LAB MANUAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT

JOB NO.01
DISASTER AND ITS CLASSIFICATION
A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread
human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the
affected community or society to cope using its own resources.

In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk.
These risks are the product of a combination of both hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in
areas with low vulnerability will never become disasters, as in the case of uninhabited regions.

Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits more than 95 percent of all
deaths caused by hazards occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural hazards are 20 times
greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Though, all kinds of disaster require more or less similar skill-sets and rescue efforts at least a few days
after the event, it is important to understand various kinds of disasters. Depending upon the actual
nature of disaster, the immediate reaction needs to be different.

Also, the first few moments of disasters are distinctly different for each kind of disasters. Thus,
understanding of each kind of disaster might also help in identifying the onset of a disastrous event,
so that a trained person can undertake some key actions, during the initial few moments. This could
have a major impact on the final outcome in terms of amount of final loss.

1. Natural
2. Man Made
1. Natural

These are primarily natural events. It is possible that certain human activities could maybe aid in some
of these events, but, by and large, these are mostly natural events.

Earthquakes
Volcanos
Floods
Tornadoes, Typhoons, Cyclones
2. Man Made

These are mostly caused due to certain human activities.

The disasters themselves could be unintentional, but, are caused due to some intentional activity.
Most of these (barring coordinated terrorist activities) are due to certain accidents which could have
been prevented insufficient precautionary measures were put in place.

Nuclear Leaks
Chemical Leaks/Spill over
Terrorist Activities
Structural Collapse

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EARTHQUAKES:
What Is an Earthquake?

Earthquakes refer to shaking of earth. There is continuous activity going on below the surface of the
earth. There are several large plates (size of continents) below the surface of the earth, which move
(at a very slow speed). As a part of this movement, sometimes, they collide against each other. And,
after the collision, they might still continue to push each other. As they continually keep pushing each
other, there is a pressure building up across these plates below the surface. And, then, at a certain
time, one of the plates might slide over another. This causes an earthquake.

Some earthquakes might be caused by activity above the surface. For example in a mountainous
region, there might be a heavy landslide. Due to a huge mass of land falling, at the point of the fall,
there could be a minor shaking of earth, due the impact of fall. However, usually, such earthquakes
are not very major.

Classifying an Earthquake
The impact of an earthquake (at any location) is characterized by two primary characteristics:

Intensity

This measures the magnitude of the event. Higher is the value, the bigger is the magnitude. The most
common scale used for measuring an earthquake is Richter

Scale. It should be understood that Richter scale is a logarithmic scale. What this means is an
earthquake measuring 6.0 is 10 times more powerful than an earthquake measuring 5.0

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Epicenter

This denotes the exact location, where the earthquake originated. The deeper it is inside the earth,
the lower will be the impact on the surface where human beings reside.

Some Recent Earthquakes

Some of the earthquakes in recent times have been (not in any particular order):

1. El Salvador In 2001 Magnitude: 7.7

2. S. Peru In 2001 Magnitude 7.9
3. Algeria In 2003 Magnitude 6.8
4. Indonesia: In 2004 Magnitude 9.0
5. Pakistan In 2005 Magnitude 7.6 69,000-72000 deaths and Millions of IDPs
6. China Sichuan Province In May 2008 Magnitude 8.1 More than 68,000 dead, and, 3,50, 000
injured

Fault Lines and Earthquakes

Usually, areas around fault lines are more prone to earthquakes.

Some of the major fault lines are around:

1. Italy (hit in 1980 magnitude: 7.2)

2. Hayward, San Francisco in California (hit in 1906 at San Francisco Magnitude: 7.8 and again
in 1989 at Loma Preita Magnitude: 6.9)
3. Himalayan region (hit several times since 1999, at various places spanning across Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India etc.)

NATURE OF LOSSES AND DAMAGES

The most common kinds of loss that are caused by an earthquake (depending on the severity) are:

1. Damage to structures

Causing partial or total collapse, damage to road and rail network, damage to utility carriers etc.

