Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Natural Hazards

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Unconventional Risk Transfer

  • 1066 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explains the basic physical sciences of key natural hazards. It states how the different hazards are defined and categorised, where and when the hazards occur and what secondary hazards are associated with the primary hazard. The chapter provides a brief overview of what is known and unknown and discusses some of the current uncertainties related to modelling the frequency and severity of events. It further introduces some of the physical and social vulnerabilities associated with these perils and potential mitigation techniques. Hazards covered include geophysical hazards (earthquake, volcano, and landslides), hydro-meteorological hazards (tropical cyclones, tornadoes, tsunami, and flood), and extraterrestrial hazards (impactors and space weather).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alvarez, L., W. Avarez, F. Asaro, and H.V. Michel. 1980. Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction. Science 208: 1095–1108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBC. 2003. Four Ways to be Killed by a Volcano. BBC Science, March 27, 2013. Accessed January 29, 2017. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21938018

  • BGS. 2013. Space Weather and Geomagnetic Hazard. Accessed January 27, 2017. http://geomag.bgs.ac.uk/research/space_weather/spweather.html

  • Brooks, H.E., G.W. Carbin, and P.T. Marsh. 2014. Increased Variability of Tornado Occurrence in the United States. Science 346: 349–352. doi:10.1126/science.1257460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, W.J., et al. 2014. Increasing Frequency of Extreme El Niño Events Due to Greenhouse Warming. Nature Climate Change 4: 111–116. doi:10.1038/nclimate2100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charvet, I., I. Eames, and T. Rossetto. 2013. New Tsunami Runup Relationships Based on Long Wave Experiments. Ocean Modelling 69: 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chyba, C.F. 1993. Explosions of Small Spacewatch Objects in the Earth’s Atmosphere. Nature 363: 701–702. doi:10.1038/363701a0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chyba, C.F., P.J. Thomas, and K.L. Zahnle. 1993. The 1908 Tunguska Explosion: Atmospheric Disruption of a Stony Asteroid. Nature 361: 40–44. doi:10.1038/361040a0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dall’Osso, F., M. Gonella, G. Gabbianelli, G. Withycombe, and D. Dominey-Howes. 2009. A Revised (PTVA) Model for Assessing the Vulnerability of Buildings to Tsunami Damage, Natural Hazards Earth Systems. Science 9: 1557–1565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorling Kindersley Publishing Staff. 2011. Violent Earth. Dorling Kindersley, 360 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, J. 2011. Ground-Motion Prediction Equations 1964–2010. BRGM/RP-59356-FR. 444. http://peer.berkeley.edu/globalgmpe/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/douglas2011_RP-59356-FR.pdf

  • Elsner, J.B., S.C. Elsner, and T.H. Jagger. 2015. The Increasing Efficiency of Tornado Days in the United States. Climate Dynamics 45: 651–659. doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2277-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EM-DAT. 2016. Disaster Profiles. EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium (Last data update: 19/12/2016). Accessed January 30, 2017. http://www.emdat.be/disaster_profiles/index.html

  • Enfield, D.B., A.M. Mestas-Nuñez, and P.J. Trimble. 2001. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Its Relation to Rainfall and River Flows in the Continental U.S. Geophysical Research Letters 28: 2077–2080.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enhanced Fujita Scale Recommendation Report. 2006. Wind Science and Engineering Center, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/EFScale.pdf

