What are Natural Disasters

A natural disaster is the consequence or effect of a natural, hazardous event, occurring when human activities and natural phenomenon (a physical event, such as a volcanic eruption, earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, landslide, etc.) become enmeshed. Natural disasters result in catastrophic consequences for living things in the vicinity. This understanding is crystallized in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability." (Blaikie, 1994)
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Disasters

The Science of Natural Disasters

For more than 100 years, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have explored, examined, and studied the natural world in an attempt to understand the complicated mechanisms of the earth. Natural disasters take an alarming toll on the inhabitants of the planet in areas hit hardest by physical events that result in violent and devastating impacts. Researchers at Scripps and elsewhere in the world dig deep and spend years and decades searching for clues to unravel the mysteries of the earth's natural, and often destructive, phenomena.

The planet has been struck in recent times by natural events, such as wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes. An understanding of some of the scientific research efforts under way by ocean and earth researchers around the world can provide a clearer understanding about how our complicated, integrated, and action-packed Earth actually works.

Learn more about the science of natural disasters:

• Natural Disasters
• Hurricanes
• Earthquakes
• Tsunamis
• Wildfires

• Scripps/UCSD tsunami experts
• Rapid Hurricane Intensity Changes
• UCSD Undergraduate Course on Natural Disasters
• CDIP Tsunami Events
• Project IDA
• Earthscope USArray
• Broadband Seismic Data Collection Center

• NOAA Tsunami Forecasting and Hazard Assessment Capabilities (MOST Model)
• NOAA Tsunami Research
• Earth Observatory
• NASA: Natural Hazards
• NOAA Satellite & Information Services
• What could happen in Alaska?