2. Sea activity

Water level in the sea could rise suddenly, causing very high waves, several meters in height, which
could then flood the coastal areas. These could give rise to tsunamis, causing damage to coastal areas.

3. Landslide

As earth shakes, in mountainous regions, huge chunks of land could fall/slide onto lower regions of
the mountains. This could have several impacts, including: changed topography, blocked roadways,
damage to anything that comes in the way of the landslide, massive damage to the structure which
sits on the piece of sliding land and massing damage to the houses and roads where the piece of
land finally lands. The landslide could also trigger another set of minor earthquakes.

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4. Aftershocks
Earthquakes are also characterized by aftershocks. After any major seismic activity below the earth,
the new order might take a while to finally settle down.

During this time, there might be some more activity below the earth (sort of adjusting of the new
positions for the various plates, layers etc.) These activities result in several more earthquakes. These
are called, aftershocks. Typically, Aftershocks are much smaller in magnitude, however, some
times, one of the aftershocks could be more severe than the main earthquake. Also, aftershocks
could strike up to several days after the main event.

Immediate Injuries

During an earthquake, there are many ways by which one can get hurt (many times, fatally)

People inside buildings could get hurt (even critically) by fall of objects/walls/ceilings
People outside the buildings could get hurt by falling debris from damaged buildings, glasses
etc.
People traveling could get hurt by their vehicles falling off the tracks, bridges, material falling
from overhead bridges etc.
People could get electrocuted by snapped electrical wires
People could get washed away by floods caused due to tsunamis, breaches in dams etc.

Floods
Floods refer to huge amount of water reaching land in a short span of time, causing land surface to be
submerged under water at places, where, land surface is usually not covered with water.

Floods could be caused due to natural causes, or, human activities, or, a combination of both. Floods
are caused by discharge of huge volume of water in a short span of time, at a rate, such that the water
cannot be carried away from the scene of discharge.

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Some of the possible reasons for such huge discharge of water could be:

A. very heavy rainfall (say: due to cyclones, typhoons etc.) in a short span of time. It should be noted
that the amount of rainfall itself is not a sufficient cause, the duration within which the rainfall is
receive is equally important contributor

B. breach in levy, dams etc.

C. very high tidal waves (sometimes in the aftermath of a seismic activity, e.g. earthquakes) etc. also
called tsunamis

Flood Prone Areas

The areas, which are prone to flood risks are:

A. Places, which have a history of flooding (most important)

B. Area receiving heavy rainfall, with not much naturally sloping landscape
C. Areas at the lower levels of naturally sloping landscape where, the higher areas are receiving
heavy rainfall
D. areas around sea-coasts, or , river banks
E. Areas downstream of dams etc. As water level upstream of dams might rise, the dam
authorities might be forced to release water (to safeguard the dam) which might cause
flooding of downstream areas
F. Areas on the other side of levies (in case, the levy gets breached)
G. Low-lying areas (say: foot of an overbridged etc.)

Loss due to Flooding

The most common kinds of loss that are caused during flooding include:

a. Lack of water: Its an irony, that a disaster which mean water everywhere, results in lack of
water to drink and sanitation. Lack of proper drinking water and sanitation causes
widespread outbreak of diseases.

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b. Lack of food: Most of the food items get damaged, causing a severe shortage of food. This
shortage could be for the food to be consumed in the near future, or , even standing crops
could be damaged, causing long- term food shortage.
c. Lack of utilities: Utility services might have to be turned off, for the fear of electrocution, as,
there is water everywhere.
d. Widespread damage to structure
e. Drowning: People, livestock, goods etc. might get drowned.
f. Snakes and other creatures: Some of the dangerous creatures which usually stay
underground would be forced to come up, as their natural habitat becomes unlivable. These
could prove dangerous to human beings and cattle.
g. Submerging of vehicles and other equipment vehicles and other equipment might get
permanently damaged as they remain submerged under water for prolonged duration.

Because of wide-spread impact of such floods, the suffering could be long drawn, besides the
immediate impact as mentioned above.