  • Farahmand, A., and A. AghaKouchak. 2013. A Satellite-Based Global Landslide Model. Natural Hazards Earth Systems 13: 1259–1267. http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/13/1259/2013/nhess-13-1259-2013.pdf.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faure Walker, J.P. 2016a. Volcanoes. UCL-IRDR (University College London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction) MSc ‘Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards and Vulnerability’ Lecture Notes.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016b. Landslides. UCL-IRDR (University College London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction) MSc ‘Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards and Vulnerability’ Lecture Notes.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016c. Severe Storms. UCL-IRDR (University College London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction) MSc ‘Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards and Vulnerability’ Lecture Notes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faure Walker, J.P., D. Alexander, J. Macabuag, and A. Suppasri. 2014. The Post-Disaster Phase of Transitional Settlement: A Perspective from Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Eastern Philippines. In IRDR Special Report 2014-01, ed. J.P. Faure Walker and D. Alexander. London: UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faure Walker, J.P., G.P. Roberts, P. Sammonds, and P. Cowie. 2010. Comparison of Earthquake Strains Over 100 and 10,000 Year Timescales: Insights into Variability in the Seismic Cycle in the Central Apennines, Italy. Journal of Geophysical Research 115: B10418. doi:10.1029/2009JB006462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuhrmann, C.M., C.E. Konrad, M.K. Kovach, J.T. McLeod, W.G. Schmitz, and P.G. Dixon. 2014. Ranking of Tornado Outbreaks Across the United States and their Climatological Characteristics. Weather Forecast 29: 684–701. doi:10.1175/WAF-D-13-00128.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, S.B., C.W. Landsea, A.M. Mestas-Nunez, and W.M. Gray. 2001. The Recent Increase in Atlantic Hurricane Activity—Causes and Implications. Science 293: 474–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossi, P., and H. Kunreuther. 2005. Catastrophe Modeling: A New Approach to Managing Risk. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Highland L.M., and P. Bobrowsky. 2008. The Landslide Handbook – A Guide to Understanding Landslides: Reston, VA. USGS Geological Survey Circular 1325, 129 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hildebrand, A.R., G.T. Peniield, D.A. Kring, M. Pilkington, A. Camargo, S.B. Jacobsen, and W.V. Boynton. 1991. Chicxulub Crater: A Possible Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary Impact Crater on the Yucutan Peninsula, Mexico. Geology 19: 867–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hills, J.G., and P.M. Goda. 1993. The Fragmentation of Small Asteroids in the Atmosphere. The Astronomical Journal 105: 1114–1144. doi:10.1086/116499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, C.-H., H.-S. Kim, J.-H. Jeong, and S.-W. Son. 2009. Influence of Stratospheric Quasi-Biennial Oscillation on Tropical Cyclone Tracks in the Western North Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L06702. doi:10.1029/2009GL037163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenniskens, P., et al. 1994. The Mbale Meteorite Shower. Meteoritics 29 (2): 246–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2009. The Impact and Recovery of Asteroid 2008 TC3. Nature 458: 485–488. doi:10.1038/nature07920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, Y.Y. 2002. Seismic Moment Distribution Revisited: I. Statistical Results. Geophysics Journal International 148: 520–541. doi:10.1046/j.1365-246x.2002.01594.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kai E’e. 2017. Accessed January 23, 2017. www.discovertsunamis.org

  • King, G.C.P., R.S. Stein, and J. Lin. 1994. Static Stress Changes and the Triggering of Earthquakes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 84 (3): 935–953.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, M.F., M.-S. Seldenkrantz, B.H. Jacobsen, and A. Kuiljpers. 2011. Tracking the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation through the last 8000 years. Nature Communications 2: 178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landsea, C.W. 1993. A Climatology of Intense (or Major) Atlantic Hurricanes. Monthly Weather Review 121: 1703–1713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstern, J.B., R.B. Smith, and D.P. Hill. 2006. Monitoring Super-Volcanoes: Geophysical and Geochemical Signals at Yellowstone and Other Large Caldera Systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 364: 2055–2072. doi:10.1098/rsta.2006.1813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R., K. Emanuel, S. Chonabayashi, and L. Bakkense. 2012. The Impact of Climate Change on Global Tropical Cyclone Damage. Nature Climate Change 2: 205–209. doi:10.1038/nclimate1357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michetti, A.M., et al. 2007. Intensity Scale ESI 2007. In Mem. Descr. Carta Geologica d’Italia, ed. L. Guerrieri and E. Vittori. Rome, Italy: Servizio Geologico d’Italia, Dipartimento Difesa del Suolo, APAT, 74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D.J. 1960. Giant Waves in Lituya Bay, Alaska. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 354-C: 51–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, D. 2006. Asteroid and Comet Impacts: The Ultimate Environmental Catastrophe. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 364: 2041–2054. doi:10.1098/rsta.2006.1812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NASA. 2016. Solar Storm and Space Weather—Frequently Asked Questions. Last updated April 26 2016. Accessed January 24, 2017. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html#q3

