Natural Disasters in the Mediterranean (1900–2001): From Disaster Response to Preparedness

See: Beck 1986, 1992, 1999; Bernstein 2002; Kasperson/Kasperson/Turner 1995; Kasperson/Kasperson 2001; Slovic 2000; Wuketis 2001.Google Scholar

See for recent surveys of the state of the art and for extensive bibliographies: Plate/Merz 2001 and Keith Smith 2001; Aptekar 1994; Abramovitz 2001; for the special case of fire hazards see: Crutzen/Goldammer 1993; Goldammer 1990; Goldammer/Jenkins 1990, Goldammer (ch. 50); Pyne 2001.Google Scholar

See at: <http://www.dkkv.org> and for their extensive publications at: <http://www.dkkv.org/ver/start.sp>.

See for details on the Centre for Natural Risks and Development at the universities of Bonn and Bayreuth, see: at: <http://www.zeneb.de> that provides a list of extensive links to international scientific, humanitarian and political efforts.

Surveys can be found on the link pages of the international institutions referred to in 49.7 below, including at: <http://www.proventionconsortium.org/membership.htm> and at: <http://www.nato.int/eadrcc/links.htm>.

For_details and extensive documents see at: <http://www.unisdr.org> with extensive links to global efforts.

United Nations, Department of Humanitarian Affairs: Internationally agreed glossary of basic terms related to Disaster Management (Geneva: DHA, December 1992), at: <http://www.unisdr.org/unisdr/glossaire.htm>.

While both tables rely on the EM-DAT database, a major difference in both tables refers to data on Syria.Google Scholar

See Brauch 2002, 2002a with details on the flash food in Algeria.Google Scholar

“Blutige Bilanz in Marokko. 150 Tote bei den Revolten/Neue Streiks angekündigt”, in: Frankfurter Rundschau, 23 January 1984; “Polizei und Armee kontrollieren Marokko. Hungerrevolte brutal unterdrückt/Die Presse darf nicht berichten”, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung; 25 January 1984; “Bei den Rif-Kabylen ist der Haß auf König Hassan noch gewachsen. Razzien im Norden Marokkos/Oppositionelle geflüchtet”, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26 January 1984; “Massenfestnahmen gemeldet”, in: Frankfurter Kundschau, 3 February 1984.Google Scholar

Werner Herzog: “Lebensmittel sind für das Volk unerschwinglich. Beim Generalstreik in Marokko entlud sich der Zorn über die Misere”, in: Frankfurter Rundschau, 19 December 1990.Google Scholar

These environmentally-induced events (drought/famine) were not listed in the KOSIMO database (ch. 3 Pfetsch and in the other conflict databases reviewed in ch. 2 by Brauch).Google Scholar

The_author is grateful to Mr. Wolfgang Kron of Munich Re for making the MRNatCat Service available.Google Scholar

During 2002–2003, the Inter-Agency Task Force was chaired by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, with the director of the ISDR Secretariat acting as secretary. Among its members were UN agencies, organisations and programmes (FAO, ITU, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UN/HABITAT, WFP, WHO, WMO and the World Bank)m regional entities (African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand; Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRC), Kobe, Japan; Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Interstate Council; Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France; Ibero-American Association of Civil Defence and Civil Protection; Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, DC, USA; and the South Pacific Applied Geo-science Commission (SOPAC), Suva, Fiji); and these civil society organisations (Drought Monitoring Centre (DMC), Nairobi, Kenya; Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), Freiburg, Germany; International Council for Science (ICSU), Paris, France; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Geneva, Switzerland; and Munich Reinsurance.Google Scholar

For details of the work of the IATF see at: <http://www.unisdr.org/unisdr/task.htm>, and for its working groups at: <http://www.unisdr.org/unisdr/WGroups.htm>.

See at: <http://www.worldbank.org/dmf/operations.htm>.

For details see at: http://www.worldbank.org/dmf/.

See for details at: http://www.proventionconsortium.org/index.htm. Among the ProVention partners are: African Development Bank; Asian Development Bank; Asian Disaster Preparedness Center; Asian Disaster Reduction Center, Japan; Cemex; Cenapred Mexico; Center for Earth Science Information Research, University of Stanford; Colombia Earth Institute, University of Columbia; Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Center, Japan; Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI); Federal Emergency Management Agency; Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC); Grameen Bank; Inter-American Development Bank; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; International Strategy for Disaster Reduction; Lloyd’s; Middle Eastern Technical University, Turkey; Ministry of Construction, Japan; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan; Munich Re Group; National Research Council; National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Japan; Organization of American States; Pan-American Health Organization; Royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Norway; Southwest Research Institute; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Renaissance Re Insurances; Swiss Re Reinsurer; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; United Nations Environmental Programme; University of Kyoto, Japan; University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School; University of Colorado, Natural Hazards Center; Voice; World Conservation Union; World Food Programme; World Institute for Disaster Risk Management; and the World Meteorological Organization.

See at: <http://www.proventionconsortium.org/objectives.htm>.

See: <http://www.proventionconsortium.org/projects.htm>.

See at: <http://www.unep.org/DEPI/frameworkstrate-gyb.htm/DEPI/frameworkstrate-gyb.htm>.

See at: <http://www.unep.org/DEPI/frameworkstrategyd.htm>.

See at: <http://www.undp.org/erd/disred/index.htm>.