Prevention of Flood
Sometimes, it might not be possible to prevent a flood, even if we know that its about to get
flooded. However, there are certain actions that can be taken to reduce the impact significantly, or,
to reduce the possibility of flooding:

a. The first step is to keep the drainage system clean. This allows water to be carried down very
fast. Choked drains cause a significant reduction in the ability and speed of the water to be
drained away. In most situations of urban flooding this is a major cause. The drains might
get choked due to throwing of solid wastes inside storm drains. These solid wastes might
include construction material, plastics, paper etc. This is a clear example, how human activity
can amplify the process of flooding. Drains might also get choked due to falling tree leaves
etc.
b. General clean-up of streets is also important. As rain- water falls down the street, it rushes
into the storm drains. If the streets are not clean, the rain water trying to go into the drain
carries solid wastes into the drain with itself, which then obstructs the flow of water by the
drainage system.
c. Rain water harvesting system: As more rain-water tries to flow down the drains, it puts that
much more stress on the drainage system. Instead, if there are several rain- water harvesting
systems, the rainfall falling in that much area would try to go to the sub-soil of the region
locally, rather than straining the drainage system. Lower is the amount of water trying to go
through the drainage system, the easier it is for the drainage system to drain off the water.
d. Desilting: The drains should be desilted before the onset of the rainy season. This prevents
the drains from getting choked. And, it also increases the holding capacity of the drain, as,
accumulated silt prevents that much more water from being accumulated in the drains.
e. Inspection and repair of dams, levees, embankments etc. Before the onset of seasons causing
accumulation and/or carrying of heavy volume of water (such as rainy season), these
structures should be thoroughly inspected for possible weak spots, and, these should be
repaired.
f. Afforestation: Forestation helps in binding the loose soil. The most major impact of this is, as
flood-water races through, it might take loose soil with it. This loose soil will now choke the
drains, as well as water harvesting systems, thus, rendering both of these as ineffective.

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Volcanos
Volcanoes refer to eruption of hot molten lava from below the surface of the earth. As plates
move away from each other, at certain places, the surface might get stretched and thinner. In
such a situation, the hot molten lava and gaseous substances below this thinned surface could
open up a fissure and come out.

Typically, these eruptions are always accompanied by discharge of huge amount of gaseous
substances, which are various compounds of high toxicity. All eruptions (gaseous or liquid) from a
volcano is at high temperature, and, the mouth of a volcano might look like, as if its spewing fire.
The area around Pacific Ocean is characterized by higher volcanic activity. In fact, the entire rim
along the Pacific Ocean is called as the Ring Of Fire, because of volcanic activity along this zone.

There are a lot of volcanic activities taking place on a continuous basis, across the globe, however,
not all of these are serious enough to be termed as disasters. In fact, for most of these just a
moderate level of precaution might be sufficient.

Some of the most damaging volcanic activities of the past have been:

1. Mount Pinatubo in Philippines (1991-96)

2. Rabaul in Papua NewGuinea (1994)
3. Lake Nyos in Cameroon (1986)
4. Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia (1985)
5. El Chichon in Mexico (1982)

Some of the deadliest volcanoes based upon the book "Volcanic Hazards: A Sourcebook on the
Effects of Eruptions by Russell J. Blong (Academic Press, 1984)" are listed below.

Country Year Deaths

Indonesia 1815 92000
Indonesia 1843 36417
Colombia 1985 25000
Japan 1792 14300
Iceland 1783 9350

Volcanoes are classified as Active, Dormant and Extinct.

Active volcanoes means those which are showing activity at this time.
Dormant volcanoes those which are not showing any activity at this time, but, could show
activity at any time.
Extinct volcanoes are those which were active at some time, but, have ceased volcanic
eruptions now.

Usually, most volcanoes do not result in any major disaster, and, people around areas of low volcanic
activity have learnt to live with the volcanic activity. However, some of the volcanic eruptions which
turn into disaster cause a very high number of fatalities, e.g. volcanic activity in Colombia in 1985
caused more than 23,000 deaths. Besides, more often than not, volcanoes themselves might not cause
any direct deaths, but, the post volcanic complications cause more deaths. In such cases, the exact
number of fatalities attributable to volcanoes cannot be known for several years after the event.