  • ———. 2017. Near-Earth Object Programme, NEO Discovery Statistics. Updated January 23, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2017. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/#goal

  • National Research Council. 2008. Severe Space Weather Events. Workshop Report. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • NCEI. n.d. The Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale. Asheville, NC: NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. Accessed January 28, 2017. https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/extremeevents/specialreports/enhanced-fujita-tornado-scale.pdf

  • Newhall, C.G., and S. Self. 1982. The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): An Estimate of Explosive Magnitude for Historical Volcanism. Journal of Geophysical Research 87: 1231–1238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NHC, National Hurricane Center. 2017a. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Accessed January 18, 2017. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php

  • ———. 2017b. Glossary of NHC Terms. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Accessed January 18, 2017. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutgloss.shtml#l

  • NHC, National Hurricane Center Storm Surge Unit. 2017. Introduction to Storm Surge. Accessed January 20, 2017. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/surge_intro.pdf

  • NWS, National Weather Service. 2009. National Weather Service Glossary. NOAA. Updated June 25, 2009. Accessed January 31, 2017. http://w1.weather.gov/glossary/

  • ———. 2015. Cold & Warm Episodes by Season. NOAA. Page last updated November 4, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2017. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ensoyears.shtml

  • ———. 2016a. Tropical Cyclone Climatology. NOAA. Page last updated May 12, 2016. Accessed January 20, 2017. http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/FAQ/Climatology.php

  • ———. 2016b. Natural Hazard Statistics. NOAA. Page last updated April 6, 2016. Accessed January 28, 2017. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml

  • ———. 2017. The Fujita Scale. NOAA. Accessed January 28 2017. https://www.weather.gov/ffc/fujita

  • Papadopoulos, G.A., and S. Kortekas. 2003. Characteristics of Landslide Generated Tsunamis from Observational Data. In Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, ed. L. Locat and J. Mienert, 367–374. Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peduzzi, P., B. Chatenoux, H. Dao, A. De Bono, C. Herold, J. Kossin, F. Mouton, and O. Nordbeck. 2012. Global Trends in Tropical Cyclone Risk. Nature Climate Change 2: 289–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke, R.A. Jr., J. Gratz, C.W. Landsea, D. Collins, M. Saunders, and R. Musulin. 2008. Normalized Hurricane Damage in the United States: 1900–2005. Natural Hazards Review 9 (1): 29–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pravec, P., A.W. Harris, P. Kusnirak, A. Galad, and K. Hornoch. 2012. Absolute Magnitudes of Asteroids and a Revision of Asteroid Albedo Estimates from WISE Thermal Observations. Icarus 221: 365–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Punmia, B.C., A.K. Jain, and A.Kr. Jain. 2003. Basic Civil Engineering. Firewall Media, 446 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, D. 2012. ‘Tornado Alley’ Grows Wider, Report Says. USA Today. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/story/2012-04-09/tornado-alley/54157872/1

  • Schiermeler, Q. 2013. Risk of Massive Asteroid Strike Underestimated. Nature News, November 6. http://www.nature.com/news/risk-of-massive-asteroid-strike-underestimated-1.14114

