.

South Asian Nations, 2004 - 2005

Earthquake of 9.0 and the resulting tsunami creates one of the world's worst disasters.  It does major damage to: Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Maldives, Somalia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, and Andaman.  Deaths: Between 235,000 and 285,000.

Brazil flood death toll tops 500

Rescuers are searching through layers of mud for survivors and bodies after heavy rains caused landslides and torrents to slice through three towns near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 500 people.
Walls of thick, muddy gunge cascaded past apartment blocks in several towns, flowing into single-storey homes and overturning cars as they surged down the hills sweeping along everything in their path.

Freakish storms early Wednesday (local time) in the mountainous area just north of Rio de Janeiro dumped the equivalent of a month's rain in just a few hours, sending mudslides slicing through towns and hamlets, destroying homes, roads and bridges and knocking out telephone and power lines.
Local officials and media in the worst affected towns of Novo Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis put the death toll at 432.
President Dilma Rousseff, clad in black rubber boots, walked the mud-covered cobblestone streets of Novo Friburgo, where 201 deaths were recorded.
The death toll was expected to rise further as rescuers arrived in remote hamlets, many cut off to all but helicopter access.

Tropical rains, common at this time of year, intensified as a cold front moved in, unleashing the tragedy before dawn, while families slept.
"In eight hours... it rained as much as for the entire month," said Paulo Canedo, a hydrologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
The deluge "caused avalanches of rocks and soil that carried everything down with them, picking up houses," he said.
As weather forecasters warned of more rain in the hours and days ahead, rescuers aided by desperate residents clawed through rubble and mud looking for survivors or bodies.
GloboNews television said 175 people had died in Teresopolis, while officials in Petropolis counted 39 dead.
Another 17 bodies were discovered Thursday in a village called Sumidouro.
Churches and police stations were turned into makeshift morgues, the smell of decomposing corpses heavy in the warm air. Thousands of survivors took refuge in shelters.
But among the despair were a few triumphs.
The scenes of crumbled towns and the stench of death transformed the Serrana region, a popular historical getaway for wealthy Rio residents seeking cooler temperatures.
The disaster also provided the first big test for Ms Rousseff, who only took power on January 1.
Her government has released hundreds of millions of dollars in initial emergency aid and sent seven tons of medical supplies.
The last major natural disaster in Brazil was in March 1967, when mudslides killed 300 people in a coastal town called Caraguatatuba, Brazilian media said.
By way of comparison, Brazil recorded 473 deaths for all of last year from heavy rains.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Climate change in world natural disaster in world

Climate Change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia’s Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come.
But while scientists say a warmer world is predicted to lead to more intense droughts and floods, it wasn’t yet possible to say if climate change would trigger stronger La Nina and El Nino weather patterns that can cause weather chaos across the globe.
“I think people will end up concluding that at least some of the intensity of the monsoon in Queensland can be attributed to climate change,” said Matthew England of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

The Queensland floods have killed 16 people since the downpour started last month, inundating towns, crippling coal mining and are now swamping the state’s main city of Brisbane.
The rains have been blamed on one of the strongest La Nina patterns ever recorded. La Nina is a cooling of ocean temperatures in the east and central Pacific, which usually leads to more rain over much of Australia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
This is because the phenomena leads to stronger easterly winds in the tropics that pile up warm water in the western Pacific and around Australia. Indonesia said on Wednesday it expected prolonged rains until June.
Weather Switch
The Pacific has historically switched between La Nina phases and El Ninos, which have the opposite impact by triggering droughts in Australia and Southeast Asia.

“The first thing we can say with La Nina and El Nino is it is now happening in a hotter world,” he told Reuters, adding that meant more evaporation from land and oceans, more moisture in the atmosphere and stronger weather patterns.
“So the El Nino droughts would be expected to be exacerbated and also La Nina floods because rainfall would be exacerbated,” he said, though adding it would be some years before any climate change impact on both phenomena might become clear.
He said the current La Nina was different because of the warmest ocean temperatures on record around Australia and record humidity in eastern Australia over the past 12 months.
Prominent US climate scientist Kevin Trenberth said the floods and the intense La Nina were a combination of factors.
He pointed to high ocean temperatures in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia early last year as well as the rapid onset of La Nina after the last El Nino ended in May.