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Volcanoes themselves might not appear to be a big disaster, but, they cause several complications.
Because of activities below the surface of the earth, including discharge of a huge amount of material,
its possible that volcanic eruptions could be accompanied by earthquakes.

Volcanic activity in sea could cause triggering of

Tsunamis.

o Because of discharge of very high quantity of toxic material onto the landscape, sources of
water like lakes/rivers etc. could get poisoned, thereby severely disrupting the water supply.
Also, the change in water composition could impact the aquatic organisms also. Thus, overall
ecosystem of the water body is misbalanced, thus, impacting the water quality.

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o Because of discharge of high amount of toxic gases in the atmosphere the air could become
highly difficult to breathe. Release of several gases including oxides, sulfides, aerosols etc.
changes the atmospheric mix of the area. These in turn can give rise to:
Acid rain
Discharge of aerosols into the atmosphere alters the filtering impact of the
atmosphere for Sun s radiation as well as for heat from the earth getting radiated
back into the space. This can change the temperature of the area.
o Molten lava coming out of a volcano could reach temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius,
thus, incarnating anything that comes in its way.
o Structural damages: Lava flowing down at such a high temperature could cause structural
damages
o Landslide: As lava flows down, it gets solidified, and, modifies the landscape. However,
sometimes a fresh layer of lava at high temperature could destabilize the earlier solidified
layer, and, that layer could simply slide off causing a landslide. Lack of drinking water and
breathable air causes people to migrate from their existing place of living to other places,
thereby causing situations of migration, refugees. Besides, being emotionally distressful, there
are severe kinds of physical stress and strain also associated with migration activities. And
then, the resources at the destination side are also stretched beyond their normal capacity.

So, effectively, a volcanic activity could cause damage and loss of life due to one or more of the
following:

o Contact with high temperature lava

o Earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides etc.
o Poisoning of air and water
o Change in radiation levels and or toxic levels, impacting vegetation cover etc
o Post activity starvation
o Diseases etc. due to lack of proper sanitation facilities in relief camps etc. in case large scale
exodus is involved.

Droughts:
Drought is an insidious phenomenon. Unlike rapid onset disasters, it tightens its grip over time,
gradually destroying an area. In severe cases, drought can last for many years and have a devastating
effect on agriculture and water supplies. Drought is defined as a deficiency of rainfall over an extended
period a season, a year or several years relative to the statistical multi- year average for the region.
Lack of rainfall leads to inadequate water supply for plants, animals and human beings. A drought may
result in other disasters: food insecurity, famine, malnutrition, epidemics and displacement of
populations. Rural communities can sometimes cope with one or two successive rain failures and crop
or livestock losses. The situation becomes an emergency when people have exhausted all their
purchasing resources, food stocks, assets and normal coping mechanisms.

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Subsequent disasters caused by droughts

Desertification

Desertification is the process by which productive or habitable land becomes gradually more arid and
less capable of sustaining vegetation, eventually turning into desert. It is often a cause of long-term
disasters.

Crop failure, food shortages, malnutrition and famine

Food shortages result from an abnormal reduction in crop yield, such that it is insufficient to meet the
nutritional or economic needs of the community. Drought induced food shortages mean many people,
in particular pregnant and lactating women, infants and children, lack a sufficient balance of nutrients
for health and well-being. Famine is a catastrophic food shortage affecting large numbers of people,
brought on by climatic, environmental or socio-economic factors. Famine may lead to widespread
death, disease and displacement.

Epidemics

In turn, poor nutrition lowers people's resistance to disease and increases the risk of outbreaks of
preventable diseases. Water shortages, which force people to use unsafe water, favour the spread of
water-borne diseases.

Population displacement

Food security problems may prompt people to move to other areas. For example, rural populations
may migrate to the outskirts of towns in search of better conditions. Or else, large settlements of
displaced people may form, increasing the likelihood of outbreaks of disease.