  • Schlesinger, M.E., and N. Ramankutty. 1994. An Oscillation in the Global Climate System of Period 65–70 Years. Nature 367: 723–726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Self, S., and M.R. Rampino. 1981. The 1883 Eruption of Krakatau. Nature 294: 699–704. doi:10.1038/294699a0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staecy, S., J. Gomberg, and M. Cocco. 2005. Introduction to Special Section: Stress Transfer, Earthquake Triggering, and Time-Dependent Seismic Hazard. Journal of Geophysical Research 110: B05S01. doi:10.1029/2005JB003692.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steel, D.I., D.J. Asher, W.M. Napier, and S.V.M. Clube. 1994. Are Impacts Correlated in Time? In Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids, ed. T. Gehrels, 463–477. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, R.S. 1999. The Role of Stress Transfer in Earthquake Occurrence. Nature 402: 605–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, S., R.J. Geller, and M. Liu. 2012. Why Earthquake Hazard Maps Often Fail and What to Do About It. Tectonophysics 562: 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thatcher, W. 1984. The Earthquake Deformation Cycle, Recurrence, and the Time-Predictable Model. Journal of Geophysical Research 89: 5674–5680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tippett, M.K., and J.E. Cohen. 2016. Tornado Outbreak Variability Follows Taylor’s Power Law of Fluctuation Scaling and Increases Dramatically with Severity. Nature Communications 7: 10668. doi:10.1038/ncomms10668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tippett, M.K., C. Lepore, and J.E. Cohen. 2016. More Tornadoes in the Most Extreme U.S. Tornado Outbreaks. Science 354 (6318): 1419–1423. doi:10.1126/science.aah7393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toda, S., and R.S. Stein. 2013. The 2011 M=9.0 Tohoku Oki Earthquake more than Doubled the Probability of Large Shocks Beneath Tokyo. Geophysical Research Letters 40: 1–5. doi:10.1002/grl.50524, 2013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toon, O.B., K. Zahnle, D. Morrison, R.P. Turco, and C. Covey. 1997. Environmental Perturbations Caused by the Impacts of Asteroids and Comets. Reviews of Geophysics 35: 41–78. doi:10.1029/96RG03038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uddin, N. 2011. Risk Assessment for Wind Hazards. In Chapter 3, Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) for Natural Hazards, ASCE Council on Disaster Risk Management, ed. Nasim Uddin and Alfredo H.S. Ang. Reston: American Society of Civil Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNISDR. 2009. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR), 207 pp. http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/report/index.php?id=9413&pid:34&pil:1

  • USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. 2016. Earthquake Statistics. Accessed February 2, 2017. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/browse/stats.php

  • Walker, G.R. 2011. Modelling the Vulnerability of Buildings to Wind—A Review. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 38: 1031–1039.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, K.J.E., J.L. McBride, P.J. Klotzbach, S. Balachandran, S.J. Camargo, G. Holland, T.R. Knutson, et al. 2016. Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change. WIREs Climate Change 7: 65–89. doi:10.1002/wcc.371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., and E. Vanmarcke. 2008. Surviving Nature’s Forces: Can Civil Engineers Build Safe Communities? In Chapter 2, Disaster Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Arrival of the South Asia Tsunami Wave in Thailand, ed. Nasim Uddin and Alfredo H.S. Ang, Monograph No. 2, October 2008. ASCE Council on Disaster Risk Management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster, P.J., G.J. Holland, J.A. Curry, and H.R. Chang. 2005. Changes in Tropical Cyclone Number, Duration, and Intensity in a Warming Environment. Science 309 (5742): 1844–1846. doi:10.1126/science.1116448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo, G. 2011. Calculating Catastrophe. London: Imperial College Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, H.H., P. Liu, M. Briggs, and C. Synolakis. 1994. Propagation and Amplification of Tsunamis at Coastal Boundaries. Nature 372: 353–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    Joanna Faure Walker

Authors
  1. Joanna Faure Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanna Faure Walker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Maurizio Pompella

  2. Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, New York, New York, USA

    Nicos A Scordis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Faure Walker, J. (2017). Natural Hazards. In: Pompella, M., Scordis, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Unconventional Risk Transfer. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59297-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59297-8_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59296-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59297-8

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation