Question:
Natural Disasters
What is a disaster?
There are many definitions of the term from different sources and areas of research.
Use definitions that are helpful in your discussions.
Concentrate on one cause of disaster or one specific event.
It is important to report the exact location and time of the disaster, as well as the effects and magnitude of it.
What were the losses in property and lives?
Discuss the human and environmental factors that could have contributed to the effects of the disaster.
Answer:
A disaster is an unforeseen or catastrophic event that interrupts the daily functioning of communities and societies in a specific area.
It can cause severe damage to the environment, economy, and people, which may be too much for the society or community to handle.
Although most disasters are caused naturally, man-made ones can also occur (Mechler & Bourwer 2015).
There are two main types of disasters: man-made and natural.
Natural disasters include earthquakes, floods hurricanes and tsunamis.
These natural disasters are caused by globalization’s increasing impact.
These are caused by human mistakes.
This could include groundwater contamination and chemical spillage, which can lead to diseases spreading throughout a community or society (Blanchot 2015).
Whitney and Agrawal (2016) claim that the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal was the worst natural disaster to hit the country. It measured 7.8 on Richter scale.
Because the epicenter of the earthquake was in Gorkha, Barpak, it was known as the Gorkha earthquake.
The event’s hypocenter was located at an approximate depth of 8.2 km.
This was the worst calamity to hit Nepal since the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake.
The country experienced a series of aftershocks at regular intervals of 30 minutes. One of these shocks measured at magnitude 6.7 on Richter scale.
The disaster caused avalanches to Mount Everest that killed almost 21 people. Another avalanche was set off in Langtang Valley where 250 people were reported missing.
The earthquake almost killed 9000 people, and there were approximately 50,000 injuries.
The earthquake also made it possible for 3.5 million people to become homeless.
Many historical sites were also damaged by the effects of the disaster, including the destruction of temples within Kathmandu Durbar Square, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In addition to that, 180 people died instantly when the Dharahara tower, which was built in 1832, collapsed.
The Manakamana Temple, which is located in Gorkha district, also fell to several inches.
This also led to the destruction of many heritage sites, including the Pashupatinath Temple (Dhakal and al., 2016).
The disaster had a huge impact on the environment, as it destroyed almost all of the forest resources in 31 areas.
In 14 of the most affected districts, it was estimated that 63.9 billion dollars was lost.
Pine trees and sub-temperate forest types are the most severely affected. They had also suffered from previous deforestation.
The timber from these forests will be used to rebuild the homes of the residents (Whitney & Agrawal 2016, 2016).
Refer to the Reference List
The disaster was written.
U of Nebraska Press.
Analysis of strong ground motions at Kantipath in Kathmandu.
Earth, Planets and Space, (68(1)), 58.
Understanding trends and projections for disaster losses and climate changes: Is vulnerability the missing link?
Climatic Change, 13(1), 23-35.
Ground motion characteristics of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal and its effects on a prototype unreinforced masonry building.
Journal of Structural Engineering 143(4), 04016220.