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Complex emergencies/conflicts Mass migration from drought- affected areas can provoke tensions in
host communities by creating competition for scarce natural resources, such as land or water.

Epidemics:
An epidemic is then unusual increase in the number of cases of an infectious disease which already
exists in a certain region or population. It can also refer to the appearance of a significant number of
cases of an infectious disease in a region or population that is usually free from that disease.

Epidemics may be the consequence of disasters of another kind, such as tropical storms, floods,
earthquakes, droughts, etc. Epidemics may also attack animals, causing local economic disasters.

Avian flu

Avian influenza (AI) is a viral infection primarily affecting birds (chickens, ducks, geese etc., both
domestic and migratory species), but also sometimes other species such as pigs and tigers. Rarely, bird
flu can cause severe infections in humans. There are many different strains or varieties of AI viruses.

They are a sub-group of influenza viruses, which includes the flu virus that causes seasonal outbreaks
in humans around the world every year.

Cholera

Cholera is mainly spread by drinking water contaminated by faces. The fatality rate for severe,
untreated cases is 50 percent When treated this drops to one per cent.

The incubation period is 1-12 days and severe cases need hospitalization. Less severe cases can be
treated with rehydration therapy on an outpatient basis. Only 10 per cent of those infected present
symptoms. Key control factors are: ensuring a safe water supply and rigorous hygiene (hand washing
and disposal of soiled items).

Dengue fever

Dengue or break bone fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are transmitted by "day biter" mosquitoes.
Dengue fever is rarely fatal The hemorrhagic variety, if untreated, can result in a 4050 per cent
mortality rate. With hospital care and fluid therapy, this can be brought to below five per cent.

No vaccine or specific treatment is available. Epidemic control measures comprise mosquito

destruction and elimination of breeding sites and the use of mosquito repellents by exposed persons.

Ebola and Marburg

Two distinct viral diseases with similar symptoms. Both have a high fatality rate (up to 90 per cent for
Ebola) and are extremely contagious - transmission is through contact with all body fluids and organs,
use of contaminated needles and syringes, and the aerosol route.

Extraordinary precautions should be taken to prevent contamination of all those involved in assisting
patients. The reservoir of the two viruses is unknown.

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Malaria

Malaria is transmitted by the bite of the anopheles mosquito, a dusk to dawn biter. Where the disease
is endemic, the local population has some degree of immunity. The people at greatest risk are those
from a no malarial area, such as IDPs or refugees. They can be protected by a weekly dose of a malaria
suppressive drug. Of the four types of malaria, falciparum can be rapidly fatal and needs prompt
treatment. Treatment is by orally administered drugs. Control measures include the spraying, filling
or draining of standing water where mosquitos breed, the spraying of living and sleeping quarters and
the use of bed nets. Quarantine is unnecessary, as is the immunization of contacts. An immunization
coverage of less than 90 per cent means a major risk of outbreaks.

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Most Fatal Epidemic Attack in World:

Death toll
Location Date Article Disease
(estimate)

1899
>>800,000 Europe, Asia, Africa sixth cholera pandemic Cholera
1923

1918
75,000,000 worldwide 1918 flu pandemic Influenza
1920

52 India 1994 1994 plague epidemic in Surat Plague

5 Netherlands 1971 Staphorst, Elspeet and Uddel Poliomyelitis

1910 bubonic
40,000 China Harbin, Shenyang
1912 plague

1972 outbreak of smallpox in

35 Yugoslavia 1972 smallpox
Yugoslavia

1957
2,000,000 worldwide Asian flu influenza
1958

15,000 India 1974 1974 smallpox epidemic of India smallpox

1900 bubonic
113 San Francisco Third plague pandemic
1904 plague

1968
1,000,000 worldwide Hong Kong flu influenza
1969

Avalanche:
An avalanche (also called a snowslide or snowslip) is a rapid flow of snow down a sloping surface.
Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack (slab
avalanche) when the forces on the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradually
widening (loose snow avalanche). After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in
mass and volume as they entrain more snow. If the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow
may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current.