He said a portion, about 0.5C, of the ocean temperatures around northern Australia, which are more than 1.5C above pre-1970 levels, could be attributed to global warming.
“The extra water vapor fuels the monsoon and thus alters the winds and the monsoon itself and so this likely increases the rainfall further,” said Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in        Boulder, Colorado.
“So it is easy to argue that 1 degree Celsius sea surface temperature anomalies give 10 to 15 percent increase in rainfall,” he added.
Some scientists said it was still too soon to draw a definite climate change link to the floods.
“It’s a natural phenomenon. We have no strong reason at the moment for saying this La Nina is any stronger than it would be even without humans,” said Neville Nicholls of Monash University in Melbourne and president of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
But he said global atmospheric warming of about 0.75C over the past half century had to be having some impact.
“It has to be affecting the climate, regionally and globally. It has to be affecting things like La Nina. But can you find a credible argument which says it’s made it worse? I can’t at the moment.”

350 peopel killed in curent flooding

In the mountain towns of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis, the reported death tolls are at least 168, 152 and 36 respectively, Brazilian media reported
Heavy rain began falling again early on Thursday as rescuers resumed their search and is expected to continue throughout much of the day.
The collapse of electricity and communications systems, combined with the destruction of many roads and bridges, has severely hampered the rescue work.
800 rescuers are conducting searches and the Brazilian navy is sending a field hospital to the area.
Morgues in the affected towns were full, with churches and police stations receiving bodies.
Officials in Brazil's civil defence department have warned there could be hundreds more bodies yet to be recovered in Teresopolis alone, the Globo media organisation reported.
One area of Teresopolis, Campo Grande, remains cut off entirely and is yet to be reached by any rescuers. It is feared 150 people may be buried there.
Sixteen more bodies were found there early on Thursday, but the most dramatic rise was in Nova Friburgo, where 48 more people were reported to have died.
Amid the death and destruction in Nova Friburgo there was one glimmer of hope: a six-month-old baby, reportedly named Nicholas, was found alive after 12 hours trapped in the rubble of a ruined building, reports said.


The heavy rains also killed 13 people in Sao Paulo state on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll in Brazil’s south to at least 270.
Hillsides and river banks in the picturesque Serrana region north of Rio buckled under the equivalent of a month’s rainfall in 24 hours, destroying houses and killing many people early Wednesday, rescue officials said.
Television images showed many houses buried in mud as desperate residents and rescue workers searched for survivors.
“There was no way of telling which house would fall. Rich and poor — everything was destroyed,” domestic worker Fernanda Carvalho was quoted as saying by the Globo network’s website.

The number of victims was expected to rise as rescuers find more bodies and reach more remote areas.

“Rescue teams are still arriving in the areas that have been worst affected,” he said, adding that about 1,000 people had been left homeless. “It’s the biggest catastrophe in the history of the town.”
Thousands Isolated
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed a decree releasing 780 million reais in reconstruction funds for the affected areas. She was due to fly over the region on Thursday.
Thousands of people in the region were isolated by the floodwaters and cut off from power and telephone contact.
The downpour caused at least one river to burst its banks, submerging cars and destroying houses in Teresopolis, television images showed.
Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral said in a statement he had asked the Navy for aircraft to take rescue crews and equipment to the region, which was partially cut off from Rio by road.

Buses and trucks were shown stranded on streets with floodwaters reaching up to their windows.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Introduction natural disaster

Disaster caused by nature, such as floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, lahars (volcanic mudslides), landslides, sinkholes, blizzards, drought, hailstorms, heat waves, hurricanes, tropical storms, typhoons, Ice Ages, tornadoes, and wildfires. Epidemics caused by bacteria or viruses are sometimes considered natural disasters, but sometimes put into a different category. A biological threat such as locusts or toxic fungi could also be considered a natural disaster...and more..

Sunday, January 9, 2011

MAJOR EARTHQUAKE,FLOODS IN CHINA HISTORY

China, 1290
Earthquake takes at least 100,000 people.

China, 1556
Earthquake in Shansi, China kills about 830,000

China, 1642
Flooding takes about 300,000 lives.

China, 1556
The second deadliest earthquake was in the Chinese province of Shaanzi on February 2, 1556. It killed 830,000 people.

