Abstract
A few occurrences of minor earthquakes have been reported in Nigeria, but the greatest hazards posed by natural disasters during the last 20 yr have been from floods, soil and gully erosion and landslides. Flash floods occur frequently in various cities during the rainy season, but the hazard is greatest in those places where the terrain is steep, surface run-off rates are high, streams flow in narrow channels, and where severe thunderstorms prevail. In the Niger Delta area of the country nearly 24000 km2of territory is threatened annually by severe riverine floods. Soil and gully erosion present the most serious environmental problem in the eastern states of Nigeria. Earlier control measures failed in particular to check gullying activities because the measures were originally wrongly conceived and designed. The control measures now advocated are based on a better understanding of the mechanisms of the erosion and gullying processes. Suggestions are given on how Nigeria can more effectively face up to natural disasters.
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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Onuoha, K.M., Uma, K.O. (1988). An Appraisal of Recent Geologic and Hydrologic Hazards in Nigeria. In: El-Sabh, M.I., Murty, T.S. (eds) Natural and Man-Made Hazards. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1433-9_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1433-9_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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