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Slides of rocks or debris, behaving in a similar way to snow, are also referred to as avalanches
(see rockslide). The remainder of this article refers to snow avalanches.

Tornadoes, Typhoons, Cyclones

These are winds of high speed, many times accompanied by heavy rainfall. These cause structural
damage, snapped overhead wires, and, possibility of floods.

Because of damage to structure and overhead wires, utility services could be disrupted. Heavy rainfall
could cause flooding also.

In most cases, the preventive measure would include:

Moving into places which are safer , e.g. buildings which are structurally sound, and, are not
prone to flooding
Not venturing out to sea etc for sports, fishing etc

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Chemical Leaks/Spill Over

As the world is making rapid advancements in the field of industrialization, there are huge chemicals
plants dealing with all kinds of chemicals. Some of these chemical plants deal with seemingly simple
(non-hazardous) chemicals, while, some other chemicals could be dealing with hazardous materials.

Risks associated with chemicals and chemical industries include:

Risks due to blast of certain equipments involved in large chemical plants, e.g. boiler etc.

Risks due to leakage of chemicals wherever they are stored/transported/used in small quantities etc.

Sometimes, seemingly harmless chemicals can also turn out to be hazardous, after they come in
contact with other chemicals.

Depending upon the toxicity of the material involved, the most common kinds of problems that might
be caused due to a chemical leak/plant accident might include:

a. Blast and explosion

b. Irritation to eyes, throats etc.
c. Pollution and/or poisoning of air, water bodies etc.
d. Impact on vegetation and animals (including fishes in water bodies)
e. Difficulty in breathing etc.
f. Fumes
g. Heat and/or fire etc.

Usually, chemical plants employ certain bare minimum safety measures. The amount of safety
measures employed by Chemical plants is a function of:

a. Risk and hazard associated with the specific chemical plants

b. Local laws and regulations
c. Vigilance level of local community
d. Technical competence of the plant managers
e. The companys own standard of ethics vs. short-term profitability decisions etc.

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Usually, minor incidents of chemical discharges/leaks leading to irritation, coughing etc. are reported
almost on a daily basis.

However, once in a while, mass scale poisonings have also been witnessed. The most notoriously
known incident is of- course Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Some of the other major incidents involving chemical
units include:

Contamination of the Songhua River in China following an explosion at the Jilin Chemical
Industrial Company plant in Novement 2005.
Gasoline pipeline explosion at Ihado in Nigeria in May 2006
Explosion at Azote de France (AZF) factory near Toulouse, France which released Ammonium
Nitrate in September 2001

Nuclear Leaks
These days, nuclear technology is used in several applications.

Some of these include: medicinal, power and of course military. Out of these, nuclear energy based
power is getting popular. In any case, because of growth in applications, based on nuclear technology,
there are several nuclear installations being found at industrial scale.

In general, nuclear installations are highly sophisticated, and, have lots of control measures in place
to prevent any major hazard. Still, its a fact that in spite of all these sophistications etc. accidents
could still occur. The problem with nuclear accidents is though, less frequent (due to high degree of
sophistication and control measures), but, once an accident occurs, the impact is severe.

Some of the worst known nuclear accidents have been at:

A. Three Mile Island, near H Harrisburg Pennsylvania, USA in 1979

B. Chernobyl (in current Ukraine), in (then) USSR, in 1986 besides, once in a while, smaller incidents
of minor amounts of leaks get reported from around the world.

You should be prepared for nuclear accidents/disasters, if you stay in an area, which has some nuclear
reactor/setup around it.

The problem with accidents/leaks with nuclear installation is that radioactive material might get
discharged into the environment. This radioactive material could then enter human bodies. The
primary ways for these radioactive materials to enter human bodies is:

a. through breathing of contaminated air

b. Through eating of contaminated food (including livestock animals which might have
inhaled/eaten contaminated air/food) including milk from a cow which has grazed on
contaminated grass!!
c. Through drinking of contaminated water
d. Through pores of skin etc which might be in contact with contaminated air or water. This is
very small small enough to be considered as negligible.