China, 1876 - 1879
The deadliest drought in recorded history was in China between 1876 and 1879. Rivers were dry, so most crops and livestock died. There was no food production in a 1-million km2 area of 9 provinces. The drought caused the death of an estimated nine million people.
China, 1887
The worst flood in "modern history" happened in China in 1887. The Yellow River overflowed, causing the death of about 900,000 people. (Some reports say it was a million that parished.)
China, 1911
Yangtze River flood - approx: 100,000 deaths.

China, 1920
In the north China there was a drought that caused 20 million victims and took at least 500,00 lives.
China, Gansu - 1920
Gansu, China is hit with an earthquake measuring 8.6 and kills around 200,000 people.
China, 1927
An earthquake 7.9 - hit Nanshan City and took about 200,000 people.

China, 1931
A flood on the Changjiang River took at least 145,000 people (other estimates go over a million, but we have not confirmed that).
China, 1932
Another earthquake, this one northwest Gansu Province, killed about 70,000 people.

China, 1935
Another Yellow River flood "caused 27 counties inundated and 3.4 million victims".  How many actual lives were killed we don't know. If you have facts, let us hear from you
China, 1933
Another Changjiang River flood takes the lives of at least 140,000 people.
China, 1939
A flood takes about 200,000 lives.
China, 1942 - 1943
A drought in the Henan province took the lives of more than a million people.
China, 1958 - 61
As many as 20 million people died in this famine. *

China, Tangshan - 1976
The worst earthquake damage in modern times was in northeast China in 1976. It was July 28 when a massive quake, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale, shook the industrial mining city of Tangshan. Officially 255,000 people died, and another 164,000 were severely injured. But others (unofficial, but perhaps more accurate?) estimate that about 655,000 perished. Some ninety per cent of the buildings were destroyed. It took at least ten years and massive investment to rebuild the city.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Disasters history,natrural Disasters earthquake,floods

1=    Turkmensistan (USSR), 1948
 110,000
 Earthquake
2=    Worldwide, every year
 2 to 5 million a year
 Malaria
3 =    Western Hemisphere, mostly 16th - 18th centuries
 unknown millions
 European Sicknesses
4=   Africa, 1981 - 1984 unknown millions Drought
5=   World-wide, 1918 - 19 35 to 100 million
 Influenza pandemic
6=    Europe and beyond, 1347-1350 25 million
 Bubonic plague
7=    China, 1958 - 61 20 million
 Famine
8=    India, 1769 10 million
 Famine
9=    China, 1876 - 1879 9 million
 Drought
10=   Egypt and Syria, 1201 1.1 million
 Earthquake
11=    North Korea, 1995-98 3 million + Famine and Floods
12=     China, 1935 2 million + ?
 Flood
13=    Ireland, 1845 - 48 1 million +
 Famine
14     China, 1942 - 1943 1 million +
 Drought
15=   China, 1887 900,000
 Flood
16=   China, 1556 830,000
 Earthquake
 17=   China, 1976 600,000
 Earthquak


18=   China, 1920 500,000 +
 Drought
19=   Bangladesh, 1970  500,000
 Floods
20=   France, Germany, America, etc., 1870 500,000
 Smallpox
21=    Bangladesh, 1970  500,000
 Floods

22=    Japan, 1923 170,000
 Earthquake
23=    Bangladesh, 1991
 139,000
 Earthquake
24=    Japan, 1730 137,000
 Earthquake

25=    Armenia, 1988
 100,000 +
 Earthquake

natural disasters
street after eartquake

Friday, January 7, 2011

A POWER FULL EARTHQUAKE

Depth       =  10 Km
RMS         =   1.00 sec
Gap         =  63 degrees
95% confidence ellipse: - Semi major = 8.7 Km
                        - Semi minor = 5.6 Km
                        - Azimuth of major axis =  27 degrees
Strong 7.6-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern Asia
Hundreds Killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Oct. 8) - A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the Pakistan-India border Saturday reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and flattened an apartment building, killing hundreds of people in both nations. Pakistan's army called the devastation "a national tragedy."
In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute, and panicked people ran from their homes and offices. Tremors continued for hours afterward. Communications throughout the region were cut.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered the military to extend "all-out help" to quake-hit areas and appealed to the nation to stay calm. Helicopters took troops to damaged areas, but landslides were hindering rescue efforts.
Army soldiers and local volunteers were rescuing people from under the debris of collapsed houses. Telephone lines were down. Bridges had developed cracks, but traffic was passing over them.