Disaster Management

B.tech 7th Sem

Civil Engineering Deptt.

By
Er. Amit Talgotra
Assistant Professor
SSCET, Badhani
 Chapter -2
Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness

In this chapter basically we deal with the

 NATURAL HAZARDS - CAUSES, DISTRIBUTION

PATTERN, CONSEQUENCE, AND MITIGATION
MEASURES

 MAN MADE HAZARD- CAUSES, DISTRIBUTION

PATTERN, CONSEQUENCE, AND MITIGATION
MEASURES
Natural Disaster

 Earthquake- It is the sudden shaking of the earth crust.

The impact of an earthquake is sudden and there is hardly
any warning, making it impossible to predict.

 Cause of Earthquake :

i. Natural forces
ii. Artificial induction
i. Natural Forces

 Tectonic earthquakes

• Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy within some

limited region of the rocks of the Earth.

• The energy can be released by elastic strain, gravity, chemical

reactions, or even the motion of massive bodies.

• Of all these the release of elastic strain is the most important cause,

because this form of energy is the only kind that can be stored in
sufficient quantity in the Earth to produce major disturbances.
Earthquakes associated with this type of energy release are called
tectonic earthquakes.
 Volcanism

• A separate type of earthquake is associated with volcanic activity and is

called a volcanic earthquake.

• Yet it is likely that even in such cases the disturbance is the result of a

sudden slip of rock masses adjacent to the volcano and the consequent

release of elastic strain energy.
• The stored energy, however, may in part be of hydrodynamic origin

due to heat provided by magma moving in reservoirs beneath the

volcano or to the release of gas under pressure.
ii. Artificial induction

Earthquakes are sometimes caused by human activities, including the

large underground nuclear explosions, the excavation of mines, and the
filling of large reservoirs.
 Different types of plate movement

 Divergent - where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each
other.
 Convergent - where the crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another.

 Transformational – where fault crust is neither produced nor destroyed as

the plates slide horizontally past each other.

Distribution pattern of Earthquakes

The seismic zoning map of India is divided into four zones

namely Zone II, III, IV and V, with zone V shown in red
color in figure being most vulnerable to earthquakes.

 Most of India lies in zone III. New Delhi the capital city of
India lie in zone IV where as big cities like Mumbai and
Chennai are in zone III.
Consequences

Physical damage:

• Damage occurs to human settlement, buildings, structures and

infrastructure, especially bridges, elevated roads, railways, water

towers, pipelines, electrical generating facilities. Aftershocks of an
earthquake can cause much greater damage to already weakened
structures.
• Secondary effects include fires, dam failure and landslides which may

block water ways and also cause flooding.

Possible risk reduction measures

 Community preparedness

Community preparedness is vital for mitigating earthquake impact. The most

effective way to save you even in a slightest shaking is 'DROP, COVER and
HOLD'.
• Planning:

The Bureau of Indian Standards has published building codes and guidelines
for safe construction of buildings against earthquakes. Before the buildings
are constructed the building plans have to be checked by the Municipality,
according to the laid down bylaws. Many existing lifeline buildings such as
hospitals, schools and fire stations may not be built with earthquake safety
measures. Their earthquake safety needs to be upgraded by retrofitting
techniques.
 Public education is educating the public on causes and characteristics of an

earthquake and preparedness measures. It can be created through

sensitization and training programme for community, architects, engineers,
builders, masons, teachers, government functionaries teachers and students.

 Engineered structures:

• Buildings need to be designed and constructed as per the building by laws.

• The soil type needs to be analyzed before construction. Building structures

on soft soil should be avoided.

• Similar problems persist in the buildings constructed on the river banks

which have alluvial soil.

 Tsunami

The term Tsunami has been derived from a Japanese

term Tsu meaning 'harbor' and nami meaning 'waves'.
These waves which often originate by rapid
displacement of water from the lake or the sea either
by seismic activity, landslides, volcanic eruptions.
What ever the cause may be sea water is displaced
with a violent motion and swells up, ultimately rolling
over land with great destructive power. The effects of a
tsunami can be unnoticeable or even destructive.
Causes of a Tsunami
The geological movements that cause tsunamis are
produced in three major ways.

i. The most common of these are fault movements on

the sea floor, accom-panied by an earth-quake. They
release huge amount of energy and have the capacity
to cross oceans. The degree of movement depends
on how fast the earthquake occurs and how much
water is displaced. Figure shows how an earthquake
causes tsunami.
Fig : An Earthquake causing Tsunami
ii. The second most common cause of the tsunami is a
landslide either occurring under water or originating
above the sea and then plunging into the water.

iii. The third major cause of tsunami is volcanic activity.