Effective 1 March 1998, the Disaster Management Training Programme (DMTP) came under the management of UNDP as part of the Secretary-General’s programme reform which transferred responsibility for disaster mitigation, prevention and preparedness from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) to UNDP. DMTP has since been fully integrated into the Disaster Management Programme (DMP) of UNDP based in Geneva. The DMTP provides country-specific training programmes for national government and non-governmental institutions and agencies in various areas of emergency management and disaster mitigation, prevention and preparedness. The DMTP also provides training for in-country UN system Disaster Management Teams. As much as possible, DMTP provides training within a framework of national capacity building/strengthening programming in disaster management.Google Scholar

See: ZENEB: “Bericht zum deutschen Beitrag für den World Vulnerability Report des UNDP”, erstellt von ZENEB mit Unterstützung des Auswärtigen Amtes (Bonn-Bayreuth: Februar 2002). This report may be downloaded at: <http://www.giub.uni-bonn.de/zeneb/akt/vuln.html>.Google Scholar

See at: <http://www.nato.int/eadrcc/home.htm>.

See at: <http://www.nato.int/eadrcc/sop/sop.htm>. “A small Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre has been established at NATO Headquarters.... The EADRCC is responsible for coordinating the response of EAPC Countries to a disaster occurring within the EAPC geographical area in close consultation with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA). The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Unit (EADRU) will be a non-standing, multinational mix of national civil and military elements (qualified personnel of rescue, medical and other units, equipment and materials, assets and transport) which are volunteered by EAPC Countries. The EADRU can be deployed in case of a major natural or technological disaster in an EAPC Country upon request from the stricken country or in support of a relevant international organization.... In exceptional circumstances, should there be a request for assistance for a stricken non-EAPC country, political guidance will be obtained as a matter of urgency before initiating any disaster response via the EADRCC.... National action in this area will be supplemented by measures of international activity in order to exercise the various elements of the EADRU in working together. To enhance cooperation and synergy, UN-developed programmes and projects covering procedures on mission guidelines, regulations, training and exercises, etc. shall be taken into account.”

See for details at: <http://europa.eu.int/comm/environ-ment/civil/prote/cpoi_en.htm/comm/environ-ment/civil/prote/cpoi_en.htm>, updated: 23 July 2002.

For the official texts see at: <http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/civil/prote/cp02_en.htm>.

For details see at: <http://europa.eu.int/comm/envi-ronment/civil/prote/cp03_en.htm/comm/envi-ronment/civil/prote/cp03_en.htm>.

For details see at: <http://europa.eu.int/comm/envi-ronment/civil/prote/cpactiv/cpmaj01.htm/comm/envi-ronment/civil/prote/cpactiv/cpmaj01.htm>.

For details see at: <http://nedies.jrc.it/f_home.htm>.

For details see at: <http://nedies.jrc.it/pag_reportsis-sued.asp/pag_reportsis-sued.asp>.

For details see at: <http://nedies.jrc.it/f_home.htm>.

See at: <http://www.gdin-international.org/whats_GDIN.html> and at: <http://www.eu-medin.org/index.php>.

See at: <http://www.gdin-international.org/wg/regmed.html>

See at: <http://earth.esa.int/applications/dm/disman/>.

Its instruments are: Very broad band seismometer, three components Station Sites: Because of the choice of instrumentation... priority was given to... seismically quiet and thermally stable sites. In many areas it was possible to identify, for instance, abandoned mining zones or tunnels in remote regions — a situation particularly difficult for logistics, which called for instance for power supply on solar systems and did not permit telephone connections. Data are recorded continuously on magnetic tapes. Even though the contributions of MEDNET data are important for the study of earthquake sources in the region, in the original plan there was no design for rapid data transfer.... This situation is changing now, and more importance has been given to the possibility of rapid data retrieval from dial-up connections or satellite telemetry.Google Scholar

See at: <http://www.europarisks.coe.int/objectives.htm>.

See at: <http://www.europarisks.coe.int/eaecep.htm>.

As soon as the person responsible for the European Warning System is informed of the occurrence of an earthquake, he triggers the system addressing two types of messages: A first message is addressed to the country affected, requesting additional information on the situation in the country as well as its decision on a request for aid from the other member States and the institutions participating in the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement. On the basis of the response of the affected country, the person responsible for the European Warning System (SAE) immediately sends the information to the member States... and to the institutions participating in the Agreement. A second message giving technical data on the earthquake is addressed to the member States and to the institutions participating in the Agreement.Google Scholar

See at: <http://www.europarisks.coe.int/centers.htm>.

See at: <http://www.unesco.org/science/earthscien-ces/disaster/disasterRELEMR.htm/science/earthscien-ces/disaster/disasterRELEMR.htm>. The programme pursues five goals: 1. Seismotectonic framework studies using geological, geophysical, geodetic, seismological, archaeological and historical techniques to improve understanding of the cause and nature of the seismicity. 2. Earthquake monitoring using modern seismograph networks and strong-motion instrument arrays to determine earthquake parameters and characteristics. 3. Assessment of earthquake hazards to estimate locations, recurrence intervals, and effects of future earth-quakes. 4. Assessment of risks to evaluate potential losses. 5. Implementation of earthquake risk reduction measures to reduce vulnerabilities and losses.

See at: <http://www.unesco.prg/science/earthsciences/disaster/disasterPAMERAR.htm>.

See at: <http://www.copernicus.org/EGS/topconf/plc_head.htm>.

See for details at: <http://www.esa.int/export/esaLP/ESAMLET7YYC_earthwatch_o.html>.