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Morbidity and Mortality Associated with Disasters

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Book cover Handbook of Disaster Research

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

Disasters disrupt the natural, built, and social environments, affecting communities and the people within them. Disasters can be triggered by climatic, geophysical, technological, or human-initiated events, or a combination of these. Their impact on the health of a community can be immediate or delayed, and changes in health status may be attributable to the original event or result from events subsequent to the disaster. Deaths, injuries, and other health outcomes of a disaster are usually caused by the destruction of the built infrastructure. In the absence of people living in built communities, disasters do not occur.

The authors thank Elizabeth Tornquist for her rapid editorial assistance. While Linda Bourque took the lead on this chapter, the four authors were equal partners in assembling the information and writing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, Southern California Injury Prevention Center, Center for Public Health and Disasters, University of California, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Linda B. Bourque & Megumi Kano

  2. Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Judith M. Siegel & Michele M. Wood

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  1. Linda B. Bourque
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  2. Judith M. Siegel
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  3. Megumi Kano
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  4. Michele M. Wood
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Bourque, L.B., Siegel, J.M., Kano, M., Wood, M.M. (2007). Morbidity and Mortality Associated with Disasters. In: Handbook of Disaster Research. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_6

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