The flank of a volcano located near the shore or under
water may be uplifted or depressed similar to the action
of a fault, or, the volcano may actually explode.
Consequences

It is normally the flooding affect of the tsunami that causes

major destruction to the human settlements, roads and
infrastructure thereby disrupting the normal functioning of
the society.

Withdrawal of the tsunami causes major damage. As the

waves withdraw towards the ocean they sweep out the
foundations of the buildings, the beaches get destroyed and
the houses carried out to sea.
Apart from the physical damage, there is a huge impact on
the public health system. Deaths mainly occur because of
drowning as water inundates homes. Many people get
washed away or crushed by the giant waves and some are
crushed by the debris.

Sewage pipes may be damaged causing major sewage

disposal problems. Open wells and other ground water
may be contaminated by salt water and debris and sewage.

Flooding in the locality may lead to crop loss, loss of

livelihood like boats and nets, environmental degradation
etc.
Distribution pattern of Tsunami in India:

Even though India has not faced frequent Tsunamis but

there is a need to identify the areas that are generally
affected by Tsunamis. The whole of the Indian coastal
belt is prone to Tsunami.
Possible mitigation measures:

Site Planning and Land Management

• site planning determines the location, configuration,
and density of development on particular sites and is,
therefore, an important tool in reducing tsunami risk.

• The designation and zoning of tsunami hazard areas

for such open-space uses as agriculture, parks and
recreation, or natural hazard areas is recommended as
the first land use planning strategy. This strategy is
designed to keep development at a minimum in hazard
areas.
Engineering structures
There is an urgent need to educate the community about
the good construction practices that they should adopt
such as:

Site selection – Avoid building or living in buildings

within several hundred feet of the coastline as these areas
are more likely to experience damage from tsunamis.

Construct the structure on a higher ground level with

respect to mean sea level.
Elevate coastal homes: Most tsunami waves are less than
3 meters in height. Elevating house will help reduce
damage to property from most tsunamis.

Construction of water breakers to reduce the velocity of

waves.

Use of water and corrosion resistant materials for

construction.

Construction of community halls at higher locations,

which can act as shelters at the time of a disaster.
Man-Made Disasters:
With the growth and development of civilization, some
sources of disaster have been added to those of the
natural ones. Such man-made hazards are: Traffic
Accidents, Industrial, Epidemics, and Terrorism. Of
these Fire & Traffic ones are accidents, while others
are incidents.

The Typical Effects: Chemical and Industrial

Incidents
The industrial revolution gave a paradigm shift to human
hopes and aspirations in the search of which man
unintentionally disturbed the very environment of which it
was the part.

 Man accidentally got shifted his existence from eco-

system based to control-system based which happens to be
susceptible to all sorts of human failures.

The eco-system could be disturbed to a limited extent for

which it has its own corrective measures. The man-made
control system, on the other hand, does not have any self-
correcting mechanism and hence any disturbance in the
system leads to disastrous incidents
Bhopal Gas Tragedy was the consequence of such a failure
of control system. And such failures in chemical and
industrial sector do keep happening. The typical effects of
such happenings are:

i) disabilities like blindness, deafness, paralysis and nervous

disorders. In cases like Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the generation
after generation bears the brunt of such incidents.
ii) environmental degradation by polluting air, water and soil
may create disturbances for the whole biological world
iii) human and animal casualties by causing death, inflicting
incurable diseases and disabilities
iv) Skin diseases and disfunctioning of the immune system of
the body.
 The Factors at Risk
In the event of chemical and industrial hazards, the factors
at risk range from elements of nature to human settlement.
It could be because of explosion, gas leak, waste
discharges etc. The major factors at risk are:
women and children, old and differently challenged etc.
land, water and air get polluted and disturb the ecological
balance in a way that human settlements are forced to
move far away.
the impact is not confined to any limited area. Since the
elements of nature are affected, the impact of hazard
spreads its impact through a long distance as well.
some chemical hazards may have term reactions and pass
on its impact through inheritance.
Mitigation Measures
Probability Effects: Chiefly done in a laboratory to test its
effect on human health, air, water, crops, vegetation etc.

Model Exercise: Can be done on computers using

mathematical laws of probability and conducting diffusion
studies.

Real Life Examples: based on such units located elsewhere.

After that, a sort of mitigation measures either to avoid such

incidents or to give compensations to the affected persons
may have to be formulated which may consist of:
Legal liability Framework: holding the management
responsible for the payment of huge compensation to
affected parties or persons
Inventory Mapping: by taking stock of the hazardous
materials and processes involved so that threats could be
assessed and safety measures checked.
Land use Planning: locating the hazardous industries in
isolated place so that agriculture, human settlement, social
and health infrastructure remain at a distance.
Community Preparedness: people in the locality remain
alert, advanced warning, and be advised by the government
agencies