Precautions to prevent from nuclear leaks:

First of all, stay indoors (unless, specifically asked to evacuate). By staying indoors, you are
trying to reduce the level of your exposure to radio-active material.
Similarly, bring your pets and livestock indoors/their stalls.
Prepare for possible evacuation

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Arrange for iodine tablets

Do not consume freshly harvested food products because, it might have been contaminated
Do not use water which was outside, as it might have been contaminated

Nuclear Explosion/War:
A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-
speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage
cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device
to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device.

Atmospheric nuclear explosions are associated with mushroom clouds, although mushroom clouds
can occur with large chemical explosions, and it is possible to have an air-burst nuclear explosion
without these clouds. Nuclear explosions produce radiation and radioactive debris.

Any nuclear explosion (or nuclear war) would have wide-ranging, long-term, catastrophic effects that
could threaten the survival of humankind. Radioactive contamination would cause genetic
mutations and cancer across many generations.

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On August 6, the U.S. dropped a uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima. American
President Harry S. Truman called for Japan's surrender 16 hours later, warning them to "expect a rain
of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Three days later, on August
9, the U.S. dropped a plutonium implosion-type bomb (Fat Man) on Nagasaki. Within the first two to
four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000146,000 people
in Hiroshima and 39,00080,000 in Nagasaki

Structural Damage
Structural damages come under two major categories:

1. Large Scale damage to structures. These are typically caused due to some other primary disaster

Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Flooding
Tornadoes
Tsunamis
a) These are the real disasters due to the number of lives involved.
b) Damage to individual buildings/structures. These are relatively minor problems, and, in most cases
have a high degree of predictability.

In most major disasters, large scale damage to structure plays a major role in causing immense
sufferings and/or deaths. The chain of events from the primary disaster to the large scale damage
could take a different path in each individual event, but, once it reaches the stage of large scale
structural damage, everything goes haywire.

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While, there is too much loss instantaneously, what makes the situation worse is:

With roads, rails, airports damaged, the total transportation system comes to a collapse.
Hence, it takes several days for relief teams to arrive.
With damage everywhere and, too many people who are injured, medical facilities fall in
major short supply. This refers to both space in hospital, availability of trained medical
personnel, medical equipments, medicines etc.
With collapse of utility carriers, there is no provision no electricity, no water, no food.
Communications infrastructure fails
All these situations could last for several days.

After the deaths due to immediate impact, during the next few days, many more people could die of:

hunger
cold
epidemic
sheer lack of medical attention
shock and trauma

All these cause loss of too many lives.

Thus, in such cases, for survival, one has to take following precautions:

Prevent any injury due to the immediate impact. This is mostly a function of how alert you are, and,
how prepared you are when the event occurs. Since these are not primary events, you should
generally be aware of the nature of disaster that your area is prone to. And, you should be able to

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recognize the onset of this primary event. Follow the safety precautions for that primary event. In
general, protect yourself from falling objects.

Having survived the immediate impact, survive on your own for next several days. This can happen
only if you are prepared in advance. If you are well-prepared, it should be possible to survive on your
own for a few days on your own till the situation starts limping back to normal.

Terrorist Activities
Terrorist activities were traditionally not considered as disasters. However, during the last few years,
terrorist activities have become more sophisticated in terms of the amount of detonating power on
one side, and, the degree of coordination through which these are done, e.g. Several explosions are
done almost simultaneously thereby leaving the law enforcement agencies and rescue operations
in total confusion and disarray .

Generally, large scale terrorist activities can be prevented only through timely collection and analysis
of intelligence data. The only precaution that general population can take is to remain observant of
their surroundings, and, report any suspicious activity to the law-enforcement agency.

Generally, the following should be considered as signs of suspicion. For example

Some body not dressed appropriately for the occasion, e.g. somebody coming to be on a long drive
but wearing heavy clothing, e.g. jackets etc. Oklahoma

Bomb Blast (1995) culprit was caught due to this an outsider, but, trying to mix in